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d35cb1028768d4351c963e54dd122e1f | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/composting-may-be-future-of-recycling-with-us-cities-leading-the-way.html | Are you gonna eat that? The future of recycling | Are you gonna eat that? The future of recycling
In the very near future, you're not just going to recycle soda cans and glass jars. You're going to recycle last night's leftovers.
Hannah Parker, left, and Seth Cohen carry curbside compost bins to truck as town residents gathered at a town garage to distribute curbside composting bins to homes in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. on March 8, 2014.John Blanding | The Boston Globe | Getty Images
The recycling of plastic, glass and paper has taken firm hold in the United States after years of steady growth. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. recovered about 10 percent of such material in 1960; it recovered 37 percent in 2012. On the other hand, composting — the recycling of food and yard waste — is an old idea that's just beginning to gain traction in U.S. cities. The amount of food waste that was recycled was still below 5 percent in 2012, although that was up from essentially nothing as late as 1980, the EPA said.
"Composting is one of the great keys to the future," said Robert Reed, spokesperson for Recology, San Francisco's recycling and compost collection service.
Composting advocates focus on the future, of course, but they also spend a lot of time studying the past: specifically, the Dust Bowl catastrophe of the 1930s.
Read MoreThe next hot tech bet...farming?
As American topsoil blew away during the Dust Bowl, the U.S. secretary of agriculture deplored the "overplowing, overgrazing and overcutting of timber" as a "terribly destructive process" that is "not excusable in the United States." That was in 1938.
"Today, little has changed … except for 200 cities, with San Francisco leading the way to recycle food waste," said Bob Schaffer, a soil scientist at composting advocacy group Soil Culture Consulting. He added that about 35 percent of food in the United States is thrown into a landfill rather than physically consumed.
"The problem now is we don't have enough compost at all," he said. "The farmer now realizes he needs organic matter."
Composting is a natural process by which organic matter is turned back into nutrient-rich soil through bacterial decomposition. For municipal composting services, food scraps such as carrot peels and string bean ends are collected and taken to a composting facility, usually a third-party, contracted business. The processed dirt is then resold to farmers and gardening nurseries.
While that consumer-to-farm cycle is the ideal, Schaffer said the high demand for compost has actually pushed some farmers to growing and processing large amounts of easily biodegradable plants.
San Francisco has an urban curbside compost collection program and provides bins for every property in the city to collect yard trimmings and food scraps from restaurants and homes. As is the case in many other areas, the material is brought to a facility and turned into organic matter that is redistributed as fertilizer to local farms.
Compost "is one of California's keys to tackle drought because it acts as a natural sponge," he said. With its current recycling programs, he said some neighborhoods have a recovery rate of 90 percent, while the city as a whole hopes to achieve zero waste by 2020.
Read MoreOrganic farming can compete—especially in droughts
Further north, Seattle aims to increase its recycling rate from 56.2 percent to 70 percent by 2022, said Timothy Croll, solid waste director for the city of Seattle. He added that a new regulation that starts on Jan. 1 will require all food waste to be composted, and he hopes to see it help the city reach a goal of 60 percent recycling next year.
On the East Coast, New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia agreed that "the frontier right now is around organic waste."
The Big Apple lags behind its West Coast counterparts. The nation's biggest city rolled out a pilot composting program this past June for 100,000 households. Garcia said the amount of garbage has decreased in those areas.
New York City has an overall recycling rate — that includes organic and non-organic materials — of 15.5 percent, said Garcia, who added that those figures are not directly comparable to West Coast cities because New York does not include construction material and textiles in its calculations.
VIDEO8:5408:54Meet China's recycling tycoonInside China
Portland, Oregon, has capitalized on economic forces to give residents more incentive to recycle and compost their food.
In 2011, the city decided to pick up refuse every other week and collect recyclables and compostable material once a week. Many locals were worried about leaving garbage around for two weeks, and the department received many concerned phone calls, said Michael Armstrong, sustainability manager at the city of Portland.
Soon after the program started, the phone calls died down, and Portland saw the percentage of waste recycled increase from 50 percent to 70 percent. The volume of garbage collected decreased by 35 percent.
"To me, it's a great example of the kind of change we need to see more of," Armstrong said. "We pick up less garbage because (there) should be less and less of it."
Read MoreElon Musk wants to hire...a farmer?
Beyond basic disintegration of plant matter through composting, some recycling leaders have turned to a traditional agricultural practice that burns organic matter in order to create a carbon-rich substance called biochar. Once mixed into soil, biochar can boost plant growth in degraded urban soil by 40 percent, according to a study by NYU professor Natalie Jeremijenko at New York's Socrates Sculpture Park.
Jeremijenko, who is also an artist, engineer and inventor, said she tries to show composting and other environmentally beneficial practices to people first-hand.
She turned composting into a community event called a "Biochar Cha." Locals brought junk mail to be burned at a "biochar barbeque" while unwinding to the mixes of a salsa DJ. She said such "public experiments" can grow into a widespread practice that will help create a cleaner environment at a faster rate than cities' curbside programs will.
"The fundamental challenge that we face in the next 25 years is to redesign our relationship to natural systems," she said. "The 'reduce, reuse, recycle' chant has to be radically transformed to understand our relationship to natural systems."
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e22c1c3b759ec4f3de1f3bc6d8c02051 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/express-scripts-gives-abbvie-exclusive-hepatitis-c-billing.html | Express Scripts gives AbbVie exclusive Hepatitis C billing | Express Scripts gives AbbVie exclusive Hepatitis C billing
Whitney Curtis | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The price war over new hepatitis C drugs just heated up.
The nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager, Express Scripts, said its largest plan will cover only AbbVie's newly approved hepatitis C regimen for patients with the most common form of the virus. Starting Jan. 1, it will exclude drugs from Gilead Sciences and Johnson & Johnson for that indication.
AbbVie's Viekira Pak was approved Friday, and the company said it will have a price of $83,319. In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Express Scripts Chief Medical Officer Steve Miller declined to disclose the terms of the deal but said Abbvie's discount was big enough to allow Express Scripts to recommend treating all patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C.
"We think when we find partners like this. We can really move drug prices and get more patients treated and more patients cured," he said.
Asked whether Express Scripts would form similar deals in other therapeutic areas including diabetes and cancer where there are high drug costs and multiple drugs on the market, Miller said he saw opportunities in those categories. He added that companies must do something because drug prices have become unsustainable.
Read MoreAbbVie: The comeback story of a pharma stock
Gilead's Sovaldi sparked a fierce debate over the cost of drugs after it was approved in December 2013 and its price set at $84,000 for 12 weeks of treatment, or about $1,000 a day. The drug, along with Johnson & Johnson's Olysio and Gilead's combination medicine, Harvoni, represent a significant improvement over previous therapies, which didn't cure all patients, were given by injection and came with side effects that could make them difficult to take.
VIDEO0:5100:51FDA approves Gilead's Hepatitis C drug Street Signs
The ease of use and higher cure rates drove swift uptake of the drugs; Sovaldi brought in $8.6 billion in revenue in the first three quarters of 2014. Harvoni, a combination of Sovaldi and another drug, costs $94,500 for 12 weeks, or about $63,000 for patients who only require eight weeks of treatment. Analysts estimate the drug may draw $2.8 billion to $3 billion in fourth quarter revenue for Gilead, after approval on Oct. 10.
AbbVie's regimen includes several pills a day, taken at different times, while Gilead's Harvoni is one pill taken once a day. Some patients on AbbVie's therapy may also require ribavirin, another drug that can carry unpleasant side effects.
Express Scripts said its independent Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee determined AbbVie's Viekira Pak to be "at least clinically equivalent" to Harvoni and Sovaldi, and that it would make the therapy the exclusive option for genotype 1 patients with hepatitis C on its National Preferred Formulary, which covers about 25 million Americans.
Sovaldi and Harvoni, as well as J&J's Olysio, will be excluded from the National Preferred Formulary, though patients who have already begun treatment before Jan. 1 will continue to receive coverage. Sovaldi will remain on the formulary for patients with other kinds of the virus who have advanced liver disease, Express Scripts said.
About 3.2 million people in the U.S. have hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three-quarters of those have genotype 1, Express Scripts said. The viral infection affects as many as 150 million people worldwide; it is spread through the blood and can lead to liver failure and liver cancer. As many as 500,000 people worldwide die of hepatitis C-related liver diseases each year, according to the World Health Organization.
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5d0bb6d0a94fe43394af2630abc8c35d | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/how-tax-loss-harvesting-can-save-you-money.html | How harvesting losses reaps tax savings | How harvesting losses reaps tax savings
Harvesting winter wheat in Kirkland, Illinois.Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
It's harvest season for your portfolio, at least if you are hoping to save on taxes.
December is the time when many people think about harvesting tax losses to cut their tax bills (though it's possible any time of year). Selling stocks or other assets that have lost value generates a reduction in your tax liability that you can use to offset capital gains.
The market's recent ups and downs have been unsettling, but the silver lining is that any losses in your portfolio may make April 15 considerably less unpleasant if you decide these are assets you no longer want to hold.
Read More6 ways to lower your 2014 tax bite
"Do I have some security that I just don't fundamentally believe in any more and I want to reduce my allocation or get out? Do I have an asset allocation that is out of balance?" said John Sweeney, executive vice president of retirement and investing strategies at Fidelity. If so, he said, "you can sell both your winner and the security that is underwater."
Selling short-term assets is especially helpful at tax time. Losses on those assets can be used to offset any short-term capital gains, and short-term capital gains are taxed at ordinary income rates, not at the lower long-term capital gains rates.
The higher your tax bracket, the greater the potential for tax-loss harvesting to save you money. Top earners in the 39.6 percent income tax bracket wind up paying a rate of 43.4 percent on short-term capital gains, since taxpayers in that bracket also pay the Medicare surcharge of 3.8 percent.
"Technically, everybody can and should be looking to do this," said Paul Giliberto, senior wealth planner at SunTrust Bank. "[But] higher income taxpayers are the ones that stand to gain the most."
Read MoreHow traders are playing year-end selling
In fact, in the lowest tax brackets, your long-term capital gains rate goes to zero. In that case, harvesting gains makes more sense than harvesting losses. It won't affect what you owe in taxes now, but you will be able to lock in a higher cost basis if you repurchase that asset at the current higher price, reducing your potential future tax liability.
"People at the zero capital gains rate can sell winners and get them back at a higher basis at no cost," said Michael Kitces, partner and director of research at Pinnacle Advisory Group. But for those people, "tax-loss harvesting is a disaster. You step your cost basis down and get no savings."
Long-term tax planning can also help you decide whether to harvest tax losses. If you expect your income to be lower in future years — if you are heading into retirement, or have just coming into a sudden one-time windfall, or you are selling your home and downsizing — it may make sense to harvest losses now when the tax savings are greater.
If you believe overall tax rates are on track to fall, harvesting losses now also makes sense.
"Take the loss at the higher rate if you think the next president will have a policy of lower tax rates," said Bob Meighan, a vice president at TurboTax. "People are all about saving today."
VIDEO3:5003:50Not too late for these 2014 tax deductions
It's important to follow the rules if you are planning to harvest tax losses. The IRS allows you to offset all of your short-term capital gains with short-term losses, provided you have them. And if you harvest long-term capital losses, use them against long-term capital gains, and have net losses left over, you can use those against any short-term capital gains you still have.
If you still have unused losses after that, you can use them to offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income. You can even carry unused losses forward to use against future gains, as long as you apply long-term losses to future long-term gains, and short-term losses against future short-term gains.
The IRS does not, however, allow you to repurchase any security you've sold in less than 30 days, nor can you purchase one that the IRS deems "substantially identical." If you do, you will not be allowed to use the loss to offset any gains. It pays to make sure that if you sell an asset that has lost value but want to maintain your portfolio's exposure to that area, you are not buying something too similar.
Read More3 tax strategies for improving cash flow
So-called "robo-advisors" like Wealthfront and Betterment promise to make tax-loss harvesting easy by automating the process, and the launch of new robo-advisory services like the forthcoming Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, coming in early 2015, suggest demand for the service is strong.
"We now have the ability to automate something people have been doing for years," said Naureen Hassan, an executive vice president of Schwab who is heading up the new venture. "You don't have to wait every 30 days to see if there is an opportunity" to harvest a loss."
But there are other ways to harvest tax losses, as well. There is always the do-it-yourself approach of regularly checking your portfolio for losses, for example. And if you have complex personal finances or substantial wealth, you may find that it makes more sense to work with an individual investment advisor who has an eye on your entire financial situation.
Read MoreYour best year-end tax moves
Some financial experts argue that the benefits of tax-loss harvesting are overstated if you consider the long-term impact. Kitces, for example, said tax loss harvesting doesn't really make a tax payment disappear; it just postpones the pain for future tax years. Any asset you buy to replace a short-term loser will presumably appreciate, he said, and eventually, you will have capital gains after all.
"It's still a benefit. If you saved $10,000 in taxes, you saved the opportunity to grow the $10,000," Kitces said. "If it grows a couple of percentage points a year, you made a few bucks. It's better than nothing. It's just not the large savings that people think it is."
That means you need to be extra careful about the cost of harvesting, Kitces said. Transaction costs, for example, can loom large if you are weighing them against the investment returns on a $5,000 tax loss you harvest.
Between counting transaction costs and surveying your portfolio, harvesting tax losses always involves a little calculation. But even if the reward is small, it's probably there for the finding.
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34f64a2166a59509bb5c3d5f13dcf81f | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/madoff-victims-to-get-more-money-back-.html | Madoff trustee seeks to pay $322 million to investors | Madoff trustee seeks to pay $322 million to investors
Bernard Madoff walks out of federal court after a bail hearing in New York on Jan. 5, 2009.Getty Images
Just in time for the holidays, the trustee rounding up funds for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme is seeking court approval to return another $322 million. It would be the fifth and smallest payout since the scam blew up around six years ago. Nonetheless, trustee Irving Picard calls the proposed distribution an "important milestone," bringing the total returned to victims to more than $7 billion.
Earlier this year, Picard announced that the total recovered from the scam had topped $10 billion for the first time, an amount virtually no one thought possible when the scandal first broke. Since then, the total has grown to around $10.5 billion, or around 59 cents on the dollar of the investors' principal. The remaining funds are being held in reserve because of pending litigation, including claims by some victims that they should also be entitled to some interest on their investments.
With this latest distribution, Picard will have paid nearly half the total amount claimed, according to a statement by his office. Claims totaling $963,500 and less have already been paid in full.
VIDEO1:2701:27What Andrew Madoff's death means for victims
Of course, the recoveries do not bring the victims anywhere close to the money they thought they were making through their investments with Madoff, who confessed to fabricating trades for years. The firm claimed to have had as much as $65 billion in its client accounts at the time it imploded in 2008, but that figure included fictitious profits; Madoff had claimed his funds had returns of around 10 percent a year for many years.
Madoff, 76, is serving a 150-year sentence at a medium-security federal prison in North Carolina.
Read MoreSo-called 'Ponzi princess' dethroned
Picard has collected a little over $1 billion in fees paid by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which is overseeing the process. His chief counsel, David Sheehan, says they still hope to recover more money for investors through additional lawsuits and settlements.
"We remain dedicated to our primary goal," Sheehan said in a statement, "to recover the maximum amount possible for the benefit of (Madoff) customers with allowed claims."
A hearing on the new payout is scheduled for Jan. 15.
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fff03ebc4da54e050a209be4431931f0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/sea-change-in-store-for-active-managers-lee.html | 'Sea change' in store for active managers: Lee | 'Sea change' in store for active managers: Lee
VIDEO2:4702:472015 could be better for active managers: LeeMarket Outlook
The last three years have been tough for active money managers, but better times could be coming, Fundstrat Global Advisors founder Tom Lee told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday.
Low intersector volatility and poor performance among small-cap stocks have made it tough for managers to yield returns for clients, said Lee. But he sees a reversal coming in 2015, as small-cap stocks present a play on U.S. acceleration and valuations have become more attractive.
"We're optimistic that next year is going to see a sea change" for active managers, Lee said.
Read More Why 2015 could bring the surprising return of risk
As for standout sectors in 2015, technology stocks will potentially enter a big rerate cycle and could perform well for the next five years, he said. The tech sector is positioned for growth due to pent-up demand and the need for capital spending, he said.
Fundstrat is also bullish on consumer discretionary, and Lee reiterated his call that the energy sector could surprise to the upside.
Responding to data that showed existing home sales fell to a six-month low in November, Lee noted that households are still working to clear their credit histories after the housing crisis set off a surge of foreclosures and short sales.
However, a first wave of homeowners will see their credit histories cleared at the end of this year, and for the next two years, nearly 20 million households will go through that process, said Lee.
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8b65da75998bb1e4fb283b1f3da2b566 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/22/trader-5-dumbest-things-i-heard-in-2014.html | VIDEO4:1504:155 Dumbest things I heard in 2014: FinermanFast Money
Another year-end is upon us. What would December be without lists to quantify what happened, forecast what will be and analyze just what went wrong? Many will survey the biggest surprises, the most money won or lost, who made the best call and which CEOs are left standing. Serious stuff happens, fortunes are made, dynasties collapse, whole economies fight for their very existence.
Instead, I'd rather focus on the ridiculous — the absurd, the stupid or the impossible-to-believe that gets offered to the financial markets and their participants and chroniclers. We're in a serious business, where information needs to be digested not just for the numbers or strategies but to be simultaneously analyzed for its unintended message.
What's the message that we're not being shown? It's as if CEOs, PR departments or analysts are daring us to believe what can't possibly be. I've compiled a list of five. Each of these is a little more absurd than the last, yet each stands alone. In chronological order, here are my favorites from 2014.
Video produced by Fast Money's Kristin Cwalinski.
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982505788c7c6be3734de281170d7e48 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/23/for-a-bargain-bottle-of-bubbly-look-beyond-champagne.html | A great bottle of bubbly doesn't require big bucks | A great bottle of bubbly doesn't require big bucks
Bambu Productions | Getty Images
Popping open a bottle of celebratory bubbly for the holidays or the start of the New Year doesn't have to be an extravagance.
While a top-notch bottle of Champagne can cost upwards of $100 (and often, closer to $200), experts say it's relatively easy for shoppers to get a great value for far less. "There are those who come in are looking for the big names and there are those looking for the best damn bottle you can buy for the money," said Tom Geniesse, owner of Bottlerocket, a wine and spirits shop with locations in New York City and Westport, Conn. "Those are two different recommendations."
The first question to consider: Do you really want Champagne? Or will another kind of sparkling wine do? That's a common confusion, said Tyson Stelzer, author of "The Champagne Guide 2014-2015." All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne, which is produced exclusively in that same-named region of France. "For the most part, Champagne commands a higher price," he said.
Read More8 Gift-worthy bottles of booze for spirit fans
But shoppers can find great values in sparkling wines produced using the Champagne method elsewhere in France, such as Crémant de Bourgogne (from Burgundy) and Crémant d'Alsace (from Alsace), said Sam Doyle, sommelier at Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown, N.J. Bottles can often be had for under $20 a bottle. "Even in California, there are places making really great sparkling wines," he said. For example, there's Roederer Estate, a subsidiary of French Champagne house Louis Roederer. Distributor BevMo! has Roederer Estate's nonvintage brut for $27.99 a bottle.
"Cavas from Spain can be insanely inexpensive, given their quality," said Geniesse. "They really do a great job for the price point." His pick: Cristalino, which costs just $9.
Read MoreYear-end bonuses are up, but don't rely on getting one
If you'd prefer Champagne, look beyond the known brands. "There are a number of tiny growers that make their own Champagne," said Geniesse. "You're not paying for the marketing budget of a big house." Check reviews and ask wine shop reps for recommendations.
Scrutinize vintages. Most Champagnes are nonvintage blends, reserving more expensive vintage bottles for years when the grapes are exceptional, he said. Even then, some years are better buys than others. "You have got to be really selective," Stelzer said. "Great vintages like 2002, 2004 and 2008—particularly 2008, it's the vintage of the decade—are the ones where people are more likely to get a beautifully perfect Champagne." He said 2003 and 2005, in comparison, aren't as impressive.
Buying a magnum of Champagne can also offer more bang for your buck. Not in price—a 1.5-liter bottle is as expensive as two 750-ml bottles, if not more so, said Stelzer. It's the quality. Part of the process for making Champagne is a secondary fermentation in the bottle. "A Champagne in a magnum is one that usually holds its freshness better," he said. The bubbles are often smaller, too, because the bigger bottle still has a standard-size cork, reducing the wine's exposure to oxygen.
Read MoreNot done shopping? Try these last-minute strategies
Whatever you spent, get your money's worth by serving sparkling wine properly. "Don't pour it straight out of the fridge," said Stelzer. Serving it too cold dulls the flavor, so take the bottle out of the fridge at least a half hour ahead to let it warm to cellar temperature (52 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit). When opening, release the cork slowly so there's a hiss rather than a pop, he said. That keeps the bottle from frothing over, which is a waste of wine that can also affect the flavor.
Pick the right glass—which incidentally, isn't a flute. "Wines really should be tasted in something that has a bowl to it," said Doyle. A white wine glass is the better bet for showcasing the aromas and flavors of the sparkling wine, he said, although the bubbles will dissipate a bit faster.
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354d0b94368802be2ac9559f2ec0b76a | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/23/healthcaregov-sign-ups-hit-34-million.html | 6.4 million total enrolled for HealthCare.gov in 2015 | 6.4 million total enrolled for HealthCare.gov in 2015
HealthCare.gov website seen on Nov. 12, 2014.Adam Jeffery | CNBC
There's going to be a lot of new Obamacare plans underneath Christmas trees on Thursday.
As of last Friday, about 6.4 million people had signed up for 2015 health insurance plans sold on HealthCare.gov, the federal Obamacare exchange that serves 37 states, officials announced Tuesday.
That big number included about 1.9 million new customers, existing Obamacare customers who actively re-enrolled since sign-ups began Nov. 15, and people who were automatically re-enrolled in their current health coverage in the past week, according to the Health and Human Services Department.
The tally reflects a surge in sign-ups that occurred in advance of HealthCare.gov's Dec. 15 deadline for enrolling in plans that take effect Jan. 1. It also reflects the policy of automatic re-enrollment for most current customers, which began Dec. 16 and was completed by last Thursday.
When the 6.4 million HealthCare.gov total is added to confirmed sign-ups from the 13 Obamacare exchanges run by states and the District of Columbia, total enrollment for 2015 plans in this open-enrollment season is about 7.44 million, according to data compiled by the Obamacare tracking site ACASignups.net.
"I expected a surge in enrollment as the year wound down, but this was a bigger surge than I expected," said Larry Levitt, a Kaiser Family Foundation expert on Obamacare.
Read MoreHe beat Obamacare deadline. Did you?
Levitt also said "it seems pretty clear at this point that the [Obama[ administration will exceed their target" of having 9.1 million people enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance plans sold through government-run exchanges by the end of 2015. To be considered officially enrolled, a customer must make a premium payment.
He said he expects another big surge in sign-ups in advance of the Feb. 15 close of open enrollment. "If you don't sign up by February 15, you can't get insurance for the rest of 2015," Levitt noted.
He said it will be tougher this year to sign up new, currently uninsured customers for Obamacare plans than it was during the first open-enrollment season, which ended in mid-April.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell.Getty Images
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said, "We still have a lot of work to do before the February 15 enrollment deadline, but this is an encouraging start. People shopped for coverage and signed up—finding more choices and greater competition."
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, so far nearly 6.4 million consumers, including about 1.9 million new consumers, have access to quality, affordable health coverage for 2015 through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.This law is working, and families are better off as a result."
Tuesday's enrollment report comes as most states' deadline for enrolling in coverage that takes effect Jan. 1 has passed.
Read MoreCure for serial 911 caller? Date a felon
Tuesday is the deadline for Massachusetts and Washington state residents to choose plans effective by the New Year. Exchanges in four other states—Vermont, Minnesota, Hawaii and Rhode Island—have given residents until Dec. 31 to select plans that take effect the next day.
However, the open-enrollment season in Obamacare plans ends Feb. 15. People will have until then to choose a plan effective in 2015 and can change a plan they had already selected.
VIDEO1:5501:554 ways to detoxify Obamacare: BossidySquawk Box
Under the ACA, nearly all Americans must have some form of health insurance—such as Obamacare plans, employer-provided coverage, Medicare or Medicaid—or pay a tax penalty.
People who lacked health coverage in 2014 are subject to a potential fine of up to 1 percent of their taxable income. In 2015, that rises to up to 2 percent.
Before open enrollment began Nov. 15, about 6.7 million people nationally were enrolled as paying customers in Obamacare health plans sold on the government-run exchanges.
Read MoreNearly 10M move to Medicaid since Obamacare launch
About 85 percent of those people received federal government subsidies to help pay for their monthly premiums. Such tax credits are available to people who earn between one and four times the federal poverty level, or $11,670 to $46,680 for a single adult, or $23,850 to $95,400 for a family of four.
In a report issued in early December, HHS said an analysis of plans available for 2015 shows that almost 8 in 10 customers on HealthCare.gov would be able to buy coverage for $100 or less per month after the application of those tax credits.
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a3eda65fe96abcbf7e0167f714908fc8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/23/russia-tells-state-exporters-to-sell-forex-revenues-to-help-ruble-paper.html | Russia tells state exporters to sell forex revenues to help ruble: paper | Russia tells state exporters to sell forex revenues to help ruble: paper
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed an order obliging the country's largest state exporters to sell part of their foreign currency revenues to help stabilise the rouble, Kommersant daily newspaper said on Tuesday, citing sources.
The paper added that in the coming two months, companies may provide the market with around $1 billion per day in total, which along with other measures taken by the central bank last week should help to curb volatility.
Aleksandr Ugorenkov | Hemera | Getty Images
Read MoreApple hikes iPhone price in Russia on sliding ruble
The paper added that the government has sent orders to gas firm Gazprom, oil firms Rosneft and Zarubezhneft and diamond producer Alrosa. The ruble gained around 3 percent versus the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.
The government was not immediately available for comments.
The Russian central bank said on Tuesday it would hold consultations with exporters on hard currency revenue sales aimed at maintaining stability on foreign exchange market.
"Steady forex revenue sales during the year is beneficial both for the support of forex market stability and for hedging risks of exporting companies," the central bank told Reuters.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
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ddefbf10fe91fcc09ec2b0f9c8379823 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/23/sony-authorizes-.html | Sony Pictures OKs ‘The Interview’ stream | Sony Pictures OKs ‘The Interview’ stream
VIDEO3:2903:29Sony's decision to stream 'The Interview' historic: Pro Closing Bell
VIDEO2:3002:30Sony to stream 'The Interview' at 1PMClosing Bell
VIDEO1:1101:11Sony authorizes 'The Interview' screeningsHalftime Report
VIDEO1:4001:40Sony: We've never given up on 'The Interview'Halftime Report
VIDEO3:3603:36Atlanta theater owner: Comfortable running 'The Interview'Power Lunch
"The Interview" may be coming soon to a computer screen or a theater near you after all.
Sony will release the controversial film online Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. ET, with $5.99 rentals from Google's Play store and YouTube platform, Google announced on Wednesday.
Microsoft's Xbox Video platform will also have the movie, as will a dedicated standalone website for the film.
"Last Wednesday Sony began contacting a number of companies, including Google, to ask if we'd be able to make their movie, 'The Interview,' available online," Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote in an official blog post.
"After discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)," he said.
The Google-distributed film stream, expected on Wednesday afternoon, will come almost a full day ahead of the theater release.
Netflix is also in talks with Sony Pictures to stream the film to its subscribers—a few days after the Christmas Day theater release, Variety reported. Netflix declined to comment in that report.
Read More'The Interview' to be released online Wednesday
Earlier, Sony confirmed to CNBC that the company was in discussions to stream the film on Christmas Day, tentatively for its own website and Google Play or YouTube.
"The upside of it is they're going to have learned a ton, and I think we as an industry are going to have learned a ton about alternative distribution methods, especially in a world where content can be delivered to mobile devices instantaneously," Bubba Murarka, a partner at DFJ Venture, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" following news of the YouTube distribution deal.
On Tuesday, Sony Pictures announced it will allow the movie to open in selected theaters on Christmas Day, despite threats and a devastating hacking that the United States blamed on North Korea.
After the announcement, Sony Pictures posted on its Facebook page a list of movie theaters in the United States that will show the film on Thursday.
Check out the list here
"The President applauds Sony's decision to authorize screenings of the film," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. "As the President made clear, we are a country that believes in free speech, and the right of artistic expression. The decision made by Sony and participating theaters allows people to make their own choices about the film, and we welcome that outcome."
At a White House news conference last Friday, President Barack Obama called Sony's initial decision to pull the film a "mistake."
Read MoreCongress should screen 'The Interview': Sherman
"We have never given up on releasing 'The Interview,' and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day," Sony Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement.
He added that Sony is continuing to "secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience."
Lynton's statement came after Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas confirmed to NBC News that the Texas theater chain will run the film. Later in the afternoon the theater announced the film would come to 16 of its locations, including several in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, as well as one in Yonkers, New York.
On Tuesday morning "Sony bookers approved screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and other arthouse and independent theaters across the country," Alamo CEO Tim League said in a statement. "This is the best Christmas gift anyone could give us. We, both distributors and exhibitors, have collectively stood firm to our principles and for the right to freedom of expression."
Read MoreSony: Let's be clear—'The Interview' isn't over
The Plaza Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, was one of the other theaters to first announce a showing.
"I'm glad there has been a change of heart," Plaza Theatre owner Michael Furlinger said on CNBC's "Power Lunch."
"Obviously we're going to be smart when it comes to security … as we would be on any major release that is controversial," he said, adding that he is "not overly concerned" about any threats.
Harkins Theatres announced on Twitter that it would release the film at its Phoenix, Arizona, location on Christmas Day. The theater's website also listed multiple showtimes for the movie beginning Thursday. A representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read Harkins' tweet here
Los Angeles' Laemmle Theatres chain also said on its website and Twitter that it plans to open "The Interview" on Dec. 31. An earlier tweet said the firm had prior commitments on Christmas Day.
Co-director and actor Seth Rogen said in a tweet that "The Interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it on Xmas day!"
Read Rogen's tweet here
Lead actor James Franco also tweeted "VICTORY!!!!!!! The PEOPLE and THE PRESIDENT have spoken!!!"
Read Franco's tweet here
Forrester analyst James McQuivey said the move was "too little, too late," to make Sony "look courageous" and that it should take the offensive in a cyberwar.
"Really the distribution plan is more of a token than anything else," he said. "If they really want to (be bold) they should put this movie on the Internet for free."
A group that claimed responsibility for the massive computer hack at Sony Pictures in early December demanded the company cancel the release of the film, a comedy that depicts an assassination plot against North Korea's leader.
Read MoreSony pulls 'The Interview'; the Internet reacts
Last Wednesday, Sony announced that it would delay the release of "The Interview" after major U.S. movie theater chains decided not to screen the film, citing safety concerns.
—With reporting by CNBC's Julia Boorstin. CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld contributed to this report.
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fb51072a2b41b97928783e1f34577b01 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/23/tripadvisor-fined-600000-for-fake-reviews.html | TripAdvisor fined $600,000 for fake reviews | TripAdvisor fined $600,000 for fake reviews
Italy's antitrust authority has fined travel planning website TripAdvisor 500,000 euros ($600,000) following complaints of improper business practices lodged by a national hoteliers' association and a consumer protection agency.
Read MoreTripAdvisor couple fined by hotel for review
sborisov | iStock / Getty Images Plus | Getty Images
The antitrust authority said in a statement Monday that TripAdvisor had failed to adopt controls to prevent false reviews, while at the same time promoting the site's content as "authentic and genuine." It has given TripAdvisor 90 days to present a remedy.
The Federalberghi federation of hoteliers welcomed the decision, citing the numerous examples of "defamatory" reviews that have appeared on the site.
Read MoreTripAdvisor CEO: Focused on growth, not earnings
TripAdvisor said in a statement that it would appeal the findings, saying it believed its processes, which include a team to detect fraudsters as well as automated tools and algorithms, were "extremely effective in protecting consumers from the small minority of people who try to cheat our system."
"We firmly believe that TripAdvisor is a force for good—both for consumers and the hospitality industry," the company said.
A U.K. regulator has previously said that TripAdvisor must stop claiming that all the reviews on its British site were written by independent travelers, and therefore reliable.
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8aeb76b0c6693fee2ca5bed9dafbfe58 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/24/wait-they-sell-uggs-for-men.html | Wait, they sell Uggs for Men? | Wait, they sell Uggs for Men?
Desiree Navarro | WireImage | Getty Images
Twice this past week, I've heard the phrase, "Wait, they sell Uggs for men?"
Yes. UGG sells products for men. (And Deckers Outdoor, which owns the brand, wants you to know that it's called UGG—singular in all-caps—not Uggs or UGGs or any other version.)
As my colleague Krystina Gustafson wrote before:
And after signing NFL quarterback Tom Brady to represent the company's men's product in 2010, the category's sales have risen 140 percent to account for 15 percent of the business-a number (Decker CEO Angel) Martinez thinks could rise to 20 percent. Although at first some men were "poo-pooing" the idea of UGG being a men's brand, Brady's role—as well as women who bought men's slippers for their significant others—jumpstarted sales.
While the company doesn't disclose its men's sales in specific on a yearly basis, it did say that of the brand's $1.3 billion in revenue last year, over 10 percent was on its men's products. They point out that it's more than just slippers—in fact, slippers are a minority of men's sales now, as loungewear and footwear have taken over in popularity.
Read MoreWhere Christmas is most loved—and hated—in the US
Speaking more to its growth, most of the men's loungewear is sold out on the UGG website heading into the Christmas holiday. The Colton loungewear pant is number one at Nordstrom, and footwear items like the Hannen, Munro and Leighton are selling well. So yes, now you know. Don't be surprised the next time you hear it. You don't have to buy them, but please just know they exist.
It might only get worse. The company forecasts a doubling of its men's business in the next five years. Come Christmas 2019, we'll know whether that prophecy turned out to be true or not.
Read More'Boho Chic or 90s Glam'? The geography of style
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809a743f13a8fc5905e17958c6935a11 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/26/apps-for-the-workplace-2015.html | The Tech Bet | The Tech Bet
VIDEO3:1003:10Apps to assist you at workMobile
Smartphones, smartwatches and other devices are designed to make things more convenient for our daily lives but choosing which apps to use may seem daunting. Donald Brady, principal of Deloitte Digital, has chosen two apps to help employees get work done faster and more efficiently.
Motorola Moto 360 Android Wear watchGetty Images
Brady recommends ShiftExpert from ClickSoftware. The app, for wearable devices, lets employees clock in and out of shifts and add data to time sheets. Employees are able to trade shifts, manage vacations and view overtime, all from a smartwatch.
Read MoreRetailers still haven't figured out mobile
Brady also likes Evernote.
The existing Evernote app has rivals, in particular, from Google Keep and Springpad. All three apps allow employees to create and save notes on the go, but Evernote has gone the extra mile and has been customized for wearables.
The Evernote app can be downloaded on smartwatches and smartglasses (including Google Glass) to keep employees organized on the move.
Splunk App for Enterprise Security, the new Google Apps, SpeechTrans and Microsoft Office Suite are also on Brady's hot list.
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7fc671cdc432827a1e85a17d85bcd3cb | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/26/florida.html | Medicaid expansion effort in Florida could get sunnier in 2015 | Medicaid expansion effort in Florida could get sunnier in 2015
Winter has just started, but the heat could be rising soon on Florida to expand its Medicaid program under Obamacare.
Florida so far has resisted calls and significant financial incentives to expand Medicaid eligibility for nearly all poor adults—a move that could offer health coverage to 670,000 or more currently uninsured people in the state.
People speak with an agent as they discuss plans available from the Affordable Care Act in the Mall of the Americas in Miami.Getty Images
Florida and Texas, which itself has a million or so people who could potentially benefit from such a step, are the biggest of the 16 remaining states that have yet to either expand or be in active discussions to adopt expanded Medicaid benefits.
But the Sunshine State may be more inclined than it has been to expand Medicaid in 2015 because of several factors. Not the least of those is the risk of losing or seeing a reduction in more than $2 billion in federal health funding, and the guarantee of having about $5 billion in other federal money pumped into the state to pay for new benefits each year.
There is also a new signal from a major business organization that the time is right for Florida to join the growing trend of states expanding Medicaid.
If Florida flips, "it would be a big deal," said Joan Alker, executive director at the Center for Children and Families and research associate professor at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute.
Read MoreHealthCare.gov hit 6.4M in sign-ups
"I think it's possible, and I would not have said that last year," said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association, when asked about that happening next year. "I think there's clearly growing support for it, and the business community has figured out that it only makes sense for Florida."
The association is part of a coalition of more than 700 businesses and groups called "A Healthy Florida Works" pushing for such an expansion, albeit one that would add features such as premiums for some newly eligible beneficiaries.
The Affordable Care Act originally mandated that all states would have to expand their jointly run state-federal Medicaid programs to provide health coverage to adults earning below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $16,100 annually.
Read MoreHe beat Obamacare deadline. Did you?
In return for this expansion, which would encompass millions more people beyond those already eligible for traditional Medicaid, the federal government said it would pay 100 percent of the costs of insuring the newly eligible for the first three years, and then would gradually reduce that amount to no less than 90 percent. But a 2012 Supreme Court decision left expansion up to individual states.
Spurred by opposition to Obamacare generally, and by a reluctance in a number of states to give health benefits to working age adults as well as a concerns about added costs to state budgets, more than half the states at first did not expand.
VIDEO2:0202:02Can Congress fix Obamacare? Squawk Box
However, in the past year, there has been added momentum toward expansion. Pennsylvania's newly expanded program starts next week, and in the past two months governors in Wyoming, Tennessee and Alaska have moved to expand Medicaid.
Spurring that trend has been a desire to tap billions in federal funds to cover the costs of providing care to currently uninsured people. There also has been concern that millions of poor adults, many of them with jobs, don't earn enough to qualify for financial assistance to buy private Obamacare plans, which is available to those who make between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Georgetown's Alker said she expects that all states will eventually follow suit because of those factors. But she admitted to be "a little bit surprised" by how quickly the pace has picked up in 2014.
Florida might be another surprise next year, although it will require action from a legislature that has opposed such a move in the past.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce told CNBC it its taking "a fresh look" at Medicaid expansion and is moving to change its current position on the issue.
Chamber spokeswoman Edie Ousley said the group has always supported the idea of expanding Medicaid benefits as a way to ease insurance premiums on businesses and individuals. But that support has been tied to a list of prerequisites such as limits on medical malpractice suits and other conditions dear to the business community.
Florida Gov. Rick ScottGetty Images
But in a pivot, the chamber could soon remove those conditions that the legislature already hasn't already addressed, Ousley said.
"Our members will be voting on their official position in the coming weeks," she said. "We're moving toward a clear support."
And in a letter last week to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson wrote, "We believe the time is right to reopen the conversation with elected leaders and work toward providing coverage to approximately 800,000 Floridians by incorporating flexible solutions."
The "flexible solutions" refer to several states, among them Pennsylvania, that have been allowed to add some features to their Medicaid expansion program that were not originally part of the federal government's plan. Such features include the design of benefits and cost structures, including imposing modest premiums and co-payments on some program enrollees and buying coverage for beneficiaries from insurers.
Those "solutions" have been especially popular among Republican governors who want to avoid seeming as if they are embracing Obamacare, while at the same time accessing the additional federal funding that comes from expanding Medicaid.
Read MoreObamacare, Round 2: Supreme Court hearing March 4
The chamber's Wilson, in his letter to Burwell cited the "hidden tax of $1.4 billion" that Floridians pay in higher health insurance premiums "to cover those who see care without insurance," equating to $1,700 to $2,200 for every insured admission to the hospital. He also mentioned the estimated $50 billion in federal funding that would flow into the state through 2021 if it expanded Medicaid.
"The Florida Chamber encourage[s] you to send the proper signals to the Florida legislature that you are willing to entertain flexible solutions to expanding coverage," Wilson wrote.
Wilson's letter also contains an entire paragraph about the more than $2 billion that the federal government currently provides to hospitals as a "low-income pool" that compensates them for treating uninsured people. Wilson's letter noted that the low-income pool payment is due to expire on July 1.
Last year, Florida had asked that the federal government to more than double that funding to $4.5 billion. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted the state only $2.17 billion. CMS also told the state that the authority for that payment was only being extended into 2015, not the three years sought by the state.
CMS, in a letter to the state, said the one-year extension would give hospitals "stability" as Florida transitions its statewide Medicaid program to "managed care, while allowing the state to move toward a significantly reformed Medicaid payment system." Managed care organizations provide benefits to Medicaid enrollees.
While Florida will ask for another extension of the funding authority, Alker said she believes that CMS' refusal in 2014 to extend the funding authority for more than a year "was a signal by the federal government that they're not going to extend this [program] in its current form when there is Medicaid expansion on the table, and your state is rejecting it."
But the Florida Hospital Association's Reuben said, "I don't see this as the federal government trying to push Florida toward Medicaid expansion."
However, Reuben also said that the fact that the funding expires next summer, after the legislature meets to set the budget in March, introduces uncertainty into those budget calculations because legislators won't know whether that $2 billion will be replaced by CMS next year.
"Leaving that hole in the budget is a problem," Reuben said.
Even with that funding, there is another $3 billion in uncompensated care provided by hospitals that could be offset by expanding Medicaid, he said.
Josh Archambault, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability, was highly skeptical that Florida would join the ranks of 27 states and the District of Columbia that have expanded Medicaid.
"Florida would not be in my top third of states that I would expect to expand next year," Archambault said. "In Florida, everything has to go through the legislature."
In the recent fall elections, Gov. Rick Scott won re-election and Republicans retained control of both houses in the legislature, which in the past has refused to adopt Medicaid expansion.
Scott, who originally opposed expansion, later nominally supported it, but hasn't lobbied the legislature to adopt it. When asked for his current position on Medicaid expansion, a Scott spokeswoman, Jeri Bustamante, said only, "We are proud that we already have historic Medicaid reforms in Florida. We received a waiver from the federal government to make our systems more accessible and affordable to low-income people who most need access to high-quality medical care."
Archambault, whose foundation is based in Florida, said legislators there have told him they want to protect beneficiaries already covered by Medicaid, and oppose expanding the program to able-bodied, working age adults.
He also said legislators are "closely watching" the actions of the Republicans in Congress to see if they move to reduce the federal government's funding for the newly eligible under Medicaid, which would reduce the incentive to adopt expansion.
Archambault said, "I don't think that all of a sudden a wild swing is going to happen" in Florida.
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096decf3149fa45af616ddce5c3055cd | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/26/save-no-more-are-japanese-turning-spendthrift.html | Save no more? Are Japanese turning spendthrift? | Save no more? Are Japanese turning spendthrift?
Indeed | Getty Images
The Japanese spent more than they saved in the 12 months ended March 2014, the first time that's happened since the data set began in 1955, with the savings rate at a negative 1.3 percent in the last fiscal year.
"It's something to keep an eye out for in the medium-term because Japan's debt has been funded domestically, and very cheaply. But foreign investors would require a more appropriate risk premium," said Toru Yamamoto, Daiwa' Securities chief rates strategist.
Japan has quite a bit of debt, with the country's debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) at over 220 percent, one of the highest in the world, financed by the domestic savers and Japanese government bond (JGB) investors at some of the lowest interest rates globally.
Read More Japan data shows Abenomics still struggling
On Thursday, the yield on 10-year JGBs fell to 0.305 percent, a record low. By contrast, the historical low for Germany's 10-year yield is 0.565 percent, hit earlier this month, with the country's debt-to-GDP ratio at around 80 percent. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield is around 2.26 percent, with an around 106 percent debt-to-GDP ratio.
Still, "for now we can't see where the floor is for government bond yields," said Yamamoto.The JGB markets are a flush with money provided by the Bank of Japan's quantitative easing program, he said, adding everyone is buying some JGBs because they need to roll over redemptions. "It all adds up and pushes yields down yet further," he said.
On October 31, the central bank surprised the markets by expanding its annual JGB purchases to 80 trillion yen, from 50 trillion yen, and extended the duration of bonds it holds to about 7-10 years.
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ebc70462b7ecafc9f26981a55c1c1132 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/26/the-nine-biggest-tech-flubs-of-2014.html | The nine biggest tech flubs of 2014 | The nine biggest tech flubs of 2014
From massive data breaches to company scandal, there was no shortage of tech failures in 2014. Check out some of the biggest blunders in tech below.
Getty Images
The Japanese-based bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox was once considered one of the biggest trading platforms for the cryptocurrency. But in March, the exchange lost 850,000 bitcoins belonging to 127,000 customers.
Later that month, about 200,000 bitcoins were recovered, but the rest are still missing. The company blamed the incident on a bug in the cryptocurrency's framework that enabled hackers to steal the virtual money.
Read More Mt.Gox says it found 200,000 bitcoins in 'forgotten' wallet
Amazon's 3-D Fire smartphone.Justin Solomon | CNBC
The hype leading to the launch of Amazon's first smartphone in June was huge. But the company's gimmicky phone failed to impress either consumers or critics. The company was betting the phone's 3-D display would be a strong selling point, but alas, such was not the case.
Amazon has not disclosed how many phones it has sold, but the company dramatically slashed the cost of the device and reported a $170 million write-down in October.
Getty Images
Start-up Uber began the year as a still-emerging company, and ended 2014 a $40 billion tech and transportation behemoth.
That said, public relations doesn't seem to be Uber's strong suit, and the accumulations of mishaps have unquestionably damaged the company.
Flash points have included regulatory problems and allegations that it investigated journalists. (The company denies the allegations.) Add to that a general impression that CEO Travis Kalanick is aloof to public concerns—even by Silicon Valley standards—and it makes sense that the company would hire former Obama adviser David Plouffe to help smooth out its image.
Read MoreHow Uber's $40 billion could become a problem
Source: Heartbleed.com
The so-called "Heartbleed" bug was discovered in April and quickly became everyone's problem.
The bug was found in OpenSSL software, which is an encryption service used by most websites, and was a security hole that hackers could use to steal personal information.
Heartbleed forced the masses to have to change their passwords and even pushed tech giants like Google and Yahoo to add extra protections against the flaw.
Read More Ignored Heartbleed? You're a hacker's perfect prey
Source: gotinder.com
Executives at the hot dating app Tinder found themselves in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons when co-founder Whitney Wolfe filed an ugly sexual harassment lawsuit against the company.
Wolfe alleged that co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, who was also her former boyfriend, "subjected [her] to a barrage of horrendously sexist, racist and otherwise inappropriate comments, emails and text messages."
Mateen was suspended and the lawsuit was settled in September for $1 million without an admission of wrongdoing. Rad was forced to step down as CEO, although he still serves as president of Tinder and a member of the board.
VIDEO1:5901:59Tinder's Sean Rad demoted from CEO to presidentClosing Bell
People walk by a sign in front of a Home Depot store in El Cerrito, Calif.Getty Images
Data breaches at major retailers did not slow down in 2014. And Home Depot's massive breach topped the list when it came to the size of impact.
Read More As cyberthreats increase, big money chases patches
The company said in September that hackers had gained access to card information for about 50 million customers. And in November it said that about 53 million customer email addresses were also exposed as a result of the breach.
Jennifer LawrenceGetty Images
Hackers posted nude photos of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities on the Internet after stealing their personal pictures from their iCloud accounts.
The incident couldn't have been more ill timed. The images surfaced about a week ahead of Apple's iPhone 6 event where it showed off its new devices and its new mobile payment system, Apple Pay.
While Apple denied that it has weak security that enabled the hackers to steal personal information, it added new features that would help keep hackers out of others' accounts after the breach.
Read More What Apple should do about cyberattacks
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella addresses the media in New Delhi, September 30, 2014.Adnan Abidi | Reuters
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mastered the foot-in-mouth syndrome when he advised women to have "faith" in the system rather than ask for pay raises.
During an interview at the Grace Hopper Conference, Nadella was asked about his thoughts on what women should do if they are not comfortable asking for a raise. His answer landed him in some hot water.
Read More What would Microsoft CEO's daughters say?
"It's not really about asking for the raise but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises 0as you go along," Nadella said.
"And that I think might be one of the additional superpowers that, quite frankly, women who don't ask for a raise have. Because that's good karma. It'll come back, because somebody is going to know that is the kind of person that I want to trust," he added.
Nadella later formally apologized, admitting that he answered the question "completely wrong."
Read More Microsoft CEO apologizes for gender pay gap comments
Movie posters for the film 'The Interview'AFP | Getty Images
Lastly, the Sony Pictures hack was one for the books.
From embarrassing emails to personal information about employees and celebrities, the breach, which U.S. officials say was engineered by the North Korean government, led to a huge amount of sensitive data being published on the Internet.
Read More Sony hack reveals a new cold war—are you ready?
Hackers said the breach was in response to Sony's movie "The Interview," a spoof that includes a fictional plot to the assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
After threats surfaced of attacks on movie theaters showing the film, Sony initially said it would delay the release. But Sony backtracked and released the film to more than 300 independent movie theaters.
Read More Sony Pictures OKs Christmas Day opening for 'The Interview'
"We have never given up on releasing 'The Interview,' and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day," Sony Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement.
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5f7da6095ed385425ab6793ffe95cf5c | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/28/hackers-claim-to-have-exposed-sony-playstation-personal-data.html | Hackers claim to have exposed Sony, PlayStation personal data | Hackers claim to have exposed Sony, PlayStation personal data
Xbox OneMicrosoft
A group of hackers who may have had a hand in taking both Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox offline on Christmas Day appears to have released a repository containing 13,000 user passwords and credit cards.
In a tweet dated Dec. 26, a Twitter feed belonging to "AnonymousGlobo" posted a URL that was said to contain the personal data of approximately 13,000 users. The group claimed to have released the information "for the Lulz" —Internet slang for humor or laughs.
Anonymous tweet
In addition, Anonymous claimed to have leaked a host of games, as well as a downloaded version of "The Interview," Sony's controversial buddy comedy that has sparked a global firestorm.
On Christmas Day, thousands of gamers took to social media to complain about service problems. Sony and Microsoft neither confirmed nor denied that their gaming systems had been hacked. However, the companies issued service warnings that only confirmed users were having network issues.
On Sunday, Sony did not immediately return a request for comment.
"We have no evidence of a security breach in Xbox Live services. Microsoft takes the security of our customers' data very seriously," a Microsoft official said, advising members to visit the Xbox Live security page to learn how to better protect their accounts.
An obscure hacker group calling itself Lizard Squad has been claiming responsibility on Twitter for both attacks.
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6adf87b369a259deb642c8d69c2ce897 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/an-unlikely-ally-in-minimum-wage-fight-millionaires.html | An unlikely ally in minimum-wage fight: Millionaires | An unlikely ally in minimum-wage fight: Millionaires
As 21 states prepare to raise the minimum wage in 2015—eight more than last year—there's one ally of America's working poor that may surprise you: millionaires.
Sixty-two percent of America's millionaires support raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, according to the recently released CNBC Millionaire Survey.
Fast-food workers and activists demonstrate outside the McDonald's corporate campus in Oak Brook, Illinois,calling for a minimum wage of $15 per hour and offer better working conditions for employees.Scott Olson | Getty Images News
The results suggest a near-unanimous belief that, even among those opposed to raising the wage to $10.10, the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is too low. Ninety-one percent of millionaires think the current federal minimum wage is too low.
The CNBC Millionaire Survey numbers are in line with the way America's total population feels about raising the minimum wage. Sixty-five percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage, according to most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll.
Read MoreWho America's millionaires want for the next US president
Thirteen U.S. states lifted the minimum wage in 2014, up from 10 in 2013 and 8 in 2012. Documents leaked last week show that Wal-Mart Stores, the largest corporate employer in the U.S., is adjusting its pay scale in an attempt to minimize the impact of the widespread minimum-wage increases planned for next year.
When asked, "What is a fair minimum wage?" only 47 of the 500 millionaires surveyed gave a number at or below the current federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. All other respondents gave a fair wage above the federal minimum, with 38 percent saying the wage should be higher than the $10.10 wage proposed by President Obama in his State of the Union Address in January.
The survey revealed a divide among political lines when it comes to raising the federal minimum wage: Support from 93 percent of millionaire Democrats, 59 percent of Independents and 39 percent of Republicans.
Whether support from the wealthy for a higher minimum wage is a matter of conviction or misunderstanding remains open to debate.
"I think these respondents just aren't aware of where the starting line is," said George Walper, CEO of Spectrem Group, which polled 500 Americans with investable assets of $1 million or more for CNBC. "They support raising the wage to $10 an hour because they don't realize it's so low to begin with," Walper said. "If we had framed it as 'Do you support a 30 or 40 percent increase in the minimum wage?' we might have had more people saying no."
Millionaires believe that most states also have a minimum wage that is too low. Currently, 23 states have a minimum wage above the federal minimum, with the highest state minimum in Washington State at $9.32/hour. Two- thirds of the millionaires surveyed in those 23 states believe in a fair minimum wage above $10. In New York, where the minimum wage is $8/hour, 48 percent of respondents said a fair minimum wage is above $12.
In Texas, where the state minimum is the same as the federal, 76 percent of respondents said a fair wage is $8 or higher. In Pennsylvania, which also uses the federal minimum, 97 percent said a fair wage is above $8, and 42 percent said more than $12 is fair.
Despite the widespread agreement on the issue among a politically active segment of Americans (93 percent of millionaires say they voted in the 2014 midterm elections), it may not translate into a push for action from Congress on a higher federal minimum wage.
Only 12 percent of millionaires said raising the wage should be Congress' top priority next year. The issue landed a distant fourth place behind corporate tax reform (24 percent), immigration reform (22 percent) and repealing the Affordable Care Act (20 percent).
Read MoreWhat America's millionaires expect in 2015
Along party lines, only 4 percent of Republicans and only 7 percent of Independents say raising the wage should be the top priority. For Democrats, it tied for the most important issue with immigration reform (26 percent each).
Walper maintained that the support for a higher minimum wage doesn't reflect a deep understanding of the issue's details. "The topic is extremely emotional and political, but we can't say with any degree of confidence that people understand what their state's minimum wage actually is," he said, adding, "Instead, they're responding based on what seems intuitively fair."
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4980bf53baa322ac3472875c8df189a5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/hearables--the-next-big-thing-in-wearable-tech.html | Hearables - the next big thing in wearable tech | Hearables - the next big thing in wearable tech
Taxi Japan | Getty Images
Forget smartwatches and the Google Glass - 2015 may be the year of the ear for wearable technology.
"There's some interesting information you can capture through the ear. We've been looking at things like wrist wearables, but the ear can capture things like oxygen levels, electrocardiograms, and body temperature," Craig Stires, associate vice president for big data, analytics and software at IDC Asia Pacific, told CNBC last week.
Hearable technology alone will be a $5 billion market by 2018 - that's roughly the same size of the entire wearables industry presently - according to Nick Hunn, founder and chief technology officer of U.K. firm Wifore Consulting.
Read MoreBlue-collarbusinesses embrace wearable technology
Proponents of the wearable tech phenomenon attribute its popularity to successful integration into the flow of daily life, creating a "synced lifestyle," research firm PSFK said in its 'Future of Wearable Tech' report this year. This logic has seen the domain of wearable tech mostly fall on body parts with the most obvious link to fashion, such as the wrist, eyes and feet, seen through smartwatches developed by Apple and Samsung and navigation-equipped smart shoes like India-based Ducere's Lechal model.
However, brands may be overlooking one key fact, Hunn said. "Sound drives the bulk of our technology use and earbuds are the only piece of wearable tech to have gained ubiquity and social acceptance. These devices are about to undergo a revolution in capability, getting rid of their cables and giving them the opportunity to be the standard bearer for wearable technology," he wrote in a report earlier this year.
One key advantage hearables have over other wearable peers is their discretion. Ear devices can be small in nature, thus giving its users greater discretion, as opposed to bulky smartwatches or the unavoidable Google Glass.
VIDEO0:4700:47Wearable 3-D mouse, Mycestro: First impression Tech Drivers
For now, hearables look set to follow the fitness trend seen in the wider wearables market. Fitness wearables are forecast to reach 68.1 million units in 2015 and 91.3 million in 2016, according to statistics from Gartner.
German firm Bragi introduced the world's first wireless smart in-ear headphones that play music and gives you feedback on exercise sessions. CEO Nikolaj Hviid told CNBC back in June that the product was essentially a self-contained system.
"It's a really small computer that sits in your ear. It will entertain you and advise you what to do better, and exercise right. It senses your movements, heart rate, blood flow, blood pressure and respiration rate. It takes all that data, processes it and gives you feedback via voice," he said.
Read MoreWhyfashion is key in the wearable-tech craze
IDC's Stires believes Apple could be a leading player in the hearable sector: "With Apple's $3.2 billion acquisition of Beats, I think we're going to see Apple release some pretty interesting audible next year."
Not too long after rumors of Apple's deal surfaced in May, Intel teamed up with famed U.S. rapper 50 Cent in August to develop smart earbuds that track a listener's health metrics while playing music.
Hearables won't be limited to just earphones however. Earlier this year, Canadian start-up BioSensive Technologies introduced a 'smart earring' able to monitor an individual's heart rate and health activity.
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5a95aa3547b3428d8889332ebba6e589 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/libya-could-be-turning-point-in-oil-rout-pro.html | Oil hits fresh five-year low, looks past Libya | Oil hits fresh five-year low, looks past Libya
VIDEO2:2202:22Time to buy energy sector?
Oil prices got a temporary boost Monday from fresh concerns over Libya's ability to bring oil to market, but prices reversed and U.S. crude futures hit a new five-year low.
The Libyan crisis escalated as the conflict among militias roiled the OPEC-member nation. The strife could create a turning point in the monthslong rout of the oil market that has seen prices plunge as much as 50 percent, Francisco Blanch, head of commodities at Bank of America, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday.
"I do think Libya is a very important supplier. The return of Libya is what started the rout downwards in the first place, so I think if we do see Libya offline for the majority of 2015, it could provide a lot of support to prices here," he said.
But the glut of oil in world markets has been weighing on markets, and OPEC has vowed not to cut production as prices fall. "The market continues to react to the oversupply in crude oil and the reiteration by the Saudis that they're not cutting production," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
West Texas Intermediate futures for February fell to $53.12 per barrel, breaking through an earlier 2014 low and its lowest price since May 2009.
"We're going to see $50 in the next couple of weeks for WTI," Lipow said. "This could be the first December since 2005 that crude inventories will have risen, when we normally expect a drawdown as oil companies meet their LIFO targets."
Read MoreBottom on oil's plunge unknown: Expert
Black smoke billows out of a storage oil tank in the port of Es Sider in Ras Lanuf December 25, 2014. A rocket hit a storage tank at the eastern Libyan oil of port Es Sider as armed factions allied to competing governments fought for control of the country's biggest export terminal, officials said on Thursday.Reuters
Fighting has shut down Libya's largest ports at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. A fire caused by a rocket attack last week destroyed 800,000 barrels of crude—more than two days' of the country's production—Libyan officials said on Sunday.
Libya is now producing just 128,000 barrels of oil per day, Reuters reported. Lipow said about 500,000 barrels of Libya crude have come off the market recently.
BofA estimates the world market is oversupplied by about 1 million to 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, Blanch said. The big supply surplus will come in the second quarter of the year, when demand comes down seasonally, he added.
Blanch projects that Brent crude will rebound after that to $80 per barrel by the end of 2015. The price of benchmark futures fell to $57.46, the lowest since May 26, 2009,when it touched $55.91.
Brent futures had been trading above $60 a barrel earlier Monday on the Libyan news.
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a9b3814c2f333b419085dc7fd036c399 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/million-dollar-homes-most-expensive-house-edition.html | Million-dollar homes: Most expensive house edition | Million-dollar homes: Most expensive house edition
VIDEO3:4803:48Multi-Million Dollar Homes: Rugged Ranch vs. Southern BelleClosing Bell
VIDEO4:0004:00Multi-Million Dollar Homes: Southern Belle vs. Museum MansionStreet Signs
VIDEO1:3001:30Multi-Million Dollar Homes: Southern Belle vs. Party PadPower Lunch
VIDEO4:0404:04Million Dollar Homes: Waterside Wonder vs. Southern Belle
VIDEO4:1004:10Million dollar face off: Waterside Wonder vs. Sky High LuxeSquawk Box
While the vast majority of the housing market continues to recover in fits and starts, the highest end is in high gear. Sales of million- and multimillion-dollar homes, which account for less than 2 percent of the market, are soaring. Contrary to popular belief, it is not all foreign cash fueling the frenzy.
"Eighty percent of the New York City market is driven by the New York City economy," said Will Zeckendorf, a real estate developer and owner of Halstead Property, a real estate brokerage firm, in a recent interview on CNBC. Zeckendorf is about to list a triplex penthouse in his new building at 520 Park Avenue. Asking price: A record $130 million.
This Waterside Wonder, listed for $13,750,000, resides on 11.25 acres of shoreline.Lila Delman Real Estate
The same could be said of the high end in the land of high tech. Supply-constrained San Francisco boasts a median home price of about a million dollars, five times the national median value. That makes the ultra-high end even more commonplace. Prices are driven entirely by the local economy.
So why is the high end doing so well now nationally? It could be the soaring stock market, or a generally better sentiment about the overall economy. It could also be as simple as more high-end listings.
Read MoreMillion-dollar homes: Home for the holidays
The number of for-sale listings in the top tier of the market are up 82 percent compared to a year ago, while overall inventory is up just 16 percent, according to a report in November from Zillow, a real estate company.
Read MoreMillion-dollar homes: The alma mater edition
Whether you're in the market for a multimillion-dollar mansion in the sky and/or on the shore, or whether you just love real estate porn, check out CNBC's latest for its Million Dollar Home Series: Most expensive house edition.
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f53513af2f8e77aecabf0ce8d635e7a4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/perfect-economic-mix-set-to-boost-housing-in-2015.html | Perfect economic mix set to boost housing in 2015 | Perfect economic mix set to boost housing in 2015
VIDEO2:4002:40This sector could spell opportunity in 2015Options Action
After a few so-so years, the housing market and related stocks could be primed for a big 2015.
Next year is shaping up to be one of those rare times when strong economic growth is accompanied by low interest rates, the perfect mix for these names, according to a historical study of stock prices using Kensho, a quantitative tool used by hedge funds.
CNBC looked at the periods since 1980 when GDP was above 2 percent, yet the 10-year Treasury yield remained under 2.5 percent. In total, there has been about one year or four quarters of time when both these conditions were met and homebuilder stocks were far and away the standouts among stocks in the S&P 500.
PulteGroup posted a 15 percent average return during these strong growth, low rate periods. Lennar averaged a gain of 10 percent. D.R. Horton posted an 8.7 percent average return. The iShares Home Construction ETF, in which those stocks are the three largest holdings, put up a 7.6 percent average return.
Masco, which makes faucets, cabinets and windows, posted an 8.4 percent gain, on average.
Following a monster run in 2012 and early 2013 after the excess of the financial crisis was worked off, the construction ETF is little changed over the last year and a half. It's been the same pattern for S&P Homebuilders SPDR ETF.
Housing stocks have "been unexciting and dull the past two years," wrote Carter Worth, chief market technician for Sterne Agee, in a note to clients Monday. "We believe many homebuilding/home furnishing/building product stocks are about to come to life."
Worth believes the group fits the classic technical pattern of a "cup and handle," among others, and therefore primed for a breakout.
Source: Sterne Agee
Fundamental analysts like the stocks heading into the new year as well with the group, on average, having an "overweight" rating on Lennar, D.R. Horton and Pultegroup, according to Factset.
"Low investor expectations make builder stocks attractive," wrote Deutsche Bank's Nishu Sood in a note to clients Monday.
Deutsche Bank believes investors are ignoring the stocks because there isn't a "strong, unequivocal, accelerating housing recovery," yet the companies should benefit through decent volume growth, strong margins and share buybacks.
Data today on home prices and Wednesday on volume fit the modest but growing theme.
The Case-Shiller Home Prices index rose by 4.7 percent year-over-year in October, according to economists. Pending home sales for November tallied a slight, 0.5 percent increase, economists expect.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was most recently at 2.2 percent, down from near 3 percent to start 2014. A revision of third-quarter GDP last week showed that growth was a monster 5 percent. Economists subsequently raised their expectations for 2015.
—CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is a minority investor in Kensho.
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8f2c5bdd6e7102461bc30214de772169 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/29/winter-heating-unheated-nyc-apartments-use-technology-to-record-temperatures.html | What to do when you're freezing in NYC—indoors | What to do when you're freezing in NYC—indoors
VIDEO2:0702:07No more freezing in their apartments
In New York City, it can be hard for some people to keep the heat on inside their own apartments. But a start-up is trying to help apartment dwellers fix the problem.
Every year, authorities in New York City receive more than 200,000 heating-related complaints. Building managers are required by law to maintain minimum temperatures of 68 degrees during the day and 55 degrees at night, but it doesn't always happen. Many apartment tenants are left shivering in their homes anyway.
Getting anything done about the problem can be an excruciating process for tenants. Battling a landlord in court requires tenants to keep "heat logs" that record the temperature inside and outside their apartments every hour.
Heat Seek, a non-profit start-up, is looking to help tenants fight back. Heat Seek is designed to help tenants by giving them web-enabled sensors that track temperatures and automatically record when an apartment is in violation of heating laws.
Read MoreThe world's best — and worst — housing markets
The company, which was sparked by a project from classmates at Flatiron School, a New York-based college for computer programmers, won a coding competition called BigApps Battleground and rose more than $15,000 on Kickstarter.
For Harlem resident Rebecca Sharp, who said she has spent the last two years battling her landlord in court over heat and other basic services, Heat Seek couldn't come soon enough.
"It's like the answer to a prayer, really, because it's almost impossible to get a violation for heat," she said. "People just give up, because it can seem like you're at the bottom of a huge mountain of stuff that has to be done."
An email from CNBC to attorneys for Sharp's landlord went unanswered.
A man holds an electric heater in his freezing apartment in the Rockaways after losing heat following Hurricane Sandy on January 25, 2013 in New York City.Getty Images
In the first week the sensors were installed in her building, the tool recorded data indicating multiple heating violations.
But as much as the tool could mean to tenants, Heat Seek maintains that its product can be just as useful for the other side.
Read MoreHome builders' new sweet spot: the 55-plus crowd
"For building owners, it can also be a cost-savings tool," said Heat Seek's community outreach director, Noelle Francois. "Or maybe you need to engage in some weatherization so that the building is staying more evenly heated."
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced a partnership this year that will bring the sensors to 10 buildings in that borough.
"[It's] an incredible technology that allows good landlords to see where they're losing heat," he said.
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592409f8c9be8ce9a7640239906d49c4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/30/annual-ipad-sales-expected-to-fall-for-first-time.html | Annual iPad sales expected to fall for first time | Annual iPad sales expected to fall for first time
As the calendar year comes to a close, full-year Apple iPad sales are expected to decline for the first time in the tablet's five-year history, according to a new report.
ABI Research on Tuesday forecast for iPad sales to reach about 68 million in 2014, down from the 74 million units sold in 2013.
Read MoreHere's how big Apple's Christmas was
"Historically, Apple has counted approximately 35 percent of its iPad sales in the last calendar quarter of the year," says Jeff Orr, senior practice director of ABI. "Unless Apple can pull off a 32-plus million-unit quarter, sales for CY2014 will be down for the first year since the iPad launched."
Along with Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google are also expected to post year-over-year declines in branded tablet unit volume.
An Apple Inc. employee scans the price of an iPad Air at the 5th Avenue Apple store in New York.Craig Warga | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On the other hand, Samsung, the second-largest tablet vendor, is forecast o ship around 43 million tablets in 2014, better than the 38 million shipped in the previous calendar year. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG and Microsoft are also forecast to end higher the year higher.
Comparing tablet operating systems, Android continues to gain share with an expected 54 percent of branded tablets including the Google OS in 2014 while iOS falls to 41 percent and Windows 8 trails at 5 percent of shipments, the report said.
The research firm sees overall tablet sales growing some 16 percent year over year to 194 million in 2015. The growth trend is expected to continue over the next five years with a forecast of nearly 290 million tablet shipments in 2019.
According to ABI, reasons for tablet's growth comeback include:
1. A broader tablet adoption by businesses for the "clipboard workforce"
2. Clearer, tiered product portfolios from leading manufactures
3. Benefits-oriented marketing messaging by vendors to reach laggard adopters in the most mature market economies
VIDEO1:3701:37Troubling story for tablets?Squawk Alley
This Christmas saw a major jump in phablet sales, but the increase came at the expense of full-size tablets. In the seven days leading up to Christmas, 11 percent of new device activations were full-size tablets, down from 11 percent in 2013, according to a separate report from marketing analytics firm Flurry.
Small tablets accounted for 11 percent of Christmas day activations, down modestly from 12 percent last year.
"App developers should take into account the fact that larger screens are becoming the primary device; it's not just the secondary prime-time tablet anymore," Flurry said in a blogpost Tuesday.
Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, the company's smartphone-tablet hybrid, was one of the top five devices activated for Christmas, according to a separate report from marketing analytics firm Flurry.
CNBC has a content-sharing relationship with Flurry's parent company, Yahoo.
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c774758d35177695d63c81c310057679 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/30/ebolas-patient-zero-a-boy-playing-around-a-tree.html | Ebola's 'patient zero': A boy playing around a tree | Ebola's 'patient zero': A boy playing around a tree
Researchers believe they have found "patient zero" for the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that left thousands dead and created widespread concern about infection throughout the world.
The source was a 2-year-old boy in Meliandou, Guinea, who apparently played around a tree that was home to a colony of bats, the research team said in a paper published in the EMBO Molecular Medicine journal. The boy contracted the disease and died in December 2013. His family was infected and the disease subsequently spread through his village and on to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.
"Our findings support the idea that bats were the source of the current [Ebola] epidemic in West Africa and enlarge the list of plausible reservoirs to include insectivorous bats," the researchers wrote.
Read MoreEbola crisis back in focus on UK case
Cases of Ebola are still being reported in Africa. In addition people infected with the disease in Africa also traveled and were treated in the United States, Spain and most recently, Britain. The outbreak has caused a flurry of international activity on infectious disease containment and spurred efforts among governments and corporations to find a possible cure.
Bats are known carriers of the disease. The researchers said they couldn't know for certain whether or not the bats in the tree were conclusively to blame, since the tree caught fire in March, killing the bat colony. Nevertheless, they think the scenario is the answer.
"It [the tree] was near a path where the women would go for washing," said one of the researchers, Fabian Leendertz, a veterinarian at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, in an interview with Livescience.com. "They would always walk down there with the kids, and the kids would play in this nice tree."
The World Health Organization believes more than 20,000 people have been infected with Ebola, with close to 8,000 deaths. Understanding how the disease originates and spreads is considered vital to containing the current and future epidemics. The first infected human, commonly referred to as "patient zero" by researchers, is a key part of that process.
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25ffbc68ef4cddb102ccb7e7669e0f33 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/30/gartman-if-you-buy-one-thing-in-2015-buy-this.html | VIDEO1:5201:52If you buy one thing in 2015, buy this: GartmanFutures Now
It's hard out there being a commodities king this year. Oil got crushed. Copper was obliterated. And soybeans got mashed. But Dennis Gartman has his eye on one commodity that met a particularly cruel fate in 2014:
Despite bullion being just pennies away from posting its first back-to-back yearly loss since 1997, the self-proclaimed commodities king and author of the eponymous Gartman Letter told CNBC.com's "Futures Now" on Tuesday that he sees gold enjoying a solid 2015.
"My better trade for the year will be the same trade that has been the better one for this year and the better one for the previous year, which is to be an owner of gold," said Gartman.
Of course, any Gartman recommendation of gold comes with a caveat, and in his case, he prefers to own the yellow metal in currencies outside the U.S., specifically in euro and yen terms, which he sees having a tough time next year as the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan potentially look to devalue their currencies.
Read MoreGold settles above $1,200 an ounce
"The Bank of Japan has been expanding its balance sheet. The ECB is going to expand its balance sheet," said Gartman. "Those currencies have been weak. They're going to remain weak."
Year to date, the euro and the yen have fallen a respective 11 percent and 12 percent against the dollar. But that has created an opportunity for gold bugs. If you owned gold in euros, you are up more than 8 percent in 2014. If you owned it in yen, you're up nearly 10 percent in 2014.
Gartman also sees other reasons to own gold.
"The political circumstances around the world mean that money will be moving to the United States, strengthening the U.S. dollar. But at the margins, looking also for safer horizons or safer harbors, that probably means gold."
Of course, despite myriad reasons to own gold in 2014, including a full-blown currency crisis in Russia and continued turmoil in the Middle East, the metal has failed to make a meaningful move.
But Gartman sees gold as the best way to play what he thinks will be a big theme in 2015: currency devaluation.
"The trend is towards a lower euro and a much lower yen," Gartman said.
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dc48686d2befc2143b96d4e235c41e8d | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/30/white-castle-introduces-new-veggie-slider.html | White Castle introduces new Veggie Slider | White Castle introduces new Veggie Slider
White Castle isn't known for its healthy menu options, but it's looking to change that.
On Tuesday, the 400-store burger-chain introduced Veggie Sliders, a vegetarian version of its famous beef sliders.
White Castle, the restaurant that invented the 100-slider "crave crate," said it will offer the veggie patty for 99 cents each for a limited time.
White Castle | Twitter
The product received "rave reviews" during a testing period in New York and New Jersey, the company said.
The new sliders won't be too much healthier than their beefy cousins, in terms of caloric intake. They range between 150 and 270 calories, depending on the customer's choice of sauce—honey mustard, ranch and sweet Thai.
Burger joint Shake Shack files for $100M IPO
In contrast, original beef sliders range between 140 and 220 calories, depending on the toppings, which include jalapeno cheese and bacon, according to the company's website.
"We are committed to asking good questions, listening to our customers and keeping up with changing tastes by developing new menu items that keep our guests craving and give them more options to feed the whole family," said Jamie Richardson, White Castle vice president, in a statement.
The Ohio-based quick service chain said the sliders are made with Dr. Praeger's veggie patty and include carrots, zucchini, peas, spinach and broccoli.
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e127e99b621c137456846d639af77b60 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/31/the-best-hedge-funds-for-2015-are.html | The best hedge funds for 2015 are... | The best hedge funds for 2015 are...
VIDEO3:3303:33This year's hottest—and coldest—hedge fundsSquawk Box
Critics love to hate hedge funds' relatively high fees, low performance and secrecy. But the industry is managing more money than ever—and is poised to grow even more in 2015.
"Barring a large and unexpected global or financial event, hedge funds are positioned for another year of solid growth," industry data tracker eVestment wrote in a new report.
The company predicts that investors will add about $100 billion or more to hedge funds in 2015, about the same as the $112 billion they added in 2014 to push assets to a record of about $3 trillion.
The new money is mostly coming from big institutions, such as public pensions, university endowments and charitable foundations. Such investors are looking to so-called alternative investments like hedge and private equity funds to diversify their exposure away from already soaring stocks and low-yielding bonds.
While there are about 10,000 hedge funds, the main beneficiaries will likely be large firms that already dominate, like Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates, Dan Och's Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and Cliff Asness' AQR Capital Management.
Read MoreHere's a look inside Ray Dalio's new strategy
The average hedge fund hasn't produced huge returns in 2014, often as part of their risk-conscious design. The Absolute Return U.S. Equity Index, which tracks managers who invest in stocks, gained 3.74 percent net of fees in 2014 through November, but the S&P 500 index gained nearly 12 percent over the same period. The Absolute Return Credit Index is up 5.71 percent through November; the iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Fund gained 3.93 percent.
"We need to recognize that the long-term trend, driven by institutional portfolio allocation decisions, determines the industry's growth, while performance determines the near-term distribution of those assets," the eVestment report noted.
Investors and their advisors are trying to figure out that mix now.
Tim Ng, chief investment officer of consultant Clearbrook Global Advisors, thinks the best-performing hedge funds for 2015 will be those that can take advantage of sharp market moves, such as U.S., Europe and Japan-focused stock-picking hedge funds, and differences in government economic stimulus policy, so-called "macro" or "relative value" strategies that trade government bonds, currencies and more.
"Isolate hedge funds that benefit from increases in volatility and divergent central bank policies," Ng wrote in a 2015 outlook presentation.
Read MoreAckman, Robbins,Loeb score as hedge fund pay lags
Justin Sheperd, CIO of hedge fund allocator Aurora Investment Management, also believes that coming volatility from reduced central bank market involvement will be good for money managers.
"The combination of low intra-stock return correlation and increased dispersion of returns should create greater investment opportunities for hedge fund managers," Sheperd wrote in a recent outlook piece compiled by Natixis Global Asset Management.
Alexander Healy, director of strategic research at investment manager AlphaSimplex Group, was also optimistic on hedge funds in the new year given the likelihood of increased volatility.
"Given the uncertainty around equities and bonds, we believe that alternative strategies, particularly those that are dynamic and can effectively manage risk, will be a more important part of investors' portfolios in 2015," he said in the Natixis outlook.
VIDEO1:2201:22Three big hedge fund predictions for 2015Squawk Box
Sheperd and Ng also recommended so-called event-driven hedge funds that can take advantage of corporate events given the likelihood of more mergers, acquisitions, management changes and the like.
Activist managers, a subset of those funds, scored a series of high-profile wins in 2014.
Notable successes included Pershing Square Capital Management's bet on Allergan (which was sold to Actavis and netted Bill Ackman's firm about $2.2 billion); Starboard Value's involvement in Darden Restaurants (it took over the board with all 12 seats, and the stock has gained since); and Icahn Enterprises' play in Family Dollar Stores (the company is in the process of being sold, and Icahn netted a reported $200 million profit).
Those victories came as the average event-driven fund gained just 2.56 percent through November, per the Absolute Return Event Driven Index.
Read MoreBig activist funds win again on PetSmart, Riverbed
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dca85a82faf02942e49ee722da4934f9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/31/welcome-to-the-faceless-future-of-banking.html | Welcome to the faceless future of banking | Welcome to the faceless future of banking
A prototype of a Diebold bank branch of the future.Source: Diebold
Peek into the future of bank branches and you won't see many bankers.
In the years ahead—sooner rather than later—banks will continue to shutter their satellites and turn to other means to perform the services once done at the branches.
Community-level banking, particularly from large institutions, will become more cost efficient and less personal. Where there once stood smiling tellers at windows there now will be, under at least one scenario, equally pleasant avatars programmed to do their customers' bidding.
Banks shut some 1,407 branches in 2014, a near record and a trend that is likely to continue, according to SNL Financial.
Read MoreBank branches slowly fading away in neighborhoods
But even though those branches are going away, demand for services they provide to communities across the country remains. It will be the delivery of those services that will change the most.
"The idea eventually is for full teller replacement," said Devon Watson, vice president of new business and solution incubation, global research and development at Diebold. "This is intended to get customers thinking about the next generation of problems."
VIDEO2:0402:04Banking outlook for 2015
Watson spoke to CNBC.com during a recent private presentation in New York of the company's big branching brainchild—a self-contained banking universe that looks like an enclosed automated teller machine but does so much more.
Diebold, a company known for its ubiquitous ATMs, is trying to get in front of the trend with a product that will begin making appearances for undisclosed clients in the first quarter of 2015. Essentially, the new type of branch has three different centers—"experience zones," according to Watson—that either will be used independently or together as a way for banks to continue providing services but in a way that negates the need for tellers and provides a much quicker customer encounter.
The 118-square-foot centers entail an updated ATM on the outside that will use smartphones and thumbprint identification to allow customers to punch in how much they want to withdraw on their phones, then use their phone and thumbprint to take out the cash almost immediately after walking up to the machine, which will identify in advance an approaching customer.
Read More'Shadow banking' set for breakout year in 2015
Once inside, customers can sit in front of a screen where they can connect remotely with a real person to apply for loans or conduct other business.
Finally, there's a separate seating area where customers can interact with a very human-like avatar to perform transactions such as balance transfers, deposits and withdrawals. Should the user get frustrated with the avatar, software can detect a problem and switch the customer over to a real person.
Diebold's clients "all found something different that they wanted first," Watson said. "We're really trying to find ways to better leverage the banks for sales and service."
As for banking customers, Watson said there are three targets for the experience zones: busy millennials, the "frenzied Gen X soccer mom" and baby boomers who own small businesses.
Coming up with innovative ways to serve customers will be important for banks as they reduce footprint and costs but aim to keep up the level of services. In addition to cutting branches, big banks are paring back on advertising and marketing.
The 10 banks with the most branches alone have closed 1,131 over the past two years, according to financial services firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Bank of America itself has closed more than 1,000 over the past five years, including more than 170 in 2014, which led the industry, SNL reported.
Read MoreNext for banks: Layoffs, chat smackdown, more regs
"We do not believe that both reducing branch numbers and reducing marketing spend are compatible with growth going forward," KBW analyst Frederick Cannon said in a recent note to clients. "We expect successful banks over the next decade will need to invest in brand-enhancing activities, including but not limited to marketing, to offset the appropriate decline in branch networks."
Cannon questions whether banks "are transforming their delivery systems fast enough to accommodate changing client needs" and notes that Apple Pay and other payment systems will post further challenges.
"The majority of transactions are now processed electronically, reducing the need for physical branches. This does not mean that bank branches will go the way of video stores or carriage shops, however," he said.
Read MoreBank on bigger dividends in this sector next year
"Branches allow for direct contact with individuals and businesses important for the sales of financial services. However, legacy branch networks are unlikely to be changing as quickly as their clients' use of electronic versus paper financial transactions," Cannon continued. "In our view, extensive branch networks need to be replaced, in part, with greater bank presence through electronic media and services."
How will they achieve that?
Cannon believes it will be done as banks "reinvest some of the savings into brand-enhancing measures, including advertising, marketing and technology."
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0bdb99e6d7e36264b52237bb51224351 | https://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/31/you-popped-the-questionnow-what.html | You popped the question…now what? | You popped the question…now what?
Jennifer Photography Imaging | Getty Images
The holiday season—and December, in particular—is the most popular time of year to get engaged. About 16 percent of couples get engaged in December alone, according to TheKnot.com's statistics.
But once the euphoria of the engagement wears off, there's the matter of paying for the wedding. And that's not a small matter. The average cost of a wedding in the United States is expected to be around $26,000 in 2015, according to Shane McMurray, CEO of The Wedding Report, a research company that studies trends in the wedding industry. That's up about $2,000 from 2014.
"Couples will probably spend a little more than they did this year because the economy looks better with more money to spend," McMurray said. "And when people have more money they tend to go a little bit extra" with their wedding expenses.
And in certain parts of the country, that figure can go much higher. For instance, in 2013, couples in the New York City area paid the most to get hitched. Newlyweds in Manhattan paid on average the most in the U.S. at around $87,000, according to The Knot, with Long Island being the second most expensive wedding market at an average cost of $57,343. Outside of New York City metro area, other expensive wedding sites include Chicago, Santa Barbara, California, and Rhode Island
While the sticker price is expected to grow next year, the average guest list is not. The number of guests for a wedding is expected to remain around 135 people on average, in part because more couples are paying for the wedding themselves, McMurray said. As a result, more soon-to-be-newlyweds choose to spend on things that are more personal to them, thus cutting back on the number of people they invite.
And as for the actual number of people getting married? That's expected to remain flat. McMurray said he expects between 2.1 million and 2.2 million people will tie the knot next year, about the same amount as 2014.
Read MoreWays to Cut Wedding Costs Without Looking Cheap
Two factors could help increase demand in the wedding industry, though. For starters, same-sex marriage became legal in many more states recently, boosting the number of eligible couples, McMurray said. In the United States, there are an estimated 605,472 same-sex households, of which 168,092 couples are married, according to 2011 American Community Survey from the Census Bureau.
That number is likely to grow in 2015. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 35 states and the District of Columbia, but that number could grow to 36 soon. A stay on a court ruling in Florida ends on Jan. 5, and if it's allowed to run out, gay marriages will commence there as well.
Plus, there's a strong chance that the Supreme Court will revisit marriage equality and decide on whether the remaining bans are constitutional. All of this means that many more happy LGBT couples could walk down the aisle next year.
"You'll see an uptick from that because of the demand that's been pent up over the years," McMurray told CNBC. "But that's going to level out in the normal ranges as these couples finally get a chance to get married and start a family."
How people spend their budget may change as well. As the price of oil drops—to a 5 1/2 year lows this week—so does the cost of catering and travel. But McMurray said couples are likely to spend that savings somewhere else, instead of banking it.
"You'll probably see people spending more on the reception and the actual party," McMurray said, adding that some couples may also choose far-away locations for their nuptials if prices remain low. Although, as figures show, decreased oil prices don't always equate to cheap plane tickets.
Read MoreCheap oil: Better for airline passengers or shareholders?
Of course, McMurray said that couples planning their weddings now shouldn't bank on prices to stay low. To hedge against this, he advised caution in gauging the prices of the parts of a wedding.
There are still plenty of other ways to save on a wedding next year.
When it comes to setting a wedding budget, industry experts recommend choosing a destination and a date first, since where and when you get married will affect everything from travel plans to floral arrangements, which can all factor into the final price. The venue and menu also account for the largest portion of the budget—generally, about 40 to 50 percent, according to Washington state-based wedding planner Jennifer Taylor.
Note that in 2015, certain dates are expected to be quite popular. Both Valentine's Day and Independence Day fall on Saturdays, not only making them high-demand days for nuptials but also expensive propositions for interested couples, according to Sarah Zlotnick, an editor at the popular wedding destination site weddingwire.com. (Also remember that Valentine's Day is already a very popular day for florists, meaning those bouquets and centerpieces will not only see price increases but also delivery delays, Zlotnick added.)
But keep in mind that wedding venues that are typically considered more expensive may actually provide the best value overall. Hotel banquet halls are often all-inclusive, which can end up being less expensive than if the couple arranged all of the catering and decor themselves for a less traditional venue. For extra discounts, consider attending bridal shows and trunk shows, which can offer couples discounts on the vendors they choose.
Even destination weddings can be cheaper than you think. For instance, in Maine, the average cost was less than $30,000, according to The Knot. Plus, destination weddings often entail fewer guests and can occur during a weekday, further driving down the cost.
Read MoreA lavish wedding and ring may increase chances of divorce
"You don't need to go to the Caribbean," said Zlotnick.
But even if you're planning to stay close to home for your wedding, it's easy to save on a venue. Choosing a date that's not during peak wedding season, May through October, can let you find cheaper rates.
Choosing an indoor wedding, as more couples have been in recent years, can also save money. In particular, you'd be able to forgo the costs for tents, tables and chairs associated with an outdoor wedding.
Of course, another big expense for many couples is their clothing.
Zlotnick suggested that brides take advantage of increased competition in the bridal design industry when it comes to choosing dresses. Even mainstream fashion labels like J. Crew and Ann Taylor have begun to enter the fray, she said, giving women more choices. "If you're willing to be a little less traditional, you can get a dress for $600," she said.
Men, too, are benefiting from more choices in formal wear for their weddings. An increasing number of grooms are choosing to eschew the typical black-and-white tuxedo for less formal suits in a variety of colors, particularly shades of blue.
Outside of the venue, food and clothing, how couples decide to spend is very much up to their personal preferences.
"Everything else is going to be based on what the bride and groom are excited about," said Taylor, owner and principal planner of Taylor'd Events.
If a couple would prefer to save on flowers, for instance, one major tip is to choose flowers that are in season or use more greenery. Forget tulips if you're not getting married in the spring.
Taylor also advises couples to account for taxes and tips when planning their budget, as well as setting up a "slush fund" for unexpected expenses.
The number one suggestion Zlotnick had to help couples save money and stay on trend when it comes to their wedding was to hire planner. While wedding planners don't always come cheap, they can help the whole process go smoother.
"Wedding planners are worth it, especially for larger celebrations," Zlotnick said. "They'll typically help you secure discounts and will be better at sticking to your budget than you likely could be."
Another area where Zlotnick said many couples may choose to spend more money is photography. With more newlyweds choosing to share their wedding photos on social media, there's a higher premium being put on choosing a good wedding photographer. And in-demand photographers are more talented than ever, she said, adding to their price and popularity.
Overall, though, Zlotnick advised couples to be pragmatic about their wedding day. For many, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience and deserves appropriate celebration.
"In many ways it absolutely makes more sense to save the money you might have spent on monogrammed cocktail napkins for a down payment on a home," she said. "But never completely eschew a celebration. … It deserves a break from your normal routine and at least a few hours to commemorate it."
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1a7316e122b5bb7a4e46f9ec48c3ed17 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/01/with-jobs-scarce-south-korean-students-linger-on-campus.html | With jobs scarce, South Korean students linger on campus | With jobs scarce, South Korean students linger on campus
South Korean students take their College Scholastic Ability Test at a school in Seoul, South Korea.Getty Images
It's been a year since Seoul media and communications student Lee Woong-hee finished his studies, but the 26-year-old plans to skip his class graduation ceremony in February because he thinks retaining his student status will help him finally land a job.
He's not alone. Youth unemployment hit a 14-year high in South Korea in 2014, and with hiring sluggish amid a weak economy, especially for "good" jobs with permanent status, thousands of students due to graduate in early 2015 are expected to instead remain on campus.
"Job hunting gets harder every year. It was difficult this year and I fear it will get worse next year," said Lee, who should have graduated last February.
In South Korea, many universities allow students to remain enrolled and use college facilities, even if they aren't taking any classes. At others, students deliberately remain one or two credits short of a degree until they find a job.
VIDEO0:5800:58South Korea falls silent for entrance examSquawk Box Asia
"I heard from others that employers do not like graduates. They ask at interviews what you did after graduation," Lee said.
Two-thirds of South Koreans aged 25-34 have a college degree, the highest proportion in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a developed nations' club among whom the average is just below 40 percent.
Government efforts in recent years to encourage young people to pursue necessarily require a university degree have had limited success in a country obsessed with education. The high rate of graduates means many ambitious young people feel overqualified for the jobs that are available to them, and figure it's better to have no job than one below their expectations.
Labor market divide
South Korea's labor market is divided between permanent jobs with a high degree of security and temporary positions that end after two years, a split that makes it harder for young people to get on a career track.
In 2012, 24 percent of workers in South Korea were temporary, double the OECD average.
In November, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan suggested measures to make the labor market more flexible by easing rules on lay-offs and pay. While employers supported the proposals, labor groups and many students did not.
Read MoreForget exams, jobs a bigger worry for Korean youth
A hand-written letter to Choi by a group calling itself "the Misfits" took issue with his ideas and went viral on social networks after it was posted on walls at Korea University and Yonsei University, two of the country's top colleges.
"We are not angry because the regular workers are overly protected. We are angry because temporary workers are not ensured the benefits regular workers receive," it said.
Kim Jong-jin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor and Society Institute, said many young people in highly educated South Korea were unwilling to take temporary jobs.
"People in their mid-20s are supposed to be active in the labor market, but the market cannot exploit them as they keep on studying and preparing themselves for more stable jobs."
VIDEO1:2701:27Seoul city officials encouraged to take napsSquawk Box Asia
A government survey of 33 universities last year found the number of students delaying graduation more than doubled in three years, to more than 15,000.
Shorter careers
Corporate Korea, which makes two big rounds of hiring each year - the next is in March - has just endured its toughest year since the global financial crisis.
"As conditions are difficult for expanding investment, it won't be easy for firms to hire new people," said Lee Cheol-heng, head of the employment and labor policy team at the Federation of Korean Industries.
The unemployment rate for people aged 15-29 hit 10.9 percent in February 2014, just short of the all-time high of 11 percent recorded in January 2000, before easing to 8.0 percent in October. The figure excludes students. The unemployment rate for new graduates in March last year tied 2013's record of 32.2 percent, according to Korea Labor Institute data.
Later entry into the job market accelerates the graying of the workforce in the world's fastest-ageing country.
Last year, the number of South Korean workers in their 50s outnumbered those in their 20s for the first time, which will add pressure to the country's underfunded pension system when those older workers retire.
With young South Korean men required to serve two years in the military, more time on campus means even fewer working years in a country where the retirement age is 60. A later career start often means starting families later, exacerbating a low birth rate.
"With a retirement age, if the youth enter the labor market later, it decreases their entire economic output whereas the education investment increases," said Kim Gwang-suk of the Hyundai Research Center. "It is a serious problem."
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220bedd561cb3796e78244185cf5329e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/02/get-ready-to-get-more-acquainted-with-ai-in-2015.html | The Tech Bet | The Tech Bet
VIDEO3:3703:37Move over Siri, voice recognition gets bigger in 2015Mobile
At one time, voice recognition and artificial intelligence was a thing consumers only knew from fiction. More recently, Apple's Siri and Google's Voice Search brought it mainstream. Now researchers expect it to get even more common.
"Voice recognition will get freakishly good," said Tim Tuttle, founder and CEO of artificial intelligence start-up Expect Labs.
Ian Waldie | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Recent A.I. breakthroughs have cracked the code on voice, and in perhaps 18 months, machines will be able to follow spoken instructions , according to Tuttle.
Read More
Tuttle says as a result, more and more household items such as TVs, lights and thermostats will be able to take voice commands.
"By 2020, there will be 3 billion of these devices all around and fewer than 5 percent of these devices will have keyboards. This means that if you want to have rich interaction with your device, speech recognition is critical. The good news is that the technology is keeping pace, and speech recognition technology and understanding is so good, we're going to rely on it everyday," Tuttle said.
Tuttle believes voice-driven computing will be a $40 billion per-year market opportunity that is up for grabs, and by 2020, 200 billion searches per month will be done using voice.
Read MoreStephen Hawking warns A.I. threatens mankind
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ca36366866934ef6e15621d019ed18f0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/02/the-worlds-best-place-to-retire-ecuador.html | The world's best place to retire—Ecuador??? | The world's best place to retire—Ecuador???
Quito, EcuadorMike Matthews Photography | Flickr | Getty Images
Ecuador may rank 65th on The Economist's quality-of-life scale, but it came out tops this year in another index—a list of the world's best places to retire.
The country scored a 92.7 out of 100 in the annual index from International Living magazine, which focuses on expatriate retirements.
While the Latin American nation got relatively weak scores for healthcare and infrastructure, it also managed perfect scores for climate and for the ease of buying or renting property.
Panama came second in the rankings and was the only other country to score higher than 90. Four of the top five destinations and six of the top 10 were in Latin America.
The International Living ranking diverges from the Global AgeWatch Index, which ranks countries on how their older populations fare. In 2014 Ecuador ranked 33rd on that index.
For the full International Living index and report, click here.
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7292bbd51f25f55524de036e19c2ae88 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/02/us-sanctions-north-korea-for-sony-hacks.html | US sanctions North Korea for Sony hacks | US sanctions North Korea for Sony hacks
VIDEO2:4102:41Sony hack brings new North Korea sanctionsStreet Signs
The U.S. government tightened sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for the devastating cyberattacks against Sony, the White House said Friday.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order authorizing the Treasury to impose additional sanctions on North Korea in response to "ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment," a White House announcement said.
The White House reiterated the president's earlier pronouncement that the U.S. response to North Korea "will be proportional, and will take place at a time and in a manner of our choosing," adding that Friday's actions are only "the first aspect" of a response.
Read MoreThe one smart way to retaliate against North Korea
Obama's executive order designated three North Korean entities to receive further sanctions. Those groups are intelligence organization Reconnaissance General Bureau, Korea Mining Development Trading Corp. (which the Treasury called the country's "primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapon"), and defense industry-focused Korea Tangun Trading Corp.
The U.S. also singled out 10 North Korean government officials for sanctions, including some operating in Syria, China, Russia, Iran, and Namibia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.North Korea's Korean Central News Agency | Reuters
"Today's actions are driven by our commitment to hold North Korea accountable for its destructive and destabilizing conduct. Even as the FBI continues its investigation into the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, these steps underscore that we will employ a broad set of tools to defend U.S. businesses and citizens, and to respond to attempts to undermine our values or threaten the national security of the United States," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement.
"The actions taken today under the authority of the President's new Executive Order will further isolate key North Korean entities and disrupt the activities of close to a dozen critical North Korean operatives. We will continue to use this broad and powerful tool to expose the activities of North Korean government officials and entities," he added. The individuals were not targeted because of any involvement in the Sony cyberattack, a senior U.S. official told Reuters.
Read MoreNorth Korea's scrappy, masterful cyberarmy
Experts had previously told CNBC that sanctions were likely to have little effect against North Korea—which is already under several international penalties.
"How do you sanction the world's most heavily sanctioned country?" John Park, a Northeast Asia specialist at Harvard Kennedy School, asserted in an interview last month. "Every time you apply sanctions to a target, it forces them to innovate and get around sanctions."
Other experts had suggested in December that the U.S. government might be able to hurt the regime by attacking its international exposure—either those foreign firms operating in North Korea, or North Korean entities operating abroad.
Read More North Korea may not have hacked Sony
This may account for the sanctioning of some of the officials with business ties to other countries, including Kil Jong Hun and Kim Kwang Yon, who the Treasury described as representing "the southern African interests" of the Korea Mining Development Trading Corp.
"The financial portion is what hurts them the most," Jack Pritchard, who served as U.S. ambassador and special envoy for negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 2001 to 2003, told CNBC last month. "I would not underestimate the value of financial sanctions.
VIDEO3:4403:44Is North Korea really responsible for Sony hack?Street Signs Asia
Questions remain, however, if North Korea was even responsible for the hacks that rocked Sony. The FBI announced last month that it had positively identified North Korean hackers as the culprits, and Obama later spoke of Pyongyang as the force behind the cyberattack without any ambiguity.
"Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart," the agency said in a December statement. "North Korea's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior."
Still, some experts have cautioned that the federal case is weak, and that other attackers—including resentful former Sony employees—could be responsible.
The hacking, which included a message from a group calling itself the "Guardians of Peace," was allegedly initiated because of anger about a Sony comedy concerning a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The film—"The Interview"—saw a limited theatrical release after digital threats against moviegoers' safety.
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7b63bb654798f8e53f84742d402a0767 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/04/as-alternatives-go-mainstream-investors-scratch-their-heads.html | As alternatives go mainstream, investors scratch their heads | As alternatives go mainstream, investors scratch their heads
Alternative investments are coming to the masses, but is that a good thing?
The term "alternative investments" is broadly defined as alternatives to traditional investing approaches—such as stocks, mutual funds, long-only stock holding and bonds—and it covers a lot of territory.
Tayeko | Getty Images
According to Morningstar, alternative investments fall into three camps:
Nontraditional asset classes, such as currencies and commodities. Nontraditional strategies, such as shorting and hedging (in both traditional and nontraditional asset classes). [See information box below.] Illiquid assets, such as private equity or private debt.
The most recognized type of investment in this category is the hedge fund, known for its high fees, funds lock-up and sometimes mysterious investment strategies—and available only to high-net-worth investors or institutions.
Read MoreNo, you don't 'need' alternatives
However, since 2008, alternative strategies have been developed for common investors in public, regulated, liquid structures, such as mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar.
These liquid structures have come to be known as "liquid alternatives," and they are in the midst of an explosion aimed at the retail investor.
Common 'liquid alternative' mutual fund strategies Bear market MulticurrencySingle currency Long/short equity Market neutral Multialternative Managed futures Volatility Trading (leveraged commodities, inverse commodities, leveraged debt, inverse debt, leveraged equity, inverse equity, miscellaneous) Source: Morningstar
According to a 2013 Goldman Sachs report, "retail liquid alternative products … are in the early stages of a 5- to 10-year growth trend …capable of producing a $2 trillion [assets under management] opportunity."
Between 2008 and 2014, the number of alternative mutual funds and ETFs has grown from 482 to 1,569, while net assets have grown from $42.6 billion to $309 billion, according to Morningstar.
But the concept of alternative investments is complex and is not easy to wrap one's head around.
"Should the average investor have exposure to alternative investments? Yes and no," said Douglas Kobak, certified financial planner and principal of Main Line Group Wealth Management. "'Alternatives' is such a nebulous word, and it encompasses so many strategies."
Michael J. Anderson, CFP and vice president of financial planning with True North Advisors, said, "We don't like the term, because clients don't understand it—the definition varies."
For his part, Barry Glassman, CFP and president of Glassman Wealth Services, said that "a lot of advisors are looking to use alternative investments, but … what's missing from the picture is the clients' level of understanding of what they own and what that investment is trying to achieve."
Nonetheless, the use of liquid alternatives is taking hold. According to a Morningstar report, about 60 percent of advisors allocate between 6 percent and 20 percent to these products. The top drivers listed in the report are:
diversification/low correlation enhanced risk-adjusted profileabsolute returnspoor bond market outlookinvestments clients wouldn't find on their ownenhanced yield
VIDEO5:2405:24Alternative investing in 2015Halftime Report
There is also a behavioral benefit associated with the use of liquid alternatives.
"For the most part, these funds are not going to be a panacea for all market conditions and won't generate hedge fund-like returns depicted in pop culture," said Adam J. Reinert, CFP with the Marshall Financial Group.
Read MoreDon't get drunk on liquid alternatives
"However … by looking at these funds just as a piece of the entire portfolio, it may help the portfolios generate lower volatility during turbulent times and, in turn, allow the investor to fight off the behavioral urge to sell at market bottoms."
Reinert's firm uses alternative-strategy mutual funds to reduce portfolio volatility and increase portfolio diversification.
Reinert has a wait-and-see attitude toward the rapid proliferation of liquid alternatives.
"While this [growth] adds more options to the space, it also means that there are more funds that might not have proven track records," he said. "One benefit, though, is as more funds come to the market and compete for the same dollars, investors should benefit from lower overall fees in the space."
Some advisors are not fans, however.
"I'm arguing completely against liquid alternatives because they don't add value to justify the fees they charge," said Marcio Silveira, founder of Pavlov Financial Planning. He is a CFP and also holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.
Read MoreWeigh feisty bond alternatives
In fact, liquid alternatives as a whole have not kept up pace with the .
According to Morningstar, as of Nov. 30, the average alternative performance had a .540 percent annualized three-year total return vs. 20.925 percent for the S&P. The five-year figures were -0.892 percent and 15.955 percent, respectively.
"The recent growth of liquid alternatives is essentially driven by aggressive sales efforts of Wall Street," Silveira said. "I feel that since the institutional investor/high-net-worth market is saturated, that's why they're making these products available to retail investors."
"The level of complexity is hard for both financial advisor and client," he added.
Alternatives are doing things that don't have standard benchmarks; you have to rely on the salesperson.Douglas Kobakprincipal of Main Line Group Wealth Management
Lack of transparency and benchmarks are also issues.
"Alternatives are doing things that don't have standard benchmarks; you have to rely on the salesperson," said Main Line Group Wealth Management's Kobak, who manages clients' alternative ETFs using his own proprietary approach. "And when there's no transparency, it's hard for people to keep their hands on the pulse of what they have."
Anderson at True North Advisors is not concerned with whether a product is labeled alternative or not, but what function it serves in a portfolio.
"We are product/structure nonbiased as the prism we evaluate invests through," he said. "What it really comes down to is liquidity [or not], transparency [or not], diversification (or not) and through [due] diligence whether the reward is worth the evaluated risk of the particular investment."
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ac10fc4d3c801f40e7cd159caeefa17c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/04/irans-rouhani-urges-end-to-isolation-calls-for-reform.html | Iran's Rouhani urges end to isolation, calls for reform | Iran's Rouhani urges end to isolation, calls for reform
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for curbs on the state's involvement in business and an end to Tehran's international isolation on Sunday to help rescue an economy hurt by sanctions, corruption and mismanagement.
His appeal in a speech to 1,500 economists appeared to be critical of hardliners who oppose his efforts to deliver Iran from years of erratic economic management by the previous administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Our economy will not prosper as long as it is monopolized (by the government). The economy must be rid of monopoly and see competition," he said.
Iran's President Hassan RouhaniUmit Bektas | Reuters
"It must be freed of insider speculation, be transparent, all people must be aware of the statistics. If we can bring transparency to our economy, we can fight corruption."
He added: "Our political life has shown we can't have sustainable growth while we are isolated."
Rouhani, a pragmatist elected in 2013 on pledges to resolve a nuclear standoff with world powers and end crippling sanctions, said he would like some economic reforms to be passed by referendum as opposed to the parliament, currently dominated by conservatives.
Powerful anti-Western hawks in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who report to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Khamenei, have been wary of the nuclear negotiations and some preside over companies whose grip on the economy had grown during sanctions.
Read MoreThe countries slammed worst by plunging oil prices
VIDEO1:2101:21Sunni Arabs 'freaked out' about Iran: FriedmanSquawk Box
Rouhani's call is in line with his preference for a greater public say on strategic matters, traditionally vested with Khamenei.
Last month, Rouhani presented a "cautious, tight" budget in response to falling oil prices, which have fallen to just above $50 a barrel. Iran's budget ending March 2015 is based on a price of a $100 a barrel.
Proposed spending for that same budget was 6 percent above the previous year, but this was a cut in real terms due to inflation of 20 percent. The government hopes to meet the deficit through more efficient taxation and non-oil exports.
"As the enforcer of our constitution, I would like, even for once, to see conditions ripe to implement a tenet of the common law calling for major issues - economic, social, political and cultural - to be put to public referendum rather than parliamentary vote," the president said to applause.
"Some 36 years have passed now and this article has not been enforced even once."
Rouhani appealed to the economists for solutions on how to improve the state's handling of subsidies, taxes, debt and the financial system.
He also suggested he supported a resolution passed by parliament in December to tax organizations overseen by Khamenei and the armed forces, an unusual move by the legislature to regulate areas dominated by the most powerful figures in the country.
"We are trying to tax everyone across the board, but as soon as we touch this or that institution, they make such a stink about it," Rouhani said, apparently referring to the resolution, which has been opposed by Islamic hardliners.
"Of course this government will do what it deems in people's interest," he said. He added without elaborating: "Just be aware that in some cases, the domestic political lobby is very strong, very strong, more than you think."
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13f6203c07f9756c9dbd4b452d3047ad | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/05/as-oil-breaks-50-wall-street-getting-more-bearish.html | As oil breaks $50, Wall Street getting more bearish | As oil breaks $50, Wall Street getting more bearish
VIDEO1:1801:18How low can oil go?
With more supply hitting the market, Wall Street is getting more bearish on the outlook for oil prices and some strategists see the market many months away from finding a floor.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries strategy of standing back and letting the market determine price has helped drive oil down further and faster than many analysts had expected. Analysts see oil prices weakening further through the second quarter before leveling off and rising in the fourth quarter.
Saudi Arabia Monday cut U.S. and European prices for oil for February delivery, appearing to ratchet up the price war that has pitted OPEC against U.S. shale producers. Saudi Arabia trimmed its official price for light oils by $0.60 per barrel in the U.S.
Citigroup on Monday shaved its forecast to an average Brent price of $63 per barrel this year, from a previous forecast for $80. The analysts said the market should "sort itself out by the end of 2015" and that Brent should trade within a range of $55 to $70, and then average $70 a barrel in 2016.
Read MoreOil falls below $50for the first time since 2009
The U.S. is awash in oil, with record levels of production meeting a rising tide of imports. West Texas Intermediate futures for February Monday temporarily fell below $50 per barrel, a key psychological level and downside target of some analysts.
"Now there are signs that Saudi Arabia might be increasing its market share on the U.S. Gulf Coast once again, adding further to price pressures in the U.S. market, with direct ripple effects in global markets in Q1," wrote the Citigroup strategists.
Brent futures, in free fall Monday, have already sunk below $55 per barrel, losing more than 6 percent to just below $53 per barrel. WTI futures settled at $50.04 per barrel.
From a technical perspective, the next target in WTI is north of $48 per barrel, but there is a case to be made for the low $30s per barrel.
"The ultimate target is now $33. That's how it sets up on the charts and that's a pronounced double bottom," said John Kilduff of Again Capital. He said the market consolidated in December but is now set on forging new lows. WTI closed at $33.98 on Feb. 12, 2009, and it is now trading at levels last seen in April 2009.
As the charts look bearish, the fundamentals are also more bearish, with reports of more supply adding to the glut.
Read MoreOilwill hit bottom soon: Analyst
Morgan Stanley strategists, meanwhile, have an average $70 per barrel target on Brent, with an average of $69 per barrel in the first quarter and a $57 target for the second quarter before a third-quarter rebound. But their bearish case is that Brent averages $53 per barrel in 2015 and hits a low of $43 in the second quarter.
The Morgan Stanley strategists say there are new reports of unsold West and North African cargoes, with much of the oil moving into storage. They also note that new supply has entered the global market with additional exports coming from Russia and Iraq, which is reportedly seeing production rising to new highs.
Russia's oil output rose to 10.58 million barrels per day last year, up 0.7 percent, a post Soviet high, according to Reuters. Iraq exports were reported to be the highest since 1980 in December.
The Citigroup analysts say Saudi Arabia now appears to be sending more oil into the Gulf Coast after losing close to 50 percent of its U.S. customer market. The loss was in part due to the fact the Saudis did not price crude to meet the U.S. market, where prices were hit by a glut of light sweet crude, the analysts wrote. Saudi exports fell in the fourth quarter to about 850,000 barrels a day, well off the 1.6 million barrels a day it averaged in the year earlier, they noted.
VIDEO1:4201:42Oil falls below $50Squawk Alley
While Saudi Aramco had pursued a strategy of cutting prices in Asia to secure market share for its oil, the Citigroup strategists said it has lost share in China due to that country's deals with Russian companies, a slower-growing economy in China and falling demand. The U.S. is one of the only markets with the scale to absorb a big share of Saudi oil.
Kilduff said the Saudi price cuts announced Monday are an effort to regain share, particularly in Europe. "This latest move, if you read it on its face, it seems to be directly aimed at the West African producers, in a battle for market share in Europe. They cut prices in Europe more," he said.
Read MoreBP, Shell dividends at risk from oil slump
The increased effort to boost U.S. market share by the Saudi's collides with the expected flow of more oil from Canada into the U.S. Gulf Coast, Citigroup strategists noted, creating an even more bearish outlook for oil.
The Citi strategists say their even more bearish case, which they give odds of 30 percent, is that Brent averages $55 per barrel, but the result would be a bigger bounce back in 2016 to $73 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate would average about $8 less than Brent, they added.
Sour crude, which is the type Saudi Arabia exports, is also the type that will be coming in more abundance from Canada. The global supply glut had been in light sweet crude, the type once imported into the U.S. from Africa but now provided from the Bakken and other U.S. shale sources.
Citigroup said the volume of Canadian oil into the U.S. could increase by 200,000 to 300,000 barrels a day and possibly to 350,000, as more oil comes from the midcontinent to the Gulf Coast. One contributor is the 600,000 barrel a day Flanagan South pipeline that started line fill in December to take oil from Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma.
Morgan Stanley analysts said new production will continue to ramp up at a number of fields in Brazil, West Africa, Canada and in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as well as U.S. shale production. Also, the potential framework agreement with Iran could mean more Iranian oil on the market.
They note that the potential agreement for Iran to ship to Russia atomic materials could open the door to a lifting of oil sanctions. "If Iran were to see sanctions lifted, we believe exports could rise 500 kb/d in a matter of months, with additional crude potentially coming out of storage."
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4a63303f8b79c2a1e52714640839cd99 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/05/garmins-fitness-tracker-vivofit-goes-fashionable.html | Garmin's fitness tracker Vivofit goes fashionable | Garmin's fitness tracker Vivofit goes fashionable
Garmin Vivofit 2, Jonathan Adler + Garmin CollectionSource: Garmin
More designers are getting into the wearable game, and Garmin's fitness tracker Vivofit is getting a fashionable upgrade.
On Monday at CES, the company announced a partnership with potter and designer Jonathan Adler, who designed new bands for the Vivofit to be worn in.
Garmin's new fitness band collection features patterned prints similar to those Adler uses in his home accessories. Garmin also announced the Vivofit 2, which has incremental updates to the first Vivofit, including a new backlight that enables users to quickly check their activity stats.
The device is similar to its predecessor, though, in that it still tracks calories, steps, distance and sleep, has a year-long battery life and is waterproof.
The new collection of bands as well as the Vivofit 2 are expected to ship in the first quarter of the year. The updated device will sell for about $130 bundled with a band designed by Adler.
Read MoreSee all of CNBC's coverage of CES
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434f3c4c3bf7757df0e4c5a4cb20bea0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/05/marc-andreessens-bitcoin-tweetstorm.html | Marc Andreessen's bitcoin tweetstorm | Marc Andreessen's bitcoin tweetstorm
Marc AndreessenGetty Images
Bitcoin the cryptocurrency has had a rough couple days, but Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said Monday he is not worried.
The same day that Bitstamp—the second-largest dollar-bitcoin exchange—suspended operations for what it said was a security issue, the Andreessen Horowitz co-founder took to Twitter to tout his continued belief in the technology.
Read MoreMajor bitcoin exchange suspended after price plunge
This is hardly the first time that Andreessen has expressed his belief in the future of bitcoin, but on Monday he specifically addressed criticism's about the cryptocurrency's potential use cases and its price volatility.
The price of bitcoin dropped into the $250-range on Sunday after trading for weeks in the mid-$300s. By Monday afternoon its value was about $269, depending on the exchange.
Below, find Andreessen's 26-tweet manifesto on the merits of the technology.
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625dc8f7e8cb44606f81d7bb3df5164c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/05/new-gauge-on-apples-holiday-sales.html | VIDEO2:2402:24Will Apple rot or ripen this year?Fast Money
An influx of aging iPhones in the secondary market could be a key indicator of Apple's holiday season success, according to Nik Raman, co-founder and CEO of resale website uSell.com.
To gauge the strength of Apple's holiday iPhone sales, Raman compared the price decline on uSell.com's secondary market for the most highly traded-in iPhones from 2013 and 2014 leading up to Christmas. Those models were the iPhone 4 in 2013 and the iPhone 4s in 2014.
On CNBC's "Fast Money," Raman said the offer price for the iPhone 4s fell by some 50 percent leading up to the 2014 holidays. That drop, he said, indicated a flood of devices into the market, as people looked to unload their older phones after upgrading to newer models like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Raman compared the drop in resale price of the iPhone 4s in 2014 to that of the iPhone 4 in 2013. According to Raman, iPhone 4 prices only fell by around 20 percent in the secondary market leading up to the 2013 holiday season. "What we found was that the depreciation for the 4s this year is far more steep and dramatic than the 4 was last year," he said.
Based on those numbers, the 2014 holiday season appears to have been strong for new iPhone sales. "We do think that Apple had a great season. We think that it's continuing into January," Raman said.
Raman's findings mesh well with a report published by analytics firm Flurry at the end of December. By tracking total device activations from Dec. 19-25, Flurry concluded that Apple products accounted for more than 51 percent of all new device activations the week up to and including Christmas day.
According to Flurry's report, "…it is safe to say that Apple's newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have had a blockbuster holiday season…"
—By CNBC's Michael Newberg
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846f2eaa7137841250f9bd78800cf5b7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/06/are-actively-managed-funds-still-worth-owning.html | Are actively managed funds still worth owning? | Are actively managed funds still worth owning?
VIDEO1:5501:55Mutual funds vs. ETFsStreet Signs
Last year was a rough one for actively managed mutual funds.
Sure, the stock market saw double-digit growth again, and bonds had a surprisingly strong year. But now the taxman cometh, and many mutual fund investors with taxable accounts are finding out that their actively managed funds realized significant capital gains, which they must now pay taxes on. (When a mutual fund sells some of its holdings at a gain, it must pass through the taxable income to shareholders — even if those distributions are then reinvested in the fund.)
Some 453 mutual funds estimated their capital gains distributions for 2014 would be more than 10 percent of net asset value, 52 estimated distributions would exceed 20 percent, and 12 projected distributions of 30 percent or more as of Dec. 15, according to CapGainsValet.com, a website that tracks mutual fund distributions. The site's creator, Mark Wilson, chief investment officer of The Tarbox Group, a California-based wealth management firm, said that by his estimate, "maybe two or three index funds had greater than 10 percent distributions." The other funds were all actively managed.
The larger distributions, and resulting tax bills, from the actively managed funds would be easier to swallow if they were accompanied by extraordinary performance. But a majority of actively managed mutual funds are being outperformed by passive funds, including exchange-traded funds (or ETFs), that mirror popular indexes. About 85 percent of active large-cap stock funds failed to beat or even match their benchmark index through Nov. 25, according to Lipper, a research unit of Thomson Reuters.
Read MoreHoliday spending hangover? Get your finances back on track
Not surprisingly, investors are wondering: Does it make sense anymore to invest in traditional actively managed mutual funds?
"In taxable accounts, actively managed funds are really tough," Wilson said. "It's really difficult to beat indexing."
If recent inflow and outflow patterns are any indication, a growing number of investors agree.
In December, fund-research form Morningstar reported that in the previous year, active U.S. equity funds lost $91.9 billion in outflows while passive U.S. equity funds drew in $156.1 billion. "A clear pattern has emerged this year," wrote senior analyst Alina Tarlea, "consistent outflows on the active side and inflows on the passive side."
One beneficiary has been Vanguard: On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that investors poured $216 billion into the biggest provider of index-tracking products, a record inflow for any mutual-fund firm.
ETFs as a category are also benefiting. The number of ETFs, which trade like stocks but hold a basket of assets like a mutual fund, grew from 113 in 2002 to nearly 1,300 in 2013, according to the Investment Company Institute. And last month, they hit another milestone, surpassing $2 trillion in assets. While that's still dwarfed by the $16 trillion in mutual funds, ETFs are growing at a faster rate. In 2010, they had just half the assets they do now.
Isu | Getty Images
Actively managed funds have another problem when compared to index-fund investing and ETFs: in general, their fees are higher. While fees on all funds have come down over the years, average fees on actively managed equity funds were 89 basis points in 2013, compared with 12 basis points for index equity funds, according to the Investment Company Institute. (When it comes to the cost of index funds relative to the cost of ETFs, a study by Alex Bryan and Michael Rawson of Morningstar found that "the difference in expenses between the two vehicles is small.")
Still, some active fund managers out there do beat the market. One example: Morningstar has nominated the managers of several domestic stock funds, including the American Century Mid Cap Value Fund and T. Rowe Price Mid Cap Growth, as contenders for domestic stock fund manager of the year. These funds outpaced the vast majority of their peers and beat their benchmark indices.
"It's hard work separating the wheat from the chaff" in the world of actively managed funds, said Stephen Horan, managing director at the CFA Institute, but winners do exist.
Read MoreHow many 401(k) choices are too many?
John Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar, examined the total returns of different fund management approaches in 2014, comparing actively managed Vanguard funds, which have relatively low fees, to other low-cost active funds, Vanguard passively managed funds, and actively managed funds with high fees. The highest ranked were Vanguard's actively managed funds, followed by the other low-cost active funds and the passive funds. The high-cost actively managed funds were the lowest ranked.
"It's true that active management sold at its customarily steep price is second rate. But so are high-cost index funds," he concluded. "How a fund is managed is less important than its cost headwind."
As for tax efficiency, exchange-traded funds and index funds both tend to generate fewer capital gains than actively managed funds year by year, partly because they buy and sell securities less often. ETFs in particular have an advantage because managers create or redeem "creation units" rather than actual securities to manage inflows and outflows or to rejigger asset allocation. But when investors sell their ETFs, index funds, or actively managed mutual funds, they owe capital gains on any appreciation.
Read MoreInvestors flocking into index funds – here's why
"ETFs and mutual funds have to follow the exact same tax rules," said Joel Dickson, principal in the investment strategy group at Vanguard.
Some experts say many of the tax costs of mutual fund investing simply occur at different times than the costs associated with investing with ETFs. Horan points out that when a mutual fund distributes capital gains, its net asset value decreases by that amount. So all else being equal, when an investor sells the mutual fund shares, the gain logged then will be smaller than it would have been without the distribution.
The mechanics of buying and selling mutual funds and ETFs are another consideration. ETFs can be traded any time the markets are open, while mutual fund sellers and buyers get the end-of-day price no matter when they put in the order. But when an investor buys or sells a mutual fund position, the price is simply the end-of-day price, while the seller of an ETF position may incur an additional, unseen cost if the ETF trades at a discount to the underlying assets, or if it is trading at a premium when the investor buys in.
"Usually the value of the ETF is very close to the underlying holdings, but not always," Dickson said.
(Closed-end mutual funds also trade at a premium or discount to net asset value, but at $279 billion at the end of 2013, assets in closed-end funds were a tiny fraction of the $15 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets, according to the Investment Company Institute, and about one-sixth of those in ETFs.)
Horan argues that the ability to trade ETFs anytime may actually hurt average investors. "Having the ability to trade intraday can actually work against you in a behavioral, psychological way. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the more individual investors trade, the worse they do," he said.
One example: Terrance Odean, a professor at University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business, examined trading records from a large discount brokerage firm, and said in a 2014 interview that "both men and women on average underperformed the buy-and-hold approach to investing." (In an interesting side note, he also found that men underperformed by one percentage point more a year than women.)
Read MoreWill new pension guarantees benefit you?
Ultimately, Horan said, investors should first determine their investment approach. The type of investment will follow from that.
"Index funds are a good long-term strategy for folks that don't necessarily have an expertise in picking managers, or picking stocks themselves. That's going to be the majority of us," he said. "Are there active managers that have key insights and a steely discipline and an ability to capitalize and execute on those insights? I think the answer is yes. But they are not the norm."
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b6fe214b8188e60ec2ed11c9919879d9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/06/byron-wiens-surprises-for-2015.html | Byron Wien's surprises for 2015 | Byron Wien's surprises for 2015
VIDEO3:2503:25Bryon Wien's surprises for 2015Closing Bell
Despite the rough start to the year, Blackstone's Byron Wien told CNBC he thinks the will produce a 15 percent return for 2015.
"Earnings are going to come through. The U.S. economy is strong," Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners, said in an interview with "Closing Bell" on Tuesday.
The S&P is currently selling at a little more than 16 times earnings, he said, and he believes it can sell at 20 times earnings.
"The combination of earnings improvement, a little multiple improvement, we can make the 15 percent."
Byron WienAdam Jeffery | CNBC
That is just one of his 10 "surprises" for the year, which he called "probable events" with a better than 50 percent chance of happening. It's the 30th year he's compiled the list.
Wien also thinks the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates as soon as March, earlier than many believe.
"I think short rates will go up but I think the yield curve will flatten. There is an abundance of liquidity around the world and my view is that you are going to see long rates pretty much stay where they are," he said.
Wien believes short-term rates will still be attractive and are good for business and housing. In fact, two of his favorable areas for 2015 are housing and capital goods.
When it comes to oil, he expects the decline to continue, with slipping in the $40s. Those low prices are positive for the U.S., India, China and every country that imports oil, he said.
"It's more likely to force Iran to the negotiating table on its weapon's development policy. It's more likely to make Putin more conciliatory on territorial expansion in Ukraine and elsewhere so I see the decline in the price of oil as a net positive," Wien noted.
Also, he said Europe will slip back into a recession, which may not be surprising in and of itself. However, he thinks what will be surprising is that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will enact a "vigorous" quantitative easing program that won't work.
Click here to see Wien's full list of surprises for 2015.
Disclaimer
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ebf5618fd0730e7aa59f5ea0b51be109 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/06/driverless-car-insurance-will-be-tussled-over-allstate-ceo.html | Expect driverless insurance tussle: Allstate CEO | Expect driverless insurance tussle: Allstate CEO
VIDEO2:2102:21Allstate's autonomous car dealClosing Bell
With self-driving cars expected to be the wave of the future, driverless insurance is an issue that will be "tussled over" for years to come, Allstate CEO Tom Wilson told CNBC on Tuesday.
"There will be people who will debate it," he said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
"The liability for keeping people safe is really everybody who is involved in the car, which is why it's important to get this right."
Therefore, Wilson believes it will take at least 10 years to get to all-autonomous cars.
While he thinks there will be an increased amount of product liability for automakers, he said that, overall, so-called driverless cars should be a good thing.
"The benefit of machine-to-machine communication is it should bring the overall number of accidents down, which means the total cost for everybody, whether it's consumers or auto companies or insurance companies, ought to come down," he said.
Read MoreSee all of CNBC's coverage of CES
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6de5b679d46cfd6e347224ab9a362ef4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/apples-iphone-6-dents-androids-crown.html | Apple's iPhone 6 dents Android's crown | Apple's iPhone 6 dents Android's crown
VIDEO1:2601:26iPhone boosts Apple's mobile market share
Android's share of the smartphone market has shrunk in the U.S. for the first time since 2013, according to new research, as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus helped Apple's iOS make market-share gains around the world.
The market share of Android -- the mobile operating software developed by Google – fell by 2 percentage points, year-on-year, in the U.S. over the three months ending November 2014, according to Kantar Worldpanel on Wednesday.
It also slipped by over 3 percentage points across Europe's five biggest countries, and tanked by 6.7 percentage points in the U.K.
Dominic Sunnebo, the strategic insight director at Kantar, predicted more gains for Apple in the future due to the popularity of its newest iPhone models.
Getty Images
"The longer the new iPhone models are on the market the more their appeal will extend beyond Apple's loyal customers," he said in a press release.
Officially released in stores in September, sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus across the world topped 10 million in on the first weekend, according to Apple, managing to eclipse the launch figures of the previous 5S and 5C models.
Customers switching from Android to iOS – Apple's iOS -- remains stable at 18 percent, according to the Kantar, although it was especially pronounced in certain regions.
Between September and November 2014, Apple's share of the market grew to 42.5 percent in the U.K -- a growth rate of 12.2 percentage points year-on-year.
In the U.S., Apple accounted for 47.4 percent of sales, 4.3 percentage points higher than during the same period in 2013. Meanwhile in China, Apple sales increased by 1.1 percentage points, bringing Apple's share of the smartphone market to 18.1 percent.
"Android fatigue is setting in," Neil Mawston, mobile analyst at Strategy Analytics, told CNBC via email. "Android, rather like Symbian a few years ago, has become too popular for its own good."
VIDEO2:2402:24Will Apple rot or ripen this year?Fast Money
Mawston argued in November 2014 that Android's market share could have peaked, suggesting that some device manufacturers no longer wanted to put all their eggs in one "Android basket." Instead, some were searching for alternative platforms to work with, such as Microsoft or Firefox, according to Mawston.
However, it might not be all bad news for Android and its ecosystem, which still dominates in every region except Japan, according to the data.
Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel, stressed that Android (unlike iOS) is used by a range of brands, and it is these consumers driving the different fortunes for each of the players in the ecosystem.
Thus, Kantar's research showed that Samsung - which uses Android - was seeing some sales pressure and market share decline, but Motorola's - which also uses Android - share grew thanks to the Moto X and Moto G models "offering good value for the money."
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d423abc25c21947dfce97471218a6739 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/fha-to-lower-cost-of-mortgage-insurance.html | FHA to lower cost of mortgage insurance | FHA to lower cost of mortgage insurance
VIDEO1:2001:20Obama to reduce FHA mortgage premiums
In a move designed to bring more first-time homebuyers into the housing market, President Barack Obama said Wednesday the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the government insurer of home loans, will lower its annual insurance premiums from 1.35 percent to 0.85 percent.
In a statement, the White House said the move was part of the president's efforts `"to expand responsible lending to creditworthy borrowers.'' The president is scheduled to talk about improvements in the housing market at a speech on Thursday in Phoenix, one of the hardest-hit markets of the housing crash.
Stocks of the nation's home builders rose on the news Wednesday, while those of mortgage insurers fell.
"This action will make home ownership more affordable for over two million Americans in the next three years," said Julián Castro, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary. "Since 2009, the Obama administration has taken bold steps to reduce risks in the mortgage market and to protect consumers. These efforts have made it possible to take this prudent measure while also ensuring FHA remains on a positive financial trajectory. By bringing our premiums down, we're helping folks lift themselves up so they can open new doors of opportunity and strengthen their financial futures."
New homes under construction in California.George Rose | Getty Images
Mortgage bankers praised the decision. "It couldn't come at a better time," said David Stevens, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. "February is the beginning of the spring market. I think it will have a definitive impact particularly in the first-time homebuyer market."
For the typical FHA applicant, the reduction in premiums means a savings of about $80 on their monthly payment, according to CoreLogic's chief economist, Sam Khater.
"So it's positive news from a consumer welfare perspective, especially for first-time homebuyers, which account for the majority of FHA's business," he said, adding, "However, I think the marginal impact on sales will be small because potential buyers make the decision to purchase based on trigger events, such as a new job, marriage, kids, etc. Changes in affordability only impact how much home they can buy."
The FHA had been the only low down payment product available, with a minimum 3.5 percent down, but recently Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a new 3 percent down payment product that would require private mortgage insurance. The product would compete directly with the FHA and could have offered some borrowers a cheaper option if they had a good credit score.
Read MoreWeekly mortgage applications fall sharply over holidays
"We believe the cut is strategic. Our view is that FHA was at risk of losing enough market share—especially of higher-quality borrowers—to the GSE 97 percent down mortgage that it could have put at risk the ability of the FHA fund to reach its 200 basis point reserve requirement this year as it had forecast. By cutting the premium, FHA would increase its share of the market and should be back on track to meeting the reserve requirement despite the cut in revenue," wrote Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Guggenheim Partners.
The reduction will likely come under scrutiny by some on Capitol Hill, as the FHA is still building its capital reserves and is not yet above the mandatory 2 percent minimum. It is back in the black, after having bled cash for two years.
The FHA's volume had soared at the beginning of the housing crash, making up for the lack of credit in the private market, but that came at a price. In order to rebuild its fund, it more than doubled its annual insurance premium and raised average credit scores. That made it harder for borrowers today to afford an FHA loan.
Read MoreFederal Housing Administration back in the black
Lowering the premium will bring volume back to the FHA, but it will also bring back risk.
"That is clearly the tension with any lending program that encourages low down payment," said Stevens. "But we are in a different position. We are clearly in an environment where home prices are very stable with steady growth. You don't have the dynamics to create any type of housing bubble."
Mortgage volume has been lagging, even with interest rates falling to near record lows. The Obama administration is clearly looking for new ways to boost homeownership, as investor activity wanes and the market is left to mortgage-dependent buyers.
"Now that we've made it harder for reckless buyers to buy homes that they can't afford, let's make it a little bit easier for qualified buyers to buy the homes that they can afford," said Obama in an August 2013 speech, also in Phoenix. At the time he did not make mention of the FHA, which was still in the red, but instead touted refinance programs and less red tape for lenders.
Obama is also expected to address the issue of putbacks at the FHA, which is when lenders are forced to buy back bad loans. The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has already sought to clarify these rules, which have created huge costs for lenders and consequently higher costs for borrowers.
UPDATE: This story was updated to include the White House confirmation of lower mortgage premiums and comments from HUD Secretary Julian Castro.
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0f1662dd778692f557332a39163c6ca1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/guggenheim-hedge-fund-stumbles.html | Guggenheim hedge fund stumbles | Guggenheim hedge fund stumbles
Guggenheim Partners home pageSource: Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners has slashed personnel at an internal hedge fund that hasn't lived up to big expectations.
The $220 billion asset management and investment banking firm cut at least eight senior employees in December at Guggenheim Global Trading, a roughly $600 million hedge fund unit based in the New York suburb of Purchase.
The layoffs come amid mediocre performance and little success attracting external clients at GGT, which is led by RBC and Guggenheim fund of hedge funds veterans Loren Katzovitz and Patrick Hughes. There have even been discussions about Guggenheim shedding the unit by selling its majority stake to GGT's senior executives, according to one account.
A spokesman for Guggenheim declined to comment.
Read MoreHedge fund robots are crushing their human rivals
It wasn't supposed to turn out this way.
GGT launched in 2011 with hopes to raise $2 billion and hire up to 25 teams with 150 total traders spread out between Purchase, Chicago, San Francisco, Geneva and Asia, according to Guggenheim statements at the time. Guggenheim then plowed more than $50 million into business operations, including iPad-based applications for risk monitoring and client reporting, according to marketing materials obtained by CNBC.com.
"We believe there are attractive opportunities to invest capital supporting trading strategies with high probabilities of success, particularly as banks are required to divest or significantly reduce their proprietary trading activities and smaller hedge funds find it uneconomical to continue," Katzovitz said at the launch.
Performance didn't match expectations.
The main fund, GGT Multi-Strategy, gained 3.19 percent in 2012 (from February to December) and 7.13 percent in 2013, according to marketing materials, but fell about 5 percent in 2014 through November, according to two people familiar with performance. Benchmark returns for similar hedge funds were higher each year: up 8.66 percent in 2012, 10.62 percent in 2013 and 5.06 percent in 2014, per the Absolute Return Multi-Strategy Index.
About 66 employees were hired as of late 2014, but with only 18 portfolio managers as of September, according to marketing materials. Virtually everyone was based in Purchase, with an outpost in Zug, Switzerland.
That employee total has likely fallen. The layoffs include seven portfolio managers for GGT, who invested across a range of strategies, including corporate events, stock volatility and emerging markets. They were: Steven Eick, Paul Horowitz, Michael Cohen, Gregor Dannacher, Francisco Drohojowski, Jamie Waters and Vinay Datta, according to people familiar with the situation.
The reasons for those cuts were unclear; performance varied for each team given different strategies. Most of the portfolio managers who were let go were surprised to hear the news, according to people familiar with the situation.
The fund's top marketer, Marjorie Kaufman, was also let go in December. She was hired in March 2014 after raising about $5 billion from clients as the head of marketing and investor relations at hedge fund firm Kingdon Capital from 2003 to 2010, according to her LinkedIn profile.
All those who left either declined to comment or did not respond to requests.
Read MoreThe best hedge funds for 2015 are...
VIDEO1:1201:12Dark side of oil's fallSquawk Box
"Guggenheim cut some great people—it shows how brutal the competition in hedge funds has become," said Kate Quinn, a financial industry recruiter at DHR International.
Quinn added that tepid returns likely didn't help, even if the strategy was for relatively steady, tempered gains.
"Investors look at the equity index and have come to expect quick pops and returns. It's mission-critical to maintain a top track record," Quinn said.
GGT's assets also didn't increase much from its launch.
While GGT was set up to trade internal capital, it also sought institutional investors who could take small ownership stakes with minimum initial investments of $10 million or more, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But GGT ended up with about $600 million in assets today, most of it internal capital from Guggenheim.
Parent Guggenheim said it viewed GGT "as a strategically important business," in a September 2014 prospectus. But Hedge Fund Alert reported in December that management was in discussions to buy out Guggenheim's stake. That account could not be independently verified.
Read MoreAckman, Robbins, Loeb score as hedge fund pay lags
GGT isn't the only Guggenheim hedge fund unit to lose personnel.
Mike Damaso, who had been chairman of the investment committee overseeing corporate credit investing and a portfolio manager for the NZC Guggenheim Fund, left at year-end to be vice chairman of A24 Films, a New York-based movie company that Guggenheim had invested in.
Damaso declined to comment, but two people familiar with the situation said that the split was amicable and Damaso simply wanted a new challenge after 16 years in the financial services industry. Damaso had already been on the board since A24 launched three years ago and had worked at Guggenheim since 2001.
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330889c2c79dfb11340340356e4d1270 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/monsanto-reports-steep-drop-in-quarterly-profit.html | Monsanto reports steep drop in quarterly profit | Monsanto reports steep drop in quarterly profit
Monsanto on Wednesday reported a 34 percent drop in quarterly profit, in part because of lower planted corn acreage in South America and a shift in timing of some sales, but the decline was less steep than analysts expected.
The world's largest seed company, known for its genetically engineered corn, soybeans and other crops as well as the popular Roundup herbicide, said net sales fell to $2.9 billion in the first quarter ended Nov. 30 from $3.1 billion a year earlier. Sales of corn seeds and genetic traits were down 12 percent.
Shares of Monsanto were up 1.5 percent at $117.52 in morning trading.
The company said sales of its soybean seed and trait products surged to $396 million from $267 million.
One key new product is the company's "Intacta RR2 PRO," a new soybean genetically engineered to fight off damaging worms and marketed to South American farmers.
New soybean products will be a core factor for profit growth this fiscal year, the company said, as corn acres in the United States and globally are seen dropping. The company's early order book and prepayments for spring planting in the United States point to strong soybean demand, Monsanto said.
Due in part to lowered U.S. corn acres planted this spring, Monsanto's second-quarter earnings are likely to drop 5 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier on an ongoing basis, company officials said.
The company said earnings fell to $243 million, or 50 cents a share, in the first quarter from $368 million, or 69 cents a share, a year earlier. Some analysts had been looking for profits to drop as much as 50 percent.
Excluding discontinued operations, earnings on an ongoing basis amounted to 47 cents a share. Analysts on average were expecting 34 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Monsanto said it still expected earnings per share of $5.75 to $6.00 in fiscal 2015.
In an update on its progress on new products, Monsanto said it was advancing disease-resistance breeding traits along with new insect control products, and was upgrading its farm data services.
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211fd3318bb0f46b21567ebb91e5694a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/smartwatch-or-fitness-tracker-why-age-sex-matter.html?__source=yahoonews&par=yahoonews | Smartwatch or fitness tracker? Why age, sex matter | Smartwatch or fitness tracker? Why age, sex matter
Are you on team fitness tracker or team smartwatch?
In the battle between the two wearable technologies, it turns out there may not be much of a competition after all.
According to a new report by market research firm NPD Group, 36 percent of people who own fitness trackers in the U.S. are 35 to 54 years old and are predominantly women. In contrast, more than two-thirds of smartwatch owners are male and between ages 18 and 34.
There's also a divide between the average income of each device's owners. According to NPD, 41 percent of fitness tracker owners have an average income of more than $100,000, while nearly half of smartwatch owners earn less than $45,000.
Fitbit Surge watchesSource: Fitbit
The survey, conducted in December, was based on 5,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 and older.
Read MoreThree wearables you would actually want to wear
"I think a lot of people have been saying that they expect smartwatch sales to start stealing from fitness trackers," said Weston Henderek, director of connected intelligence at the NPD Group. "We're not convinced of that."
One reason behind the demographic divide is that fitness trackers are more mainstream than smartwatches, Henderek said. Whereas one in 10 U.S. adults owns a fitness tracker, smartwatches only have about 2 percent penetration, according to NPD data.
Over the holidays, defined by NPD as the five-week period from Thanksgiving to Christmas, more than 2.5 million digital fitness devices were sold, according to the firm. That compares with only 250,000 smartwatches.
Henderek added that many early adopters of fitness trackers were workout buffs who have since abandoned the technology, after finding they could monitor many of its capabilities on their own. As a result, the typical buyer has shifted more to those who are just starting to exercise.
Read MoreSears, mobile and Apple Pay: What to watch in 2015
Smartwatch users, on the other hand, tend to be more tech- than fitness-oriented, he said. That's because fitness activities often take a back seat to the technology's other features.
"There's a pretty big difference in terms of the reasons why people purchase [these] things," he said. "Sometimes when you get a younger demographic, even if their income is a bit lower, that doesn't mean they're not going to shell out the money for the latest and greatest device."
VIDEO3:1203:12Ingenious gadgets at CESSquawk Alley
Although Henderek said he doesn't foresee smartwatches overtaking fitness trackers in volume sales anytime soon, it could happen in the long run. He added that once the Apple Watch is released this year, it will make the technology more mainstream.
Read MoreWearables, 3-D printers, virtual reality dominate CES
Deborah Weinswig, executive director of FBIC research firm, sounded a similar tone in a note to investors. In it, she forecast that the Apple Watch will change the wearables' landscape.
"In technology, and notably in wearables, it's not always the first to market who rules the perch," she said. "The winner is the one who offers a differentiated product and can effectively inform the consumer."
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aab2d574deed66722ad38d3dd46dab20 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/07/weekly-mortgage-applications-fall-sharply-over-holidays.html | Weekly mortgage applications fall sharply over holidays | Weekly mortgage applications fall sharply over holidays
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The holiday season is historically slow in the mortgage business, but this time around it was particularly quiet.
For the week ending January 2, 2015, total mortgage application volume was down 9.1 percent from two weeks earlier, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The reading included additional adjustments for both New Year's Day and Christmas Day, when banks were closed.
Applications to refinance existing mortgages decreased 12 percent from two weeks ago, according to the MBA, while mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent. December is the slowest month of the year in the housing market, but there is more weighing on sales than just a winter chill.
Read More Will too many apartments pinch the rental market?
"Beyond the seasonal slowdown, purchase application volume remains about 8 percent below last year's level, indicating that homebuyers are still cautious," said the MBA's chief economist Mike Fratantoni.
VIDEO0:5500:55Marginal movement in pending home salesPower Lunch
They are still cautious despite falling mortgage interest rates. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.01 percent from 4.04 percent, with points decreasing to 0.28 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans, according to the MBA. That was just the beginning.
Plummeting bond yields this week pushed interest rates even lower. According to Mortgage News Daily (MND), the average rate on the 30-year fixed is now a full quarter point lower than the average rates available in the second half of December.
"Today is officially the first day we can say that rate sheets are at least as good as May 21st, 2013, the day before former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony unofficially kicked off the taper tantrum and sent mortgage rates quickly higher," wrote Matthew Graham of MND late Tuesday.
That restored the most widely available rate for the nation's best borrowers to 3.625 percent.
"One caveat is that this is somewhat dependent on the lender at the moment. Not all lenders improve their pricing in lock-step with the rest of the market, but if underlying MBS (mortgage-backed-securities) prices are in similar territory tomorrow [Wednesday], they'll follow suit," added Graham.
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0c6693c5f06315c2d7f0a0386303230a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/08/apple-already-hits-new-records-in-2015.html | Apple already hits new records in 2015 | Apple already hits new records in 2015
VIDEO1:4701:47Apple's record breaking year Squawk Alley
2014 was a record-breaking year for Apple's app store.
The tech behemoth announced Thursday that billings rose 50 percent and apps generated over $10 billion in revenue for developers last year.
And what's more, that strength is continuing in 2015. Apple said billings from the app store set a weekly record for the first week of January, with customers spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-apps purchases.
New Year's Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in app store sales history, according to the company.
"This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the app store and our developer community," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services.
"We're so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion," he said in a statement.
Read MoreiPhone dents Android's crown
VIDEO1:2601:26iPhone boosts Apple's mobile market share
Apple's app store launched in 2008, and now an entire industry exists dedicated to designing and developing apps. So much so now that Apple says in the last six years, the iOS ecosystem has helped created nearly 600,000 jobs in the U.S. (Separately, Apple also launched a website Thursday detailing its impact on job creation.)
The app store is a big battleground between Apple and Google. According to App Annie, which provides market data for the app economy, Google Play's worldwide downloads were about 60 percent higher than iOS app store downloads in the third quarter, which is the latest data available.
But iOS retained its strong lead in app store revenue over Google Play. In the third quarter, iOS app store revenue was about 60 percent higher than Google Play's. App Annie says that at least part of that difference can be explained by Apple's premium products. Consumers who can afford an iPhone can afford to spend more on apps, the research firm said.
The app store now offers more than 1.4 million apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users in 24 categories including games, social networking and health and fitness.
Read MoreWhy Apple's stock has been sliding in 2015
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752aee83ef7f5760c818de055b04cec3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/08/new-year-new-name-for-pizza-inn-holdings.html | New year, new name for Pizza Inn Holdings | New year, new name for Pizza Inn Holdings
Meet Rave Restaurant Group, the company formerly known as Pizza Inn Holdings.
The parent of Pizza Inn and Pie Five Pizza will rename its holding company and change its ticker to "RAVE" from "PZZI" effective Friday on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The company, which has struggled to compete with larger pizza players, is trying to signal what it sees as a new era of growth for itself.
Pie Five Pizza Farmer’s Market pizzaSource: Rave Restaurant Group
"Names matter in this world," said the restaurant's CEO Randy Gier in a phone interview. "They are things that indicate your aspirations to employees, customers and investors, and we have great aspirations and think we're a different company than what you've been."
Read MoreCurry crust? Pizza Hut unveils huge changes
Pizza Inn has faced some tough times in its history, filing for banking protection in 1989. Its domestic store count has shrunk over the years as it's faced stiff competition from larger chains like Yum Brands' Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Little Caesar's and Papa Johns. The company, which is not covered by analysts, has a market cap of about $73 million—a small fraction of these rivals. During fiscal 2014, the company raised $5.6 million from the sale of stock but recorded an adjusted net loss of $468,000 as it invested in Pie Five.
"Trying to compete with the advertising strength of the larger brands has been difficult," said Darren Tristano, Technomic's executive vice president, in a phone interview.
Rave's Gier admitted the Pizza Inn chain has "been in decline" in the past but said it has been "on a terrific track" lately. In its preliminary second-quarter results, Pizza Inn reported domestic comparable store sales rose 6.4 percent from the same period of the prior year, while Pie Five comparable store sales increased 16.9 percent year over year.
This is an improvement from fiscal 2014, when Pizza Inn domestic comparable franchisee store sales shrank 1.1 percent
The name change, chosen from a list of more than 80, reflects its move from a single chain to one that incorporates its faster growing Pie Five restaurant along with its slower-growing legacy restaurant, Pizza Inn. Currently, Pie Five has 31 locations with plans for more than 400 additional franchised and company-owned units over the next five to six years. For now, Pizza Inn still accounts for the majority of the company's units at about 180 domestically.
Pizza Inn is one of several companies betting on the fast casual customized pizza category with its Pie Five chain. Other entrants include Blaze Pizza, Project Pie and PizzaRev, which counts Buffalo Wild Wings as an investor.
While the fast-casual segment has posted strong growth from companies like Chipotle Mexican Grill, "the fast casual Italian or pizza category has been underpenetrated" but is now seeing rapid expansion, Technomic's Tristano said.
Read MoreSpotting the nextChipotle: Restaurants to watch
Over the past decade, the company's sales have shrunk to $42.22 million in the year ended in June from $59.99 million in the comparable period as other chains like Domino's Pizza and Papa John's have ballooned, according to FactSet data.
Customers won't notice any differences in stores as a result of the name change.
"The name change is probably more for employees and investors as a signal that it's a different name than you've known," Gier said.
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47f2ed6656c9ab4d5e1b363f8be979b6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/08/time-to-bet-on-chinas-property-stocks.html | Time to bet on China's property stocks | Time to bet on China's property stocks
VIDEO3:1003:102015 - Time for Chinese property to shine?Squawk Box Asia
As China's wobbly property sector appears set to emerge from the doldrums, mainland developer stocks look like a good bet this year, analysts tell CNBC.
For the past year, shares of Hong Kong-listed developers like China Vanke, China Resources Land and Gemdale traded mixed as high inventories and declining home prices pressured China's property sector
But more policy support may offer stability this year, likely boosting property counters, said Mark Konyn, CEO of Cathay Conning Asset Management.
"We expect more action to try to stimulate demand in the property market this year. On the back of that, we expect to see sales pick up and some of these property stocks, which have been previously beaten down, to do pretty well on a sustainable basis," Konyn said.
A huge house price discount advertising billboard is seen at a railway station in Xi'an, China.Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images
Policy tools galore
More interest rate and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cuts, along with looser polices for the housing provident fund, which offers mortgages subsidized by local governments, could be rolled out in 2015. These will ensure liquidity remains abundant, helping to finance buyers and developers, wrote Citi's property analysts in a note.
These expectations come on the back of a host of supportive measures that Beijing adopted in 2014 to prop up its housing sector, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the mainland economy and impacts more than 40 industries.
In September, mortgage rates and downpayment levels were cut for the first time since the 2008/09 global financial crisis. Mortgage restrictions were also loosened in favor of first-time buyers and loan terms relaxed for existing homeowners in October. Most recently, a government agency in Beijing raised the upper limit on the loan cap for property, effective this month.
Read MoreWill China'sproperty market unravel in 2015?
But the most notable move, experts say, is the central bank's surprise interest rate cut last November. The People's Bank of China lowered benchmark lending rates by 40 basis points to 5.6 percent and deposit rates by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent – its first rate move since 2012.
The efforts appear to be working: Month-on-month, China's home prices fell 0.5 percent in November, better than October's 0.8 percent decline. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed property sales hit an 11-month high of 132.2 million square metres in November, though that was still down 11 percent on year.
Meanwhile, China's biggest residential developer China Vanke reported a 129 percent on-year jump in sales in December, while sales over the same period for mid-sized Country Garden surged 167 percent.
Experts are optimistic that the sector is showing tentative signs of bottoming out in 2015.
"The rate cut is shifting pricing pressure of the developers onto the banking system. Given construction new starts down by 15 percent on-year in 2014, supply pressure will also ease in 2015," said Nicole Wong, head of property research at CLSA. "This sets the scene for volume and price recovery, bottoming of developers' margins and earnings upward revision."
Read MoreWhy China's propertyslowdown isn't so scary: Goldman
Stock picks
CLSA also attributes its overweight rating to the fact that the sector is trading broadly at a price-earnings ratio of 5-8 times, which should provide room for "substantial upside" in the next 12 months, Wong wrote.
CLSA prefers companies with mid gearing levels and a big-city focus like China Resources Land, Shimao Property and Sunac, which may gain more than 10 percent each in 2015.
Citi sees the first half of 2015 as a good time to be aggressive and recommends plays that have market leadership and background as a state-owned enterprise like Poly Real Estate and China Vanke.
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7c5a50c329b97dae8f9c4734cafb1b92 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/10-financial-steps-that-will-set-you-up-for-2015.html | 10 financial steps that will set you up for 2015 | 10 financial steps that will set you up for 2015
If you resolved to better manage your finances this year, don't delay.
"January is the best time to make changes," said certified financial planner Travis Sollinger, director of financial planning at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "Everyone's excited about their new year's resolutions and ready to start fresh."
The best way to capitalize on that momentum before it dissipates? Take actions now that will pay dividends over the coming year—and beyond.
Tom Grill | Getty Images
Here are 10 steps you can take now to set yourself up financially for 2015.
Get clear on your goals and budget accordingly. There's a reason why you've heard this advice so many times: It's a tried-and-true method to keep you on track. Start by writing down short-term, medium-term and long-term financial goals, said certified financial planner Joe Franklin, president of Franklin Wealth Management in Hixson, Tenn. Then he recommends adding a little twist: Write down what your life will look like in the future if you don't take action. Getting a sense of what falling short could mean can provide extra emotional incentive to stick to your goals.
In addition to setting specific, measurable and achievable goals, Franklin recommends creating a household budget. If you don't already have one, free budgeting websites like Mint.com or Budget Simple can help you see where your money is going each month.
Read MoreFinancial resolutions worth keeping
Increase your 401(k) contribution. You can put even more away in your 401(k) this year. The maximum allowable contribution for 2015 is $18,000, up $500 from last year. And if you're 50 or older you can make an additional "catch-up contribution" of $6,000, up from $5,500 in 2013. Even if you're unable to max out your contributions, consider increasing the amount you contribute now—or setting up automatic increases in the future. A growing number of companies now offer auto-escalation options, meaning you can sign up now to have your contributions increased each year automatically (typically by 1 percent until you reach the 10 percent threshold). A 2013 survey by WorldatWork and the American Benefit Institute found more than one-quarter of nearly 500 companies they surveyed offered it and more were considering it.
Increasing your contribution is particularly important if you make it as a set dollar amount versus a percentage. "Make sure you adjust it upward if you have received cost-of-living adjustments or salary increases," said David Richmond, a certified financial planner and president of retirement planning firm Richmond Brothers, based in Jackson, Mich. "If you're not, you'll be saving less as a percentage and may eventually drop below the minimum contribution to receive a match from your company."
Pay off credit card debt. Yes, it's always a good move to pay down credit card debt, but there's an added incentive this year. The Federal Reserve is expected to increase its federal funds rate sometime in 2015, which will translate into higher interest rates on variable credit card debt. The Fed isn't saying exactly when the rate increase will occur; some forecasters expect it in the summer while others expect it late in the third quarter. But whenever it comes, you'll be more prepared for it if you're working to pay down credit card debt now—or if necessary, have transferred remaining balances to a card with a lower fixed interest rate.
Read MoreThree cards that can help you pay down your debt faster
Set up automatic deposits to a rainy-day account. According to a study released Wednesday, more than 60 percent of Americans do not have enough funds set aside to deal with even minor calamities. Now is the time to get prepared for emergencies so you'll no longer need to panic—or turn to credit cards—when your car needs new brakes or your refrigerator calls it quits.
Aim to save at least three months' worth of living expenses, Franklin said. Setting up automatic biweekly or monthly transfers to fund the account is the surest way to get there. "And you will likely never miss the money," he added.
Read More62 percent of Americans can't cover emergency expenses
Set up additional savings transfers. If your emergency savings is fully funded, or you feel comfortable diverting some funds to other short-term goals while you continue to shore up your rainy day account, consider setting up additional biweekly or monthly transfers.
If you've got a few specific funding goals this year, dividing your savings into different accounts (one for each goal) can help you track progress and prioritize allocations. Knowing exactly what you're saving for can also help motivate you to keep setting money aside. Look for banks with no minimum balance requirement, low (or no) fees, and high interest rates.
Read MoreOne 5-minute fix could help you meet savings goals
Get more bang for your bank. If you've been saving and investing for a while, you may have accumulated several different accounts at different banks or brokerage firms. This month, review all the savings vehicles you have and determine whether you can consolidate or move some of your funds to higher interest-bearing accounts. (Chances are, you can. Some of the most generous online-only accounts, including Barclays and Ally, are now offering a yield of about 1 percent, which is still low, but significantly higher than what most traditional brick-and-mortar banks are now offering.)
Another benefit? "If you don't have a real need to spread out your money into different accounts, it can be easier to manage everything at one bank or firm," Sollinger said. "Figure out which one gives you the best service and consider moving everything to one place."
Review insurance coverage. Take time to look at all your insurance policies and make sure you're covered with short-term and long-term disability insurance, homeowners, auto and health insurance. In addition, make sure you have the right amount of coverage.
For instance, "you may be over-insuring your home or auto by going with a lower deductible," Franklin said. (The average auto policyholder is overpaying by $368 a year, according to a 2013 NerdWallet.com study.) "If you have cash available to meet the higher deductible, you could be saving money each month by going with a higher deductible insurance plan that carries lower monthly premiums."
Read MoreThe mistake doubling your auto insurance premiums
Double up on mortgage payments. If you have a mortgage, consider setting up biweekly mortgage payments rather than monthly. This will help you "build equity in your home and pay it off faster," Franklin said. "You can shave several years off a 30-year mortgage and save thousands of dollars in interest payments in the process."
Review important documents. Make sure you know where your mortgage, will, and other important documents are, and that they are up to date. Take a look at the beneficiary designations on your 401(k), IRA and life insurance. Franklin said it's not uncommon to meet with a prospective client and see they have their ex-spouse still listed as a primary beneficiary on their 401(k) or IRA. If you have a will, make sure you're still satisfied with your power of attorney for financial and health-care decisions, as well as guardianship for your children. If you don't have a will, take time to get one. You can do it yourself by downloading an online form from a legal site like NOLO.com.
Check your credit report. Under federal law, you're entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) once every 12 months. If you haven't done so in the past year, visit AnnualCreditReport.com to order your free annual credit reports and check for errors. (A 2013 Federal Trade Commission study found that 1 in 4 consumers identified errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit score.) If you find errors, you can dispute the claims in writing to have them corrected. And if you're not satisfied with your score, you can start taking steps to improve it.
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81bf1357ac3525f85a17c320e8cac621 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/crusade-for-biotech-transparency.html | Crusade for biotech transparency | Crusade for biotech transparency
VIDEO4:2204:22Stock moving information kept behind doorsStreet Signs
Thousands of investors, analysts and executives will descend on San Francisco's Union Square next week for the annual JPMorgan Health Care Conference, the industry's biggest event of the year. More than 400 companies will make presentations to rooms packed with attendees.
Then executives often head to smaller rooms for "breakout sessions," where investors and analysts can ask questions.
Read MoreNew antibiotic may conquer superbugs
People who don't attend the conference can usually tune in to the main presentations through webcasts. But the breakouts? That's a different story. And it can be in those less formal settings that executives get more interesting—even, in some cases, cause stocks to move.
Biotech investor Brad Loncar is on a mission to persuade every presenting company to also webcast its breakout session. He said he's made some progress, but still has a way to go.
Getty Images
"I think this is an awareness issue," Loncar said in an interview on Thursday's "Street Signs." "For the last few weeks, I've been contacting these companies and asking them if they would elect to webcast theirs, and a lot of the responses that I'm getting back is that they're not aware this is even an option."
JPMorgan offers webcast through a third-party provider: It costs $1,000.
Read MoreFlu boosts drug store sales, but others take a hit
"I think people are smart," Loncar said. "A lot of people out there are just as smart as the people who are in the room. All day long I talk with doctors and academic researchers and mom and pops … who spend a lot of time educating themselves on this and learning these things, and I don't think they should be shut out of the process just because they're not a large client of a specific bank."
Loncar and TheStreet.com biotech columnist Adam Feuerstein have published lists of companies who are webcasting their breakout sessions. Loncar's list is here.
"I think the best route to go always is just to put the information out there and let people educate themselves," Loncar said.
Read MoreWorkers 'squeezed' by health insurance: Study
Update: CNBC contacted several companies to ask whether they planned to webcast their breakouts, and if not, why. MannKind said that only about a quarter of the companies at JPMorgan do so.
"We have never considered it necessary since we are careful not to give out any non-public information at the breakout," MannKind Chief Financial Officer Matt Pfeffer said in an emailed statement.
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fb2c30bacf35a1cae6f0ff930d5456f3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/fund-with-womans-touch-beating-market.html | Fund with woman’s touch beating market | Fund with woman’s touch beating market
CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi speaks at the official opening of a PepsiCo bottling plant in Domodedovo, near Moscow, on July 8, 2009.Natalia Kolesnikova | AFP | Getty Images
Having more females in higher positions could help a company's stock, if the initial performance of Barclay's $27 million Women in Leadership ETN is any guide.
Since its July launch, the fund is topping the by about 1 percent. Not too shabby, considering the current poor track record of mutual funds whose managers pick stocks based on fundamentals.
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a43e9f693bd491c89d481bbc55617cb0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/government-fires-employee-who-skipped-work-for-24-years.html | Government fires employee who skipped work for 24 years | Government fires employee who skipped work for 24 years
Even in India, where government jobs are considered to be for life, A.K. Verma was pushing it.
Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990.
"He went on seeking extension of leave, which was not sanctioned, and defied directions to report to work," the government said in a statement Thursday.
Even after an inquiry found him guilty of "willful absence from duty" in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.
India's labor laws, which the World Bank says are the most restrictive anywhere, make it hard to sack staff for any reason other than criminal misconduct.
States, led by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have recently changed the law to make it easier to hire and fire staff, in a move welcomed by industry leaders but opposed by labor unions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cracked down on rampant absenteeism by making New Delhi bureaucrats sign in at work using a fingerprint scanner. The results are publicly available online - at www.attendance.gov.in - in real time.
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f3e8421685a5705b4be1eaf3216f84c6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/our-trouble-with-jobs-the-pay-still-stinks.html | Our trouble with jobs: The pay still stinks | Our trouble with jobs: The pay still stinks
VIDEO2:0202:02Our trouble with jobs: The pay still stinksHelp Wanted
There was a lot to like about the December nonfarm payrolls report—except, of course, for those who were making less money at the end of the month than they were at the start.
Easily the most jarring aspect from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' numbers was the drop in hourly earnings. The 5-cent decline brought the average annual increase down to a mere 1.7 percent, indications that while the job market overall may be continuing to improve, the underlying fundamentals still need some work.
Average hourly earnings dropped from $24.62 an hour to $24.57 in December, with the typical paycheck off $1.73 to $850.12, according to BLS data released Friday.
The headline numbers of a 5.6 percent unemployment rate and 252,000 new jobs, while positive enough on their face, didn't tell the whole story of a labor market that still is struggling in some aspects.
VIDEO1:5601:56Goldman's Hatzius: Wage growth well below 'tightening' level
Investors seemed to be taking notice, with stocks reversing a powerful two-day rally Friday as the uneven nature of the economic recovery showed its face in the jobs internals.
Read MoreJob growth jumps but wages fall; rate down to 5.6%
In essence, the market got the worst of both worlds: A headline rate that should keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise rates later this year, but internals that show weak wage growth and economic progress that remains uneven.
"Yes, wage growth continues to be lackluster but the Fed won't likely wait to see the whites of its eyes as the continued drop in the unemployment rate is further signs of labor market tightening and another drop in the participation rate is clear evidence that the slack the doves are relying on is just not there," Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group, said in a note to clients.
By itself, the jobless rate remains largely the beneficiary of a declining labor force. The participation rate fell to 62.7 percent, its worst showing going all the way back to December 1977 and due primarily to a drop of females in the workforce.
Accompanying that move was a 273,000 decline in the total number of Americans in the labor force. A separate measure that counts the underemployed and those who have given up looking for jobs was exactly double the core number at 11.2 percent, though lower by 0.2 percentage points.
Read MoreVanguard execs issue warning on risks of deflation
Among Wall Street economists, though, there was little but praise for the report.
Deutsche Bank's chief U.S. economist, Joe LaVorgna, who was expecting 200,000 new jobs for the month, pointed out that 2014 turned in its best year for job creation, at 2.95 million, since 1999.
"In general, this morning's employment report indicates that the labor market continues to improve at a healthy pace, and the unemployment rate remains on track to breach 5 percent by year-end," LaVorgna said in a note to clients.
"As long as monthly payroll gains remain near the current 12-month average (246,000), and the unemployment rate continues to decline at the current pace, wage pressures are sure to become more pronounced over the next several quarters, keeping monetary policymakers on track to begin the process of normalizing interest rates sometime around the middle of the year," he added.
Read MoreFed hike could come with low inflation: Minutes
Several other economists also pointed out that the report could give the Fed impetus to hike rates even sooner than expected. Capital Economics, for once, expects a March hike.
However, the central bank's tendency has been to acknowledge the improving employment picture but focus on inflation pressures, or the lack thereof. Its zero interest rate policy is contingent on low wage growth, so the continued lack gives the Fed room to keep things easy.
One metric worth watching is oil prices. Weekly payrolls in the mining and logging industries, which are a good proxy for energy price pressures, fell 1.2 percent for the month. Retail wages dropped 0.6 percent while the wholesale trade and trade, transportation and utilities sectors both saw 0.3 percent declines. Construction wages grew 1.3 percent while transportation and warehousing rose 1.2 percent.
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b5f0e12c122d49326aedc6ec7553935b | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/us-created-252000-jobs-in-dec-vs-240000-est-unemployment-rate-at-56-vs-57-est.html | 252,000 new jobs in December; unemployment at 5.6% | 252,000 new jobs in December; unemployment at 5.6%
VIDEO2:0202:02Our trouble with jobs: The pay still stinksHelp Wanted
Job creation kept the pace in December, with the U.S. economy creating 252,000 jobs to close out the year, while the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent.
The U.S. was expected to create 240,000 jobs in December, after adding an unexpectedly strong 353,000 jobs the prior month. The unemployment rate was seen falling to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent a month earlier. An alternative measure that includes the underemployed and those who have stopped searching for employment also fell, moving from 11.4 percent to 11.2 percent, its lowest reading since October 2008.
After initially reacting positively to the report, markets changed direction with stocks opening in negative territory.
Businesses had been creating jobs at a monthly pace of 224,000, though wage growth remained modest and the drop in the headline rate had come in large part due to a decline in the labor force participation rate. Indeed, the participation rate continued to plummet, falling to a fresh 37-year low of 62.7 percent.
Job quality did not fare well either, with wages actually declining for the month by 5 cents an hour, pulling the annualized gain down to 1.7 percent. The average work week held steady at 34.6 hours. However, the amount of full-time workers surged by 427,000 while part-time positions dropped by 269,000.
Read MoreWhy the US will power the world economy in 2015
"It was generally a decent report," said Marie Schofield, chief economist at Columbia Investment Management. "The trends are strengthening."
Professional and business services led the way, with 52,000 new positions. Construction added 48,000, while bars and restaurants hired another 44,000 workers.
The holiday shopping season did nothing to help the retail trade, however, with the Labor Department reporting little change in payrolls after a jump in November.
Read MoreRetail turning a corner? The case for a 2015 boost
The total number of employed Americans increased by 111,000, while the actual size of the labor force declined by 273,000.
"Will this year be remembered as the time when Americans finally started to feel like the recovery was having a meaningful impact on their lives? On this front the December jobs report was disappointing," Joseph Lake, U.S. analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, said in a statement.
Schofield called the wage numbers "disconcerting" because the bulk of wage decreases came in nonsupervisory workers.
A transmission for a Chrysler Ram 1500 truck goes through the assembly line at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Warren, Michigan.Getty Images
"Those are the cohorts, so to speak, that have the highest propensity to spend," she said. "If you can point to a burden in terms of lack of wages, it's been on the production workers."
In terms of Federal Reserve policy, there was some dispute over what the new numbers would mean.
The headline rate already had fallen below the central bank's target before it would start raising rates, but the lack of wage pressures means the Fed can still operate on its own timetable. Most market participants expect a rate hike by midyear, though some believe that the Fed could justify an earlier move.
Read More
The report was "all the more reason to expect that the Fed will start raising rates in the first half of 2015," Gad Levanon, macroeconomic and labor market research director for the Conference Board, said in a statement.
Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the report "leaves scope for the Fed to decide that the economy is improving by more than it expected, thereby triggering the first rate hike in March."
The December numbers closely mirrored private sector job creation projections earlier in the week from ADP and Moody's Analytics, with the firm projecting the number at 241,000.
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8d2b3578dec8b03387b2e1114d1908aa | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/09/will-tinder-lose-its-crown-the-dating-apps-of-2015.html | Dating apps with a difference | Dating apps with a difference
Last year the dating scene was dominated by mobile apps that could dismiss a potential suitor solely on the basis of appearance by a mere swipe of the finger. Will 2015 see the arrival of a less-superficial piece of dating technology?
In 2014, over 50 million users swiped left or right to find a match on Tinder. Along with dating apps such as Grindr and Cuddlr, 2014 marked a breakthrough year in online dating.
A little over one in 10 Americans have admitted to using online or mobile dating, with 25-34-year-olds the most likely to find a partner on (22 percent), according to Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research firm.
Not a fan of being judged purely on your appearance? Loveflutter doesn't either.
Read MoreThis dating site wants to use your DNA to set you up
Onur D'Angel | E+ | Getty Images
Not just looks that count
Loveflutter prides itself on "discovering quirky people". The dating app works on a personality basis. Almost the exact same structure as Tinder, Loveflutter asks customers to upload a picture of themselves and 140 characters worth of information, only for the image to appear blurred to other users.
In order to unlock a person's appearance, a user first looks through the profile information and interesting facts about the possible match, and then decide whether to click like or not.
The co- founder of Loveflutter, Daigo Smith told CNBC late last month that Tinder had "shaken up the dating market." But while "looks-based dating is great initially but when you actually start to chat to someone… we're offering that insight into their personality."
"We're on track for a million users next year" Smith confirmed in the interview in December 2014, whilst their demographic is more aimed towards 25 to 35 year olds. "We're slightly older than Tinder but I think that reflects people's objectives for going on our app," Smith added.
Read More12 Unique Dating Sites
VIDEO3:1903:19Is there life after Tinder?
Fancy a bit of bristle?
Charity based events Movember and Decembeard have not only generated funds to both prostate cancer and bowel cancer, but have also shown the world the attraction of the facial fuzz.
UK-based 'Bristlr' takes this attraction to a whole new level. A networking site that focuses on "connecting those with beards to those who want to stroke beards."
Whilst it is still in its prototype stages, Bristlr announced in December that they had managed to generate more than 75,000 matches in the bearded community.
Bristlr may have be dubbed "Tinder for Beards" however the dating app network hopes people will look for more than a casual hook-up: "Most dating apps are pretty heavy going.
Instead of expecting to go home with someone, we hope to have a nice chat and share a mutual admiration of a beard or two" the company states on its website.
Read MoreHow to make money off online dating
Not your cup of tea?
The release of "Coffee Meets Bagel" on Android in the U.S. only this week marks another shift toward a more meaningful approach in online dating. The iOS application was released in August 2013.
Founded by three sisters in April 2012, social dating site, Coffee Meets Bagel limits its U.S. users to only one match – or one bagel as they label it -- a day at around midday.
The match given is based on the user's social profile details and shows mutual friends. If both participants like each other, the app will help the possible date along with a "private chat room". If the "bagel" is not to the user's taste. then they'll have to wait until the next day for a lucky match.
Online dating services don't always get the best reputation for encouraging monogamy, so Coffee Meets Bagel investigated how serious their users are into having serious relationships.
From interviewing more than 500 of its users, the app discovered that almost 65 percent of its members were looking for something serious from apps like Coffee Meets Bagel, according to its 2013 survey.
Read MoreSaying 'I do' goes high-tech in India
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f23a98c9bd5c6a4d665d66807d775b0d | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/12/bill-simon-consumer-confidence-up-thanks-to-gas-price.html | Bill Simon: Consumer confidence up thanks to gas price | Bill Simon: Consumer confidence up thanks to gas price
VIDEO1:5901:59Gas prices fueling consumer confidence: Bill SimonSquawk Box
Consumer confidence is starting to pick up in the face of lower gas prices, former Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon said Monday in a turnaround from his comments in July that the job market recovery was not spurring shoppers to spend.
"Gas prices do a lot not only for customers' wallets, but for their psyche in general. It's a really big boost. Gas is an emotional purchase, as you know. People drive all the way across town for 2 or 3 cents a gallon. And now with gas at about half of what it was a year ago, I think consumer confidence is really starting to pick up," Simon said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The price at the pump is one of the most important factors in determining spending at the low and middle end of retail, he said.
Read More Retailers are closing up shop. Here's why...
But citing flat wages, he said the economic recovery is uneven despite job gains. "The middle and the bottom of the economy is not having the same pace of recovery as the top of the economy, and that's really an important factor as we go forward," he said.
The mechanism for job growth in the middle tier is missing, and the United States will not see robust growth until it creates jobs in that area that low-wage workers can advance to, he said. Workforce development is key to the ability to lift the entire middle part of the economy, he added.
Read More A happy holiday: Sales top ShopperTrak forecast
Asked whether the United States can ever offer competitive wage pricing that also allows Wal-Mart to continue selling products at low prices, Simon said wages are only one component of the input cost. Due to high transportation costs abroad and low energy costs fueled by the U.S. oil production boom at home, it makes sense to manufacture some categories in the United States, he said.
"You've got to overcome the inertia of the capital already invested in Asia, and so it will take a little time to gain traction. Some categories can come back right away. Some never will. Large products, heavy products, technology-driven products with not a lot of labor inputs are already here and coming," he said.
As for this year's holiday shopping season, Simon said the consumer generally won because pricing was very low and the deals were deep. Discounting will likely impact earnings this season, he added.
Read MoreGary Parr: US Markets only in the 6th or 7th inning
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9ec23f272e104fa355cb9a4ff60baa55 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/12/cyprus-danger-zone.html | Cyprus could be 'out of the danger zone' | Cyprus could be 'out of the danger zone'
VIDEO2:3602:36Cyprus is out of the 'danger zone': Fin MinSquawk Box Europe
After a very public collapse of its financial sector in 2013, Cyprus' banking system is on the mend, the country's finance minister told CNBC, while insisting that the upcoming elections in Greece would not affect its economic recovery.
"We're in a much better situation," Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades told CNBC Monday. "We are definitely out of the danger zone now, and the recession seems to have run its course. We are very optimistic that the new year will see a return to positive growth rates."
Cyprus has been battling an economic slump compounded by the collapse of its financial system two years ago, which saw the country secure a 10 billion euro ($11.8 billion) bailout overseen by the so-called troika – made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
But this was not before one of the country's financial behemoths, the Cyprus Popular Bank, was wound down and another – the Bank of Cyprus – was recapitalized by measures including the seizing of depositors' uninsured savings above 100,000 euros ($120,000).
Read MoreWhy top investors are betting on Bank of Cyprus
Now, after four years of recession, the country's central bank governor, expects growth of 0.5 percent in 2015. It is also preparing two international debt issues this year, Georgiades told Reuters last week, although the details are yet to be confirmed.
Speaking to CNBC in Nicosia, Cyprus' capital, Georgiades said the economy had stabilized after its "severe crisis."
"Cyprus was led into an unprecedented crisis, the public finances and banking system were in a severe crisis and the real economy in a deep recession. But the last two years were years of correction, of reform, of consolidation and we already have very tangible and very positive results," he said.
VIDEO2:1902:19Cyprus banks can't finance growth: ProSquawk Box Europe
Looking ahead, Georgiades insisted that the country was determined to reform its economy.
"We are not only interested in mitigating the crisis but in creating the foundations for a much more viable, long-running economic model," he added.
Not everyone is convinced that the banking sector is fully recovered, however. Stelios Platis, managing director of financial services advisory firm MAP S.Platis, told CNBC that while things in Cyprus were much better than two years ago, the banking sector was, "not at the point where it is able to finance growth."
"But I think the conclusion is that the bail-in works better as a deterrent rather than as a remedy measure, especially for systemic banks. I think that's the lesson to be learnt from Cyprus," he said.
Despite Georgiades' optimism, there are concerns about possible contagion from a key risk factor in the region: the upcoming general elections in Greece. Radical left-wing, anti-bailout party Syriza could win the vote, potentially undermining the austerity measures and reform policies implemented as a condition of Greece's international bailout, and such a possibility has weighed on European markets over recent weeks.
"Despite our close links to Greece we have a separate economy. The links of the past are not there anymore," he said, adding that the elections were not a problem for Cyprus,
Read MoreGreek stocks tank as snap election called
"We are implementing our own effort of reform and consolidation, we are seeing results, we have a stable economy nowadays and we are determined to grow. Even though, for the good of the Greek people, we hope that no problems will arise in Greece either."
Another issue plaguing Cyprus is the high number of non-performing loans (NPLs), which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in October should be a "key priority" for the country.
The IMF said it needed to implement, "strong private-sector debt-restructuring framework, including legislation to facilitate foreclosures, complemented by a modernized insolvency regime."
According to the IMF, by July 2014, corporate NPLs stood at 50 percent and, "were highly concentrated, with construction NPLs now at over 73 percent and NPLs on primary-residence mortgages are around 40 percent."
Georgiades admitted that NPLs were a hangover from the country's "unsustainable credit expansion" in the past, but insisted the problem had "reached its peak" and that ongoing loan restructurings would see the number of NPLs decline.
- By CNBC's Holly Ellyatt, follow her on Twitter @HollyEllyatt. Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
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86a132fe2092ef49519c7eab862a91fa | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/12/feds-lockhart-lower-inflation-expected-wages-behavior-somewhat-puzzling.html | Fed's Lockhart sees strong U.S. growth, rate hike in mid-2015 | Fed's Lockhart sees strong U.S. growth, rate hike in mid-2015
Former Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis LockhartScott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This story is developing. Please check back for further updates.
The U.S. economy is motoring ahead in its recovery, likely putting the Federal Reserve in position to raise interest rates by the middle of the year, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.
In some of his strongest comments to date about the direction of the economy, Lockhart said the U.S. economy "is hitting on all cylinders. The recovery that began in 2009 is well-advanced."
In remarks to the Rotary Club of Atlanta, Lockhart said his expectation is that reasonably strong growth will continue through 2015, unemployment will fall, and inflation will eventually begin to rise - a set of conditions that should allow the Fed to raise rates by the middle of the year.
The comments from a Fed centrist give an important insight into how the U.S. central bank is steadily moving towards a rate hike that will put a formal end to its era of crisis response.
The initial hike will still leave interest rates unnaturally low, and they are expected to rise only slowly, over a period of years, towards what is considered a neutral level. That means years more of economic stimulus remain in the offing even after that initial increase.
But the moment of liftoff will be "momentous" said Lockhart, who is among the regional Fed presidents voting this year on the central bank's policy-setting committee.
"There was more improvement in labor markets in 2014 than in any other year of the recovery," Lockhart said, with the strongest job growth in more than a decade. Meanwhile, consumers "seem to be more prepared to open their pocketbooks."
The major risks may be outside the United States, Lockhart said, with weak global growth, the collapse in oil prices and other factors complicating progress towards the Fed's goal of raising the annual rate of inflation to 2 percent.
He said low oil prices will eventually be a great benefit to the U.S. economy, though for now it may leave the Fed with "considerable ambiguity" over whether its inflation goals will be met in a reasonable time frame. Wage growth is also weak.
Still, he said he felt the economy would maintain its underlying momentum.
"The first action to raise interest rates will in all likelihood be justified by the middle of the year," he said.
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3bc734e7381c48558e812a02d73977f0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/12/heres-how-to-smuggle-94-iphones-into-china.html | Here's how to smuggle 94 iPhones into China | Here's how to smuggle 94 iPhones into China
Photos released by Chinese media show just how intense the black market trade for consumer electronics has become.
A Hong Kong man was caught smuggling 94 iPhones—5S, 6 and 6 Plus models—into the mainland by taping the Apple products all over his body, according to reports from People's Daily Online.
Chris Buckley tweet.
VIDEO4:5804:58What does an unlocked iPhone mean?Mobile
According to the report, the man was caught in part because of his "weird walking posture."
Read MoreFinally, iPhone 6 to go on sale in China
The latest iPhone models have been available in mainland China for some time now, but they retail for much more there than in Hong Kong.
The body armor approach may be a decidedly less smelly method than what was employed by another recently caught Chinese iPhone smuggler. That man was caught wearing the devices in his underwear.
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49adcead4532ecac3d6ad085c1e854a4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/12/ms-back-to-the-future-2-shoe-release.html | Nike confirms 'Back to the Future II' shoe release | Nike confirms 'Back to the Future II' shoe release
Nike 'Back to the Future' sneakersBennett Raglin | BET | Getty Images
Nike confirmed that it will release a new line of Nike MAGs, the time-traveling sneakers worn in the sci-fi flick "Back to the Future Part II."
Playing the lead character, Michael J. Fox donned the self-tying shoes while time traveling to 2015.
Read MoreRare video game for...$100K?
Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, who created the shoes for the 1989 film, said the kicks will light up and feature self-tightening technology, according to Nice Kicks, a sneakers news site.
The company plans to release the shoe line this year, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the original "Back to the Future" film.
Hatfield confirmed the upcoming release at last week's Agenda Emerge trade show held in California. He said they were still in development and stressed that there were still "11 and two-thirds months left in 2015," hinting that the line may not hit stores immediately.
The sneakers will be an updated version of the limited-edition 2011 Nike MAGs.
The footwear maker auctioned 1,500 pairs of those shoes on eBay, with the net proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Nice Kicks said.
Read the full report from Nice Kicks.
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580343ba8d87b2f777ae22374d0bf955 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/apple-to-return-200-billion-to-holders-analyst.html | Apple to return $200 billion to holders: Analyst | Apple to return $200 billion to holders: Analyst
An Apple store in New YorkScott Mlyn | CNBC
The three-year anniversary of Apple's announcement of a record capital return program is approaching in April, and one analyst believes the cash juggernaut will mark that occasion with a new $200 billion program to buy back shares and raise its dividend.
Kulbinder Garcha of Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to"outperform" from "neutral" Tuesday because of this expected announcement, seeing the shares 19 percent higher over the next 12 months from Monday's closing price. The analyst points out that Apple has more cash on hand than it had when the program began.
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695dbc1807eb0ca1137eb631426411e9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/craft-retail-site-etsy-may-seek-q1-ipo-report.html | Craft-retail site Etsy may seek Q1 IPO: Report | Craft-retail site Etsy may seek Q1 IPO: Report
Chad Dickerson, CEO of EtsySource: Etsy
Etsy is mulling a plan to take the company public, in a move that would target the U.S niche market place, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
The company, which makes operates a Amazon-like platform for hand-built and vintage goods, could carryout the plan as early as this quarter, the report said.
Etsy declined to comment on the matter.
The company may look to raise about $300 million through the venture, the report said.
Click here to read the full report from Bloomberg.
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d76e5a7798c35c13ea8beca16ef01626 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/cramer-remix-the-mvps-of-todays-market.html | Cramer Remix: The MVPs of today's market | Cramer Remix: The MVPs of today's market
VIDEO1:2901:29Cramer: The MVPs of today's marketMad Money with Jim Cramer
One minute the market it up, the next minute it is down. The market is volatile and brutal. Jim Cramer knows that seeing both ecstasy and tragedy occur in one day means this year is different territory. It's a trader's game.
"If this market were a person, we would be giving it twice-a-week sessions with a psychiatrist, along with some mood altering drugs to keep it a little more on even keel," the "Mad Money" host said.
After such a crazy session, Cramer emphasized the importance of realizing that this is a trader's market. To help navigate that kind of territory, he recommended two things:
No. 1 Find good quality stocks that you like and keep them on your radar. Examine them once a week, to make sure you don't get slaughtered.
No. 2 Take advantage of the volatile market and sell stocks when it opens big and then buy them back when it gets hammered.
Read More Cramer's guide to a treacherous trader's market
CNBC
Last week, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Flextronics, was in the epicenter of all things new and cutting edge.
Flextronics, the electronic company adored by Cramer, is the second largest electronics manufacturing services company in the world and has its hands on everything relating to medical, automotive, smartphones, printers and computers.
The wide range of goods that Flextronics touches gives it a rare perspective of CES. To get the scoop, Cramer sat down with Flextronics CEO Michael McNamara.
The CEO says he was blown away by the dominance of automobiles at CES.
"If I think about the thing that really blew my mind, [it's] the amount of connectivity and the amount of technology going into cars," he said.
Accountability is crucial in the stock market. And some CEOs can always be counted on to deliver strong results, regardless of what is going on.
Two of Cramer's favorite bankable CEO companies managed to rally nicely on Tuesday amid triumph and tribulations in the averages. The "Mad Money" host pointed out the importance of singling them out as these are the CEOs who can lead the way, regardless of the environment. And yes, they're both named Bob.
First is Bob Iger of Disney. This stock hit an all-time high on Tuesday, truly showing that his strategic moves around Marvel and Pixar characters paid off. The second bankable Bob is Bob Hugin, the CEO of Celgene. This leader has taken Celgene from a company with one franchise, to one with many. He did this by investing billions of the company's excess cash into companies with promise.
"I remember a time before Iger when Disney was this inconsistent entity run in a byzantine fashion by executives who are barely worth mentioning in the same breath as Bob Iger," Cramer said.
Read MoreCramer's bankable Bobs: CEOs leading the way
Currently, Cramer sees two large macro-economic themes having major impact on the U.S. economy. First is oil, which has been covered endlessly since it began the rapid decline. The second is the nosedive in interest rates for the U.S. Treasury bonds, which could prove to be a big deal for the economy.
As a review, when the price of a Treasury goes up, the interest rate goes down, and vice versa. The foreign economic landscape has been treacherous as of late, thus money has been flooding into U.S. Treasuries as investors seek financial security.
The result of the incoming flooding of foreign money has sent Treasury prices higher and interest rates lower. How long can this rally really last, and how low can interest rates go?
Looking at the weekly chart of the iShares 20+ year Treasury ETF, otherwise known as the TLT, Garner sees that the U.S. Treasuries are dramatically overbought currently. That means the price of bonds came up way too quickly and could likewise be headed for a dramatic decline.
Read More Cramer's staggering prediction for Treasuries & USD
To continue with the "Mad Money" theme of finding the next generation of biotech this week, Cramer spoke with the CEO of Halozyme Therapeutics, Dr. Helen Torley.
Halozyme specializes in using human enzymes to alter the extracellular matrix, the area outside of the body that provides structural support for tissues.
Torley spoke to her excitement for Halozyme's pipeline when she stated, "A key reason that I joined Halozyme was because of the potential I saw for PH20. It attacks a sugar that accumulates around some cancers and prevents cancer from getting access."
In the Lightning Round, Cramer spotted the next MVP's when he gave his take on a few caller favorites:
Kinder Morgan: "We are not backing the truck up on anything on this roller coaster market. Should you pick KMI because it has a 5 percent yield, like my charitable trust did? Yes. But there are a lot of people who are dead set against all MLP's. This stock probably will go lower before it goes higher."
Isis Pharmaceuticals: "The one thing I do have to say is that it had a very bad aisle in reversal today. Which means it went up and came back down, which means the stock could use some work. If you want to jump in tomorrow, I think it can wait. Patience! This stock has been a rocket ship for heavens sake."
Read MoreLightning Round: Wait on this rocket ship stock
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6e98ecdc6399737f13e53f2e66a4cb7c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/how-to-navigate-a-treacherous-traders-market.html | VIDEO11:3111:31Cramer: Ecstasy & agony in one sessionMad Money with Jim Cramer
One minute the market it up, the next minute it is down. The market is volatile and brutal. Jim Cramer knows that seeing both ecstasy and tragedy occur in one day means this year is different territory. It's a trader's game.
"If this market were a person, we would be giving it twice-a-week sessions with a psychiatrist, along with some mood altering drugs to keep it a little more on even keel," the "Mad Money" host said.
And it is not just that the market has forgotten what happened in 2014. It now even forgets what happened in the morning and switches tune in the middle of the day.
After such a crazy session, Cramer emphasized the importance of realizing that this is a trader's market. To help navigate that kind of territory, he recommended two things:
No. 1 Find good quality stocks that you like and keep them on your radar. Examine them once a week, to make sure you don't get slaughtered.
No. 2 Take advantage of the volatile market and sell stocks when it opens big and then buy them back when it gets hammered.
Christophe Launay | Aurora | Getty Images
So what was the good, bad and the ugly that contributed to such a volatile trading day on Tuesday?
The day started up with Europe strong, especially when it learned that Germany is running a balanced budget. Even oil gained ground in the morning and began to rally.
Additionally, there was good news surrounding Alcoa, Amazon and Apple. Alcoa reported a good quarter on Monday and investors found the positive news refreshing.
Credit Suisse upgraded Apple to a buy, based on the strength of iPhone sales and a potential return of capital to shareholders next year. Likewise, Citigroup upgraded Amazon to a buy from hold based on positive sales. Cramer doesn't see the value in Amazon, but nevertheless it was gobbled up with anything that smelled like a high-growth stock.
Then the day took a turn downhill when KB Home admitted it had a softening in demand, which sent everything housing related down. Likewise, Costco was downgraded by Goldman Sachs to a hold from a buy.
---------------------------------------------------------- Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer Cramer Remix: Stay away from this stock Cramer: How we know when oil is too low Cramer: Time to ring the register on this hot biotech ----------------------------------------------------------
The big whammy came when George Paz, the CEO of Express Scripts, told analysts that he would continue to find lower prices for customers for Hepatitis C, hammering the biotechs on price. Gilead, famous for its expensive Hep C drug, led the way for a biotech slaughtering.
"Take your pick, but recognize that if the morning doesn't know what the afternoon's doing and the closing bell doesn't look like it either, we've got a ton of work to do around these levels until we find some much-needed stability," Cramer added.
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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283663bb9aa045268245de053a8b47e6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/internet-of-things-peeple-tells-you-whos-at-the-door.html | Internet of Things: Peeple tells you who's at the door | Internet of Things: Peeple tells you who's at the door
There's already caller ID, social profiling and CCTV recording your every movement – but now your neighbor can use their smartphones to check if you're at their front door.
Meet Peeple; a front door's new best friend - a small camera fixed onto the inside of a front door's peephole. When someone knocks, an image is taken and is sent via the homeowner's Wi-Fi system to their smartphone.
It lets the homeowner know who knocks or even comes in and out of their house if they're not about to answer the door.
Read MoreHacker recreates fingerprints from public photo
Finbarr Watterson | Peeple | Highway1
Peeple says its main objective is to bring a sense of security – or what Chris Chuter, CEO and co-founder of Peeple, calls "securiosity" to the masses.
Chuter found his inspiration when his son left his Austin-based house to visit his grandmother in Houston, Chuter wanted to ensure he knew when his door opened and closed.
"When caller ID for phones came along (before voicemail even), people were skeptical that it would be useful, but think about it now. Would you buy a phone that didn't have caller ID. No, of course not. If we execute this correctly, it will be like that" Chuter told CNBC via email.
The device itself only needs charging around once every six months. A price for Peeple has not yet been set, however Chuter expected it to be "less than competitive doorbell offerings on the market" Chuter said.
Read MoreThat bigger footprint at CES? It's China's
CES: Popularity for Peeple
Peeple gained a welcome boost at TechCrunch's Hardware Battlefield 2015 competition at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. Competing against 14 other hardware startups for a $50,000 prize, Peeple came in second behind Voltera V-One, a circuit-board printing device.
Talking about CES, Chris says "the flashy, huge booths are crowd pleasers, but I feel like it's the people in the tiny tables in the back who are really taking the risks and pushing the boundaries of what technological can and should do."
Chuter aims on launching a crowd-funding campaign around March saying "When I see people's eyes light up when they get the concept, it really energizes me. It's a genuine 'AHA!' moment and I love it."
Chuter concluded with "We'd like to ship by the end of the year, but that depends a lot on a successful crowd funding campaign, further development, field testing, and figuring out all the details to manufacturing in China."
Read MoreGadgets galore! The best tech of CES
VIDEO3:0903:09CES 2015 kicks off in Las Vegas: Eyeing key trends
The Internet of Things
Peeple is one more product that's connected itself to the "Internet of Things" – a network of home devices connected to one another over the web. And there are other only internet-connected devices that are concerned about your home security.
Canary is a home security device that monitors a house's overall environment; detecting if there's a change in temperature, sounds and movements. Like 'Peeple', Canary sends notifications to your smartphone when it detects that something's not right at home. It is currently selling at a price of $249.
Lockitron gives your smartphone the power to control the locks on your front door. Placed over your current lock, the Lockitron device is connected to an app that allows you to lock/unlock your door with the flick of a finger. It is currently selling at $179. It was a sure-fire win, after generating more than $1.5 million in preorders during the first five days of its launch.
Read MoreInternet of Things: Are we nearly there yet?
Living with a hectic schedule means that people need "convenience" and "reassurance" when it comes to their routine and technology, says Phillip Pexton, analyst at Canalys (EMEA).
"We are currently seeing startups "test the market, to see and show what technology can do. The question is which devices will be adopted by the consumer," Pexton concluded.
However, whilst IoT may be a "step in the right direction,", there are flaws.
"What if you lose your phone? This could allow people to take advantage of your home security which can lead to them getting ahold of your bank details, personal identity details," Pexton warned.
Read MoreUse Moonpig? Your details could be at risk
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f670962cf720daacf95bcbc655225378 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/moodys-marked-increase-of-venezuela-default-due-to-lower-oil-prices.html | Moody's cuts Venezuela's rating, citing oil prices | Moody's cuts Venezuela's rating, citing oil prices
People line up to pay inside a Makro supermarket in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 9, 2015.Jorge Silva | Reuters
Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded its debt rating for Venezuela, citing an increased likelihood of a default due to lower oil prices.
Moody's cut the country's rating to Caa3 from Caa1, with the outlook stable.
"In the event of a default, Moody's believes that the loss given default (LGD) is likely to be greater than 50 percent," the agency said in a statement.
Read MoreVenezuela asks fellow OPEC members for help
The ratings agency said it believes Venezuela is unlikely to implement forceful policy changes needed to curb macroeconomic distortions in the market.
Venezuela faces key deadlines for billions of dollars in foreign debt in 2015 and is considered among one of the most vulnerable oil producers in the 12-member OPEC cartel. Most analysts estimate a fiscal break-even price of some $110 a barrel. U.S. oil and Brent futures were trading in the mid-$40s a barrel in early trading Tuesday.
—CNBC's Yousef Gamal El-Din contributed to this report.
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b2d1d3e281589c6a182ffa93f2c8e887 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/the-push-to-target-north-koreas-financial-allies.html | The push to target North Korea's financial allies | The push to target North Korea's financial allies
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.North Korea's Korean Central News Agency | Reuters
More than a week after President Barack Obama announced sanctions on North Korea, officials are hoping to further target and isolate the communist regime where it really hurts—its international finance machine. Access to banks, predominantly in China, allows the rogue state to fund and access everything from weapons materials to luxury goods.
While the vast majority of North Korea's 25 million people live in poverty and isolation, the country's elite—operating mostly from Pyongyang—conducts business using commercial banks abroad. China provides North Korea with the "lion's share" of financial access, said Daniel Glaser, the U.S. Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorist financing.
"Identify financial institutions outside of North Korea that provide points of access—that's exactly what we're doing," Glaser said.
He made the comments Tuesday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee briefing on North Korea's potential cybersecurity, nuclear and missile threats.
"We need to step up and target those financial institutions in Asia and beyond that are supporting the brutal and dangerous North Korean regime," said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, attend the Second Meeting of Korean People's Army (KPA) Exemplary Servicemen's Families performance of art groups.Reuters
The Treasury Department on Jan. 2 imposed sanctions on the north in response to the cyberattack on Sony Pictures last November. The actions specifically cited 10 individuals, all North Korean government officials, and three government-controlled entities, all key players in driving the North's economy and weapons program.
The executive order also specifically targeted third-party countries that support the regime. That partly explains why isolating the North financially has been so difficult.
The regime's ruling elite enjoy traveling privileges and sometimes are based around the world to support Kim Jong Un's agenda. U.S. officials have been tracking the regime's global ecosystem—including the use of outside commercial banks—for some time.
"This is an effort that's been going on for 10 years," said Glaser. While U.S. officials have been successful in influencing large Chinese banks to cut financial ties with North Korea, the regime still can access currency through smaller financial institutions, he added.
"We're on the right road," Royce said on efforts to isolate the North financially. "We just want to accelerate it."
VIDEO4:2404:24North Korea marks 3 years since Kim Jong-il's deathSquawk Box Asia
The North's strong international ties extend beyond foreign bank accounts.
"North Korea has forged cooperative cyber ties with several other countries including China, Russia, Syria and Iran," according to analysis by Hewlett-Packard released in December. The 10 North Koreans cited in the recent sanctions are posted in China, Russia, Iran, Syria and Namibia, according to the U.S. government.
One point of curiosity about the regime's cyberarmy is how hackers in the North executed the massive Sony data breach, as the FBI has stated. The North's per capita GDP was about $1,800, on par with Ghana, according to 2010 CIA Factbook data.
Read MoreNorth Korea: More cyber warrior than you think
Cybertools, designed to damage targets, are readily available globally through open-source networks, said Gregory Touhill, deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity operations and programs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As a point of reference, North Korea does not have Internet access, Touhill said.
Accessing foreign media including DVDs and USB thumb drives of data are punishable offenses. And most technology that makes its way into the North is China-made hardware. The smuggled goods land on North Korea's vast black markets.
Read MoreHow millennials are shaking North Korea's regime
"Given the dilapidated state of North Korea's IT infrastructure, it appears that some of North Korea's cyberactivities are carried out in China, or at the least via servers located in China," said Marcus Noland, an expert on the North's economy. He made the comments in a blog post for the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
In this file photo, trucks on the Friendship Bridge over the Yalu River carry goods into North Korea from China.Jacky Chen | Reuters
As the North's international ecosystem for currency access and weapons proliferation evolves, the regime's special relationship with China may prove more useful in coming months. For years, a battery of sanctions against Pyongyang largely has been ineffective in forcing the regime to denuclearize. Some are now hoping to isolate North Korea—and its ruling elite, in particular—using human rights violations.
North Korea's human rights record has been adopted as a U.N. Security Council agenda item—over objections from China and Russia. China is almost certain to veto any resolution that includes a referral to the International Criminal Court. This follows a landmark U.N. report last year that found wide-ranging human rights violations,and accused the regime of "crimes against humanity." The North responded with its own report, saying its citizens enjoy genuine human rights.
"For once North Korea is actually engaging and reacting," said Param-Preet Singh, senior counsel in international justice for Human Rights Watch. "The crimes are perpetrated at the highest level so you're really implicating the leadership," she said.
And targeting the ruling elite ultimately threatens the regime's money-making ecosystem.
Read More Will Kim Jong Un ever face a war crimes court?
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537e8593b7cee90ca4ddc1e86fe68529 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/us-shippers-say-west-coast-ports-near-gridlock-on-stalled-contract-talks.html | US shippers say West Coast ports near gridlock on stalled contract talks | US shippers say West Coast ports near gridlock on stalled contract talks
Cargo traffic at several of the biggest U.S. West Coast ports has slowed to near gridlock, negotiators for shipping lines and terminal operators for 29 ports said on Monday as contract talks with the dockworkers' union remain strained.
Union officials however have denied staging slowdowns, saying some of decisions by managements such as cutting back on night shifts were responsible for the gridlock.
Read More
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said that five of the region's largest ports, including the massive Los Angeles and Long Beach docks, have seen backups "approaching complete gridlock."
A shipping container is loaded onto a truck at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California.Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Management has accused the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) of orchestrating some slowdowns to bolster its leverage at the bargaining table in talks that have been under way for eight months.
"The ILWU slowdowns and the resulting operational environment are no longer sustainable," said PMA spokesman Steve Getzug in a statement.
"The PMA has a sense of urgency to resolve these contract talks and get our ports moving again," he added.
Read MoreThe Hollywood starhit by LA's port slowdown
Union officials point instead to factors such as a shortage of tractor-trailer chassis used for hauling cargo from ports to warehouses and other management errors as causing the backups.
"Longshore workers are ready, willing and able to clear the backlog created by the industry's poor decisions," ILWU President Bob McEllrath said in a statement.
"The employer is making nonsensical moves like cutting back on shifts at a critical time, creating gridlock in a cynical attempt to turn public opinion against workers," he added.
A federal mediator is currently involved in the negotiations between the association and the union, which represents some 20,000 dockworkers. The workers' latest contract expired on June 30.
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498a61c273cfa303749a32efd0190c19 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/14/blackberry-stock-jumps-16-on-report-of-samsung-approach.html | BlackBerry, Samsung deny takeover report | BlackBerry, Samsung deny takeover report
VIDEO1:0101:01BlackBerry: Not engaged in discussions with Samsung Fast Money
VIDEO2:5402:54Takeover chatter boosts BlackBerry
VIDEO0:5900:59Cramer: Samsung desperateClosing Bell
BlackBerry denied earlier reports it was in talks with smartphone-maker Samsung about a potential takeover. The stock tumbled 17 percent in early Thursday trading on those denials.
"BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry," the company said in a statement. "BlackBerry's policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, and accordingly it does not intend to comment further. "
Later Wednesday, Samsung also denied making a takeover offer.
Read More Chen: BlackBerry Messenger can drum up $100 million
BlackBerry ended the session about 30 percent higher on a Reuters report that said Samsung had offered to buy the company for as much as $7.5 billion, in hopes of gaining access to its patent portfolio, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters.
Reuters stood by its previous report and said executives from both companies met last week to discuss a potential transaction.
Separately on Wednesday, Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported BlackBerry has shunned a handful of takeover overtures in recent months as its board and largest investor think its restructuring strategy will deliver greater shareholder value than current acquisition offers.
BlackBerry shares closed at $12.59, its highest stock price since June 2013, making its the company's best day in more than 11 years.
The stock gave back much of those gains after BlackBerry shot down the Samsung report. It was last trading below $11 per share, down about 16 percent in after-hour trading.
Samsung's strength as the No. 1 global smartphone marker has been built on making devices for the consumer market, which has become crowded in recent years. With a takeover of Blackberry, Samsung could make greater inroads into the corporate market, where it has trailed rivals.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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1ef2ed1698b4947e553170f5852ec396 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/14/bove-banks-are-now-like-tobacco-asbestos-firms.html | Bove: Banks are now like tobacco, asbestos firms | Bove: Banks are now like tobacco, asbestos firms
VIDEO2:0002:00Expect lackluster quarter for big banks: BoveSquawk Box
VIDEO1:4701:47GS report 'self-serving': BoveSquawk Box
VIDEO1:3301:33JPM's legal costs not a 'one-off': BoveSquawk Box
Continuing legal expenses have put big banks in the same league as tobacco and asbestos companies, Rafferty Capital's Dick Bove told CNBC on Wednesday.
"Legal expenses will stay high for the industry, and they'll stay high for quite some time because all the rules have not yet been written for the industry," Rafftery's vice president of equity research said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "I think the industry has been nationalized effectively by the U.S. government, and the U.S. government is pressing hard on the profitability of the banks."
Investors came to expect that legal costs for asbestos and tobacco companies would become relatively high, and that pattern is taking hold in the banking industry, Bove said. He noted that thousands of lawsuits are pending for big banks. At the same time, they are subject to the cost of regulation.
On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase reported earnings well below consensus estimates and greater-than-expected legal fees of $1.1 billion. Bove said investors can no longer think of these legal costs as one-off charges.
Read MoreWhy the outlook for big banks is pretty dismal
Bove took issue with a recent Goldman Sachs report that concluded JPMorgan should think about breaking up its business, in part to deal with the current regulatory landscape.
He called the report "self-serving" and "probably one of the worst things that Goldman Sachs has written in a long time."
"If they don't believe that big banks should be broken up—and they don't—they only believe that their competitors should be broken up, I don't think that's pretty good research," he said.
Last week on "Squawk Box," Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein declined to say his own bank should be broken up.
"It's very good for him to say, 'Gee, I think my big competitor should be broken up, but I shouldn't be broken up, because obviously there's no advantage to keeping me together and breaking up all my competitors, right?" Bove said.
Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment Wednesday.
Read More Parr: What big bank breakups could look like
Investors should ask themselves why big banks do relatively well and the U.S. loses the equivalent of one bank every day.
"What is the economics which drive all of these other smaller banks out of the business and keep theses big banks in business? The answer is very simple. The big banks have economy of scale, they bundle their products, they offer more services at lower prices, so the consumer benefits, whether it's a corporation or an individual from what the big banks do," he said.
Breaking up big banks would increase the cost of banking to consumers and corporations, he concluded.
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559ad0ec01e63e8ade5b27716da2e3a6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/14/gold-inches-up-on-softer-equities-but-below-12-week-high.html | Gold rallies to a 4-month high; ends at $1,264.80 | Gold rallies to a 4-month high; ends at $1,264.80
Getty Images
Gold prices jumped to a 4-month high on Thursday as European shares and the dollar turned lower after a shock move by Switzerland to abandon its three-year cap on the franc sent Europe's shares and bond yields tumbling.
U.S. gold futures for delivery in February settled $30.30 higher, at $,264.80 an ounce, its highest close since early September.
rose as much to its highest level since Sept. at $1,260.30 an ounce in earlier trade and was last up 2.3 percent at $1,257 an ounce.
VIDEO2:0702:07Futures Now: Safe to wade into gold trade?Futures Now
"Gold is gaining from a risk-off situation because nobody expected the Swiss central bank not to keep that cap, and this has created potential big losses in many places and is obviously triggering some flight to safety," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.
European stocks plunged and the dollar fell 0.2 percent against a basket of main currencies after the Swiss National Bank's move, which is seen potentially preceding outright money-printing by the European Central Bank at its policy meeting next week.
Read MoreWhy going gold is the way to go
"This is happening a week before the ECB meeting, which could add even further pressure to the euro ... more QE in the euro zone is a double-edge sword for gold in dollar-denominated terms but gold in euro terms should benefit,'' Hansen said.
Gold has benefited from years of increased central bank liquidity following the 2008 financial crisis, but more monetary stimulus in the euro zone could result in a stronger dollar and in turn lower gold prices.
Euro-denominated gold rose to a new peak of 1,077.09 euros an ounce, its highest since May 2013.
Gold prices are up nearly 6 percent so far this month, after two straight years of declines, but the outlook for the year remains clouded.
UBS lowered its gold price forecast for the year to $1,190 from $1,200, saying it had underestimated the downside risks earlier.
"Downside risks have slightly been increased by the decline in oil prices given the potential positive impact this would have on the U.S. economy and the implied absence of an inflation threat," UBS said in a note.
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8158e5a1d98a0f3550ceb144512a94c2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/14/the-religion-of-millionaires-.html | The religion of millionaires | The religion of millionaires
Dan Van Oss | Getty Images
A new study found that more than two-thirds of the world's millionaires are affiliated with a religion, with more than half identified as Christians.
The study, from the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth, found that of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world, 7.4 million, or 56.2 percent, identify themselves as Christian when asked about their religion. Fully 6.5 percent of millionaires identified themselves as Muslim, 3.9 percent identified themselves as Hindu and 1.7 percent identified themselves as Jewish.
Read MoreBiggest wealth transfer in history on its way
Fully 31.7 percent of millionaires identified themselves as "other," which includes other religions and "no religion."
Of course, the richest countries are also Christian-dominant, so country plays a strong role in the results. According to New World Wealth, 7 of the 10 wealthiest countries—ranked by number of millionaires—are "Christian dominated," according to the report.
Read MoreHere's where millionaires are pouring money
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51d3c4e0e50136ac6f708ebbe5661235 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/15/a-tattoo-may-end-fingerpricks-for-diabetics.html | A 'tattoo' may end fingerpricks for diabetics | A 'tattoo' may end fingerpricks for diabetics
Researchers have developed an ultra-thin sensor that sits on the skin like a "rub-on tattoo" and can help patients monitor blood sugar levels without the painful prick of the finger that currently available devices require, according to research published this week.
Joseph WanfUCSD
About 80,000 children are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes around the world every year, according to the American Diabetes Association. Several times a day, many of those patients punch a small hole in their fingers and release a drop of blood onto a device that checks their blood glucose levels. The results will tell them whether or not they need to pump themselves with insulin. The pinprick may be necessary, but it can hurt and annoy patients.
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, developed a thin and flexible patch resembling a temporary tattoo that they say can continuously monitor glucose levels in the blood without puncturing or irritating the skin. The sensor is a clear patch affixed with two small electrodes and an enzyme that reacts with glucose. The researchers ran a mild electrical current through the electrodes to drive glucose to the surface of the skin where it reacted with the enzyme on the patch. Measuring the reaction allowed the scientists to accurately take blood glucose measurements in seven healthy volunteers. They published their findings Monday in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
Read MoreMarkets will see gains in 2015: Analyst
The team is part of the Center for Wearable Sensors at UCSD and is now working with other engineers to develop the other half of the device: a wearable wristband or other similar device that would provide the electrical current and the glucose readouts. The tool could be available in a few years and could have appeal not just to Type 1 diabetics, said Amay Bandodkar, one of the researchers on the team.
"Carbohydrate-rich diets and the related insulin spike is one of the major reasons for several of the modern lifestyle diseases faced by humans, especially in developed countries like the USA," Bandodkar told CNBC. A noninvasive glucose monitor might appeal to a broad swath of the population suffering from Type 2 diabetes as well, which does not require insulin injections, or other diet-related diseases. Bandodkar thinks information about glucose levels could be collected in databases and help scientists understand broad health trends, and the "corrective steps needed to be taken to control the spread of modern lifestyle diseases," he said.
VIDEO3:1403:14Touchless screens? Apple wins big new patentMobile
A non-invasive glucose monitor could also be useful in treating conditions such as kidney disease, or appeal to athletes tracking their nutrition or physiological changes. The researchers also noted in their study that this technology could pave the way for other sensors that monitor different chemicals in human bodies, or could even lead to new ways of delivering drugs through the skin.
Non-invasive glucose monitoring has become something of a hot area. A medical device company called Cygnus had previously brought wristband-based glucose monitor to market, but wearers complained of skin irritation, according to the UCSD researchers.
As recently as last summer, Apple, Google and Samsung were reported to be trying to add glucose monitoring to their wearable devices, according to Reuters.
Read MoreWhich religion holds the largest share of wealth?
Google also partnered with Novartis in 2014 to develop a contact lens that can monitor glucose through fluids in the eye. Monitor maker DexCom showed a simulation of what its glucose monitoring app would look like on an Apple Watch at CES this past week, fueling further speculation about the capabilities of the device.
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9c44bf80a0c64d0927393d455b245faf | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/15/imfs-lagarde-on-swiss-currency-move-this-was-a-bit-of-a-surprise.html | IMF's Lagarde on Swiss move: 'A bit of a surprise' | IMF's Lagarde on Swiss move: 'A bit of a surprise'
VIDEO2:5302:53Lagarde: Swiss move 'bit of a surprise'Halftime Report
VIDEO1:2901:29Lagarde: US economy clearly doing wellHalftime Report
VIDEO2:3702:37Lagarde's Europe outlookHalftime Report
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday the Swiss central bank's announcement that it would remove a 3-year-old cap of 1.20 francs per euro was "a bit of a surprise."
The IMF managing director, who spoke with CNBC from the organization's headquarters in Washington, said she had not been warned about the move ahead of time, which she found "a bit surprising."
Still, she said it was possible that Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss National Bank's governing board, may have reached out to someone else at the IMF.
Read More Swiss large-caps lose $100B on currency move
She said she would "reserve judgment on the pertinence of the move" until she discusses it further with Jordan.
"I think I understand why he did it, but talking about it would be good," she said. "I find it a bit surprising that he did not contact me."
The Swiss franc rose nearly 30 percent against the euro after the announcement. The move comes ahead of a European Central Bank meeting next week, in which the ECB is expected to announce monetary stimulus measures.
Lagarde predicted that "we will see more volatility" of capital flows and of exchange rates as the Fed moves away from easy money policies and the ECB and the Bank of Japan head the other direction.
Weighing in on the Federal Reserve's signaling that it would likely raise interest rates in 2015, Lagarde said she expects that "they will do a fine job at really looking into all of [their various indicators] and making the right decision at the right time."
Read More Ending the Swiss peg: What it really means
There will be a year of the Fed raising rates, she said, because "the U.S. economy is clearly doing well and is currently a big engine for growth."
The rest of the world, however, may not have such a rosy economic outlook, she said. Europe—with the exception of the U.K.—"is still low, fragile, and it needs to be much stronger, cohesive, more balanced, and structural reforms are going to be absolutely needed—strongly," she said.
Despite these problems, Lagarde said she did not see a Greek exit from the euro zone on the horizon.
Read More Stunned: Swiss banks, watchmakers hit hard
Lagarde said in a speech earlier on Thursday that the IMF sees "the global recovery continuing to face a very strong headwind" despite cheaper oil and strong U.S. growth.
She said the world economy will face three major policy challenges over the next year: boosting growth and employment, achieving inclusive and shared growth through structural reform, and attaining sustainable and balanced growth.
The IMF cut its global growth outlook in October.
—Reporting by CNBC's Steve Liesman.
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6960e4587f94a3648a65527dcd17e19a | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/15/investor-confidence-shaky-as-singapore-turns-50.html | Investor confidence shaky as Singapore turns 50 | Investor confidence shaky as Singapore turns 50
ROSLAN RAHMAN | AFP | Getty Images
Singapore's retail investors sound increasingly gloomy over the country's outlook as the island nation gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary, according to a new survey.
A bi-annual survey of investor sentiment by JPMorgan Asset Management dropped to its lowest level in two years amid expectations for weak investment conditions, the firm said this week.
The number of respondents expecting the benchmark Straits Times Index to decline over the next six months nearly doubled to 21 percent in December from 11 percent in the previous survey in June. The Straits Time Index gained 6.5 percent in 2014, broadly underperforming regional peers including Indonesia's Jakarta Composite, which shot up 15 percent.
"The survey results indicate that one should be cautious," said Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank. "Some of the sentiments in the survey reflect a softening property market, since that makes up a significant amount of household wealth." An estimated 47 percent of Singapore's household wealth is in real estate, according to Credit Suisse. House prices in the city, among the world's highest, cooled in 2014 as sales of private residential units dropped an annual 50 percent in the first 11 months.
Read More
More investors are also opting for capital preservation – 46 percent compared with 41 percent in June, the survey showed – suggesting a low appetite for risk.
"Singaporean markets have been a straightforward growth story over the past few years so it's unlikely that we'll see any big declines," Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB told CNBC. The loss of confidence among retail investors may have more to do with punting and making quick profits, he warned.
VIDEO9:3109:31Singapore ramps up tourism effortsFirst Class
Meanwhile, the number of investors expecting the Singapore dollar to depreciate against the U.S. dollar doubled to 27 percent from 14 percent. Bearish forecasts for the current year increased recently, with Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered announcing targets of S$1.40 and S$1.37 respectively. The currency last traded around S$1.33 against the greenback on Thursday.
Read MoreOil price crash brings out Singapore dollar bears
The number of respondents that expect the economic outlook to worsen increased by 10 percentage points, the survey showed.
"How worried is the government about the economy? On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say maybe a 6," said Selena Ling, economist at OCBC Bank
Expectations for lower inflation played a key role in the country's outlook, the survey showed. November headline inflation in the Southeast Asian city-state was negative for the first time in five years on the back of sliding crude oil prices. Furthermore, Singapore's pessimistic economic outlook could also be attributed to declining confidence in better employment opportunities, JPMorgan said, as fewer survey participants believed better job chances are likely.
"The key challenge Singapore currently faces is restructuring the tight labor market," said Selena Ling, economist at OCBC Bank. Government efforts to reduce the country's high reliance on foreign manpower have resulted in a greater number of available positions, leading the International Monetary Fund to warn that productivity improvements will take time and may not offset the effects of declining labor force growth.
"The government will likely have to adjust its productivity targets at February's budget, since 2-3 percent growth per year looks too ambitious," Ling added.
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e00f28a17a22fb0f5200819c943e25e0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/15/prince-george-received-nearly-800-presents-in-2014-according-to-official-royal-gifts-list.html | UK’s Prince George racks up nearly 800 presents | UK’s Prince George racks up nearly 800 presents
During 2014, one lucky boy received seven times the number of gifts his great-grandmother was given—including a possum skin cloak, sheepskin boots, cap and gown, surfboard and skateboard.
He may only be 18-months-old but Prince George has already racked up some 774 presents during 2014 alone, with over 600 from his travels in Australia and New Zealand, last April.
Read MoreKate Middleton's brother makes… edible selfies!
David Foote/Admirality House | Getty Images Enterntainment | Getty Images
Kensington Palace has published its official list of gifts that the royal family has received during their travels in 2014. Clearly the younger you are, the more presents you get, as Prince George received an array of gifts in Australia alone, including 121 clothing items and 219 games and toys.
The Queen may have only received a measly amount of gifts—just over 100—in comparison, however their value would have been considerably higher.
A silver box containing "soil from WWI battlefield" (Wellington Barracks), two "hand-crafted tribal arrows" (Society of Colonial Wars, Maryland) and a 3-D printed "Chess piece" (BAE Systems) were some of the 100+ gifts given to her Majesty, that were mentioned.
Read MorePope to raffle offcar and coffee maker
There are specific guidelines that the royal family should adhere to when accepting gifts, including what is classified as a personal gift—usually something worth under £150 ($229).
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall received two sombreros, a snakeskin handbag and a pair of maracas.
An official Twitter account "@KensingtonPalace" was launched yesterday, allowing twitter fans to keep up-to-date with the goings-on with the royals Will and Kate, as well as Prince Harry.
The account already has over 101,000 followers, while more than 83,600 are following their newly released Instagram account.
Tweet: This account represents The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry - follow for updates on their work and the #RoyalFoundation
Read MoreInstagram now has more users than Twitter: CEO
VIDEO0:3800:38Kate & Will Inc.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton isn't the only trendsetter when it comes to high street brands.
Prince George hit headlines whenever his latest fashion accessory is swept off the high-street shop shelves. In December 2014, clothing brand Cath Kidston were hurried off their feet restocking a £28 tank top—which featured images of the royal guards – that Prince George wore in the Royal Christmas photographs.
For any mothers who want to dress their child like a royal prince, a site called "What Prince George Wore" documents the official outfits he wears since last April, including Rachel Riley's £75 dungarees ($114) which he wore in on an Australia play-date.
Read MoreKate Middleton'sbrother talks sweet new company
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d2ea57c7e4fa98f76888d82052605988 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/15/want-a-fat-nest-egg-make-the-right-social-security-choices.html | Want a fat nest egg? Make the right Social Security choices | Want a fat nest egg? Make the right Social Security choices
It's your last, best chance to fatten your nest egg. But all too often, new retirees undermine their own financial security by claiming Social Security too early, and without regard to strategy.
Indeed, the amount you receive in monthly benefits is largely determined by the age at which you begin collecting, your marital status, lifetime earnings and the method by which you claim.
Tetra Images | Getty Images
If you're not yet familiar with the strategies available for claiming Social Security, you should know there are many—more than 8,000 for married couples alone. And the stakes for selecting the right one are undeniably high.
Financial Engines, a defined-contribution managed-account provider, estimates the average single retiree leaves more than $100,000 in lifetime benefits on the table by fumbling his or her Social Security choices. The average married couple, it reports, misses out on $250,000 or more.
Read MoreTug-of-war: 401(k) vs. 529
"Social Security is about as complicated a fiscal system as is humanly possible to design," said Larry Kotlikoff, an economics professor at Boston University and author of the book "Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security," set for release in February. "This is most Americans' largest financial asset, and so many people don't optimize it."
To get it right, most retirees require the help of an expert—or at least an arsenal of online tools.
AARP, for example, offers a calculator that reveals how different claiming strategies might impact your benefit.
Investment firms, such as T. Rowe Price, also offer free benefits evaluators, while tools from pay-for-play software vendors—including SocialSecuritySolutions.com, priced from $20 to $250 and Kotlikoff's MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com ($40)—come at a cost but provide a more comprehensive analysis.
Determining how and when to begin claiming Social Security starts with an assessment of whether or not you can afford to delay benefits until your full retirement age, said Alison Shelton, senior strategic policy advisor with AARP.
Current retirees can collect as early as age 62, but their benefit will be permanently reduced by a percentage based on the number of months before they reach full retirement age, which ranges from age 65 to 67, depending upon birth year.
Those with a full retirement age of 66, for example, would receive a 25 percent reduction in benefits if they start receiving benefits at age 62. If they wait until age 63, they lose 20 percent, and age 64 roughly 13 percent.
Likewise, if you start receiving spousal benefits at your full retirement age, you will collect 50 percent (the maximum) of the monthly benefit your spouse will receive if his or her benefits started at full retirement age. If you start receiving benefits at age 62, however, you would get 35 percent of that benefit, and at age 65 you would get 45.8 percent.
Despite the permanent reduction, however, many retirees start benefits at the earliest opportunity, either because they don't understand their options or to make ends meet.
In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, the government reports roughly 37 percent of men and 42 percent of women claimed Social Security at age 62.
Read MorePlanning health care in retirement
In some cases, it may also make sense to file early if your health is compromised or you have reason to believe (e.g., due to family history) that you won't reach the average life expectancy for your gender and age bracket.
"It's based on average life expectancy, so if everyone in your family lived to age 99, you're getting a good deal, but if you have a terminal diagnosis, absolutely go ahead and claim," said Shelton.
It's worth noting, too, that you can still collect Social Security retirement benefits if you are working, but if you are younger than full retirement age and make above the yearly earnings limit of $15,480 for 2014, your benefit payment will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn above that amount. After you reach full retirement age, your benefit is no longer reduced.
Those with the greatest opportunity to boost their retirement income, said Shelton, include retirees who are financially secure enough to postpone benefits, allowing them to accrue delayed retirement credits.
For each year you postpone claiming Social Security, your income increases by 8 percent until you reach age 70.
The same retiree who collects $1,000 by waiting until their full retirement age at age 66 will collect $1,320 by delaying until age 70. That's a 32 percent increase.
Read MoreGet retirement-ready now
Retirees can also maximize their Social Security income through creative claiming strategies. (President Obama's 2015 budget proposal, however, took aim at strategies used by upper-income claimants to bolster their benefits.)
One of the most popular strategies for married couples, for example, is the "file and suspend" method, which is particularly useful where one spouse has significantly higher lifetime earnings, said Shelton.
VIDEO1:2001:20Social Security & Medicare Trustee ReportHalftime Report
Here's how it works: The higher-earning (first) spouse files for benefits at full retirement age, enabling the other to file for spousal benefits as early as age 62—which, again, amounts to half of what the first spouse is entitled to.
The first spouse, however, doesn't collect benefits. Instead, they are immediately suspended so that the benefits grow 8 percent a year until age 70.
AARP notes that this strategy is a great way to maximize combined income, as well as survivor benefits. If the higher earner dies first, the lower earner will be able to collect 100 percent of the higher earner's benefit.
There is also the "claim now, claim more later" approach, which can also result in bigger lifetime benefits, even if it doesn't always increase monthly benefits.
Read MoreWhen to claim Social Security
This strategy is useful for dual-income couples in which each spouse qualifies for his or her own retired worker benefit, but one spouse must be at least full retirement age, AARP reports.
Using the "claim now, claim more later" strategy, retirees can claim some benefits now, and higher benefits later, by applying for spousal benefits instead of their own retired-worker benefits when they reach full retirement age. Later, according to AARP, you can claim your own higher retirement benefits, which have been growing 8 percent a year up to age 70.
Technically, working couples who are close in age and who each qualify for Social Security benefits on their own work records can deploy both the "file and suspend" and "claim now, claim more later" strategies at the same time. But both must be at least full retirement age.
As AARP explains, the older spouse claims retirement benefits at full retirement age and immediately suspends them. When the younger spouse turns full retirement age, he or she files for a spouse benefit only.
Most people get extremely bad advice by asking neighbors or calling the Social Security Administration.Larry Kotlikoffauthor and economics professor at Boston University
Then, when the older spouse turns 70, he or she can claim the retired-worker benefit, which has been growing by 8 percent per year. And when the younger spouse turns 70, he or she can convert the spousal benefit to his or her own retired-worker benefit, which also has been growing by 8 percent a year.
Social Security experts, online calculators and software products can help identify the claiming strategies that would yield the biggest benefit for you, factoring in life expectancy, tax brackets and marital status.
As pensions disappear and life expectancies rise, said Kotlikoff, retirees can ill afford to let guaranteed income pass them by.
"Most people get extremely bad advice by asking neighbors or calling the Social Security Administration," he said. "Or they try to make this decision on their own.
"With 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, if even 1,000 of them get it wrong, that would be terrible," Kotlikoff added.
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1522a712f953404ffb093f4ca65eb82c | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/jindals-brilliant-take-on-radical-islam-commentary.html | Kudlow's Corner | Kudlow's Corner
"Let's be honest here. Islam has a problem."
Those are key sentences in an incredibly hard-hitting speech that Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal will give in London on Monday. It is the toughest speech I have read on the whole issue of Islamic radicalism and its destructive, murdering, barbarous ways which are upsetting the entire world.
ISIS fighters on paradeReuters
Early in the speech Jindal says he's not going to be politically correct. And he uses the term "radical Islamists" without hesitation, placing much of the blame for the Paris murders and all radical Islamist terrorism on a refusal of Muslim leaders to denounce these acts.
Jindal says, "Muslim leaders must make clear that anyone who commits acts of terror in the name of Islam is in fact not practicing Islam at all. If they refuse to say this, then they are condoning these acts of barbarism. There is no middle ground."
Read MoreCharlie Hebdo sells out, already on eBay for $117K
Then he adds, specifically, "Muslim leaders need to condemn anyone who commits these acts of violence and clearly state that these people are evil and are enemies of Islam. It's not enough to simply condemn violence, they must stand up and loudly proclaim that these people are not martyrs who will receive a reward in the afterlife, and rather they are murderers who are going to hell. If they refuse to do that, then they're part of the problem. There is no middle ground here."
I want to know who in the Muslim community in the United States has said this. Which leaders? I don't normally cover this beat, so I may well have missed it. Hence I ask readers to tell me if so-called American Muslim leaders have said what Governor Jindal is saying.
And by the way, what Bobby Jindal is saying is very similar to what Egyptian president al-Sisi said earlier in the year to a group of Muslim imams.
Read MoreBritain's MI5 chief warns al Qaeda in Syria planning mass attacks on West
Said al-Sisi, "It's inconceivable that the thinking we hold most sacred should cause the entire umma [Islamic world] to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world."
He then asks, "How is it possible that 1.6 billion Muslims should want to kill the rest of the world's inhabitants — that is 7 billion — so that they themselves may live?" He concludes, if this is not changed, "it may eventually lead to the religion's self-destruction."
That's President al-Sisi of Egypt, which I believe has the largest Muslim population in the world.
And what Jindal and al-Sisi are saying is not so different from the thinking of French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, he calls the Charlie Hebdo murders "the Churchillian moment of France's Fifth Republic." He essentially says France and the world must slam "the useful idiots of a radical Islam immersed in the sociology of poverty and frustration." He adds, "Those whose faith is Islam must proclaim very loudly, very often, and in great numbers their rejection of this corrupt and abject form of theocratic passion ... Islam must be freed from radical Islam."
Read MoreDraining the swamp of support for terrorism
So, three very different people — a young southern governor who may run for president, the political leader of the largest Muslim population in the world, and a prominent Western European intellectual — are saying that most of the problem and most of the solution rests with the people of the Islamic religion themselves. If they fail to take action, the radicals will swallow up the whole religion and cause the destruction of the entire Middle East and possibly large swaths of the rest of the world.
Lévy called this a Churchillian moment. And London Mayor Boris Johnson argues in his book, "The Churchill Factor," that Winston Churchill was the most important 20th-century figure because his bravery in 1940 stopped the triumph of totalitarianism. So today's battle with the Islamic radicals is akin to the Cold War battle of freedom vs. totalitarianism.
But returning to Governor Jindal, the U.S. is not helpless. Jindal argues that America must restore its proper leadership role in international affairs. (Of course, Obama has taken us in the opposite direction, and won't even use the phrase "Islamic radicals.") And Jindal invokes Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher by saying, "The tried and true prescription must be employed again: a strong economy, a strong military, and leaders willing and able to assert moral, economic, and military leadership in the cause of freedom."
Reagan always argued that weakness at home leads to weakness abroad. A strong growing economy provides the resources for military and national security. Right now we're uncomfortably close to having neither.
This is the great challenge of our time. In the early years of the 21st century, it appears the great goal of our age is the defeat of radical Islam.
Jindal gets it.
Commentary by Larry Kudlow, a senior contributor at CNBC and economics editor of the National Review. Follow him on Twitter @Larry_Kudlow.
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7bc5a7630bff7931dfa8f66210c014ba | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/million-dollar-home-market-cools.html | Market cools for million-dollar homes | Market cools for million-dollar homes
VIDEO2:1902:19Luxury cool down ... sort ofClosing Bell
After a scorching four years, the luxury real-estate market may be cooling off.
Sales of homes for $1 million or more fell 20 percent in the fourth quarter compared with those in the third quarter and posted their worst year-on-year growth since 2011, according to the CNBC Luxury Real-Estate Report, conducted by Redfin, a real-estate brokerage and research firm.
There were 14,834 homes sold for $1 million or more in the major markets covered by Redfin. That was down from the 18,435 million-dollar homes sold in the third quarter and up only slightly from the 13,589 homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Read MoreHomes in Aspen and Detroit have this in common
Sales of homes priced at $5 million or more were also weak, falling 10 percent in the quarter.
"We're seeing sales of luxury homes continue to taper," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin. "The top of the market is losing steam."
Of course, weakness is all relative in the luxury housing market. Prices continued to climb for high-end homes, with prices up 2 percent year over year, to an average of $1.79 million. And inventory fell in the fourth quarter, with the number of million-dollar-plus homes for sale falling 23 percent in the quarter.
Minecraft founder Markus Persson bought this Beverly Hills, California, home for $70 million, according to sources.Source: Rodeo Realty
But inventory is up compared with the fourth quarter of 2013. (RedFin's data covers more than 100 markets, but doesn't include New York City, though sales volume in Manhattan fell 18 percent in the fourth quarter compared with that in the third quarter, and declined 17 percent year over year, according to Douglas Elliman Real Estate).
Read MoreMillion-dollar homes: Most expensive house edition
It's unclear whether the fourth-quarter slowdown is a one-off or a signal of a broader shift in the housing market. Since the housing crash, luxury homes have recovered far more quickly than the broader housing market, as the wealthy have recouped their fortunes faster than the rest of America.
Yet Richardson said the housing market may be entering a new phase, where the top slows down and the broader housing market climbs back.
"2015 is kicking off with a market that's starting to look more balanced," she said. "Both luxury sales growth and luxury inventory growth are slowing down, even as sales and supply are picking up in the market overall. Things are about to get bumpier for the 2015 luxury market as rates will eventually rise, the stock market is becoming more volatile, global demand is waning and gas prices are falling."
Read MoreFor sale: Ashlee Simpson's former pad
While volatile stock markets may be spooking American buyers, weakness in China, Russia and Latin America could be hurting demand from foreign buyers. Overseas buyers have been crucial to sales of high-end homes in major cities such as Miami.
VIDEO3:5603:56NYC's real estate skyrocketsSquawk Box
The stronger dollar has also hurt overseas demand, as U.S. homes become expensive for those buying with other currencies.
The most expensive home deal in the fourth quarter was the $70 million sale of the 23,000-square-foot ultra-modern home in Beverly Hills, California, sold to Markus "Notch" Persson, the founder of the Minecraft video game. The house, built on spec by handbag magnate Bruce Makowsky, was listed for $85 million.
Outside of New York, the community with the largest number of $1 million-plus homes sold in the quarter was Manhattan Beach, California, with 109 sales. Laguna Beach, California, was second, with 91.
Among the biggest discounts in the quarter was the $5 million sale of a waterfront property in Newport, Rhode Island, that had once been listed for $12.9 million. A property in Santa Paula, California, listed for $6.34 million ended up selling for $3.5 million.
This Newport, Rhode Island, home was originally listed for $12.9 million. It sold in the fourth-quarter for $5 million.Source: Lila Delman Real Estate
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7513644c0bb7c9c7f21781e261967ccf | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/snb-victim-forex-broker-enters-insolvency.html | Leucadia to provide $300M in financing to FXCM | Leucadia to provide $300M in financing to FXCM
VIDEO1:1701:17Leucadia inks $300 million FXCM dealClosing Bell
Retail foreign exchange broker FXCM got a $300 million bailout on Friday after taking huge losses on the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) shock decision to drop its three-year-old peg of 1.20 Swiss francs per euro.
Leucadia National invested $300 million cash in FXCM in exchange for a $300 million senior secured term loan with a two-year term and a 10 percent coupon. If FXCM is sold Leucadia will get a portion of the proceeds. (The terms of the final announcement differed somewhat from a draft obtained earlier in the day).
FXCM shares plunged more than 70 percent in afterhours trading Friday. The stock was halted for the entirety of the regular session.
"Leucadia's support and this financing are by far the best alternative for FXCM, our customers, our shareholders, and all other relevant constituencies," FXCM CEO Drew Niv said in a statement.
FXCM warned Thursday evening that clients owed it $225 million and that it may be in breach of some capital requirements. The stock fell 90 percent in premarket trading Friday before being halted.
As recently as last January, the European Central Bank ranked FXCM as the world's third-largest retail foreign exchange broker.
The rescue came just hours after foreign exchange broker Alpari UK entered insolvency following the Swiss National Bank's decision.
Citigroup has also lost $150 million to $200 million on forex trading because of the Swiss moves, a source told CNBC, demonstrating the magnitude of impacts on the markets.
Rich Repetto, Sandler O'Neill principal, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Friday that this "may be the event of the year when you talk about market movements."
Repetto also said that leverage numbers need to be reexamined by regulators to help prevent these types of reactions in the future.
An employee places a bundle of twenty Swiss franc banknotes inside a Travelex store, operated by Travelex Holdings Ltd., in London.Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The FXCM saga intensified just hours after Alpari's collapse.
"The recent move on the Swiss franc caused by the Swiss National Bank's unexpected policy reversal of capping the Swiss franc against the euro has resulted in exceptional volatility and extreme lack of liquidity," Alpari UK said in a statement.
"This has resulted in the majority of clients sustaining losses which has exceeded their account equity. Where a client cannot cover this loss, it is passed on to us."
Read MoreStunned: Swiss banks, watchmakers hit hard
The company said that, as a result, it had entered into insolvency, adding that retail client funds would continue to be segregated in accordance with FCA rules.
This came after New Zealand brokerage Excel Markets also announced that it was unable to resume business following the SNB's move.
"Both our primary and backup liquidity providers became unresponsive or illiquid for hours after the event," the brokerage said in a statement.
"The majority of clients in a franc position were on the losing side and sustained losses amounting to far greater than their account equity. When a client cannot cover their losses it is passed onto us."
VIDEO1:2201:22Some traders knew about SNB move: ProSquawk Box Europe
The SNB stunned markets on Thursday, when it scrapped its three-year-old peg of 1.20 Swiss francs per euro. Shortly after the central bank's announcement, the Swiss franc soared by around 30 percent in value against the euro, and by 25 percent against the dollar.
A number of spread betters, including Forex.com, CMC Markets and ETX Capital, issued statements saying that Thursday's extreme currency movements had not materially affected their companies' financial positions.
However Adam Myers, European head of FX research at Credit Agricole, said that some market participants appeared to have been aware that the SNB's decision was coming before the official announcement.
"It definitely looks like to us," he said on Friday. "There was a movement in the market well ahead of the headlines (from the SNB)."
He also said there was a "huge flow" of Swiss francs -- around 34.2 billion -- into Switzerland during December, according to the SNB, which is around 10 times the monthly average.
"You wonder why the Swiss had to break the peg – they were brought to bear by the enormous strain of money flowing into the country during December."
- By CNBC's Katrina Bishop and David Faber. Reuters contributed to this report.
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29673b9a88a9d85f2ee0c919e6257bd9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/ten-hut-welcome-to-lisa-anns-boot-camp-for-porn-stars.html | Ten-hut! Welcome to boot camp for porn stars | Ten-hut! Welcome to boot camp for porn stars
Lisa AnnGetty Images
Count Lisa Ann among the small but growing number of porn stars-turned-entrepreneurs.
The 42 year old adult film superstar, perhaps best known in mainstream circles for her controversial performances satirizing former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, announced her retirement in December. The performer said she is moving on to a series of business ventures.
This was her second retirement—the first coming in 1997 during an AIDS scare in the business. Now it is for real, though, as she looks forward to her next challenges.
"In 2005, when I returned back to the business, I wrote myself a 10-year plan," Lisa Ann told CNBC.com in a recent interview.
"Between endorsements from products, my website and other businesses, I've realized my goals at a much faster pace than I expected," she said. "When I reached that goal, I told myself it's time to start working on the next passion—for sports."
Yes, the same woman who lampooned Sarah Palin and has been a regular name on CNBC's "Dirty Dozen" list of top porn stars, is a sports nut with her own show on SiriusXM satellite radio called "Lisa Ann Does Fantasy." Retirement will see her trying to expand beyond the fantasies she one acted out on camera, this time with the myriad sports leagues that have cropped up across the spectrum.
Read MoreSee the rest of the "Dirty Dozen" list here
In addition, the Easton, Pa. native has her own production company, is in the early stages of putting together a book about her life, and just launched another unique venture—a boot camp for aspiring porn stars.
She describes the venture as "a mentorship program" for those just entering the business, with advice on everything from what to expect on set to managing life skills, such as paying taxes and effective self-promotion techniques.
Lisa Ann said her retirement, during which she's already had a breast reduction as part of her return to normal life, is actually essential to the venture's success.
"They will only take advice from you if they don't feel like they're competing with you," she said.
Her post-retirement path has been made all the easier due to the meteoric success she achieved playing Palin. "It was such a cool experience because it happened to me at a prefect age," she said. "I was old enough to manage this new-found popularity."
Read MorePorn sponsors & eSports not a match made in gaming
But her own decision to retire entailed factors besides wanting to expand her business interests. She also faced practical concerns.
"I never wanted to leave with my body starting to look older," she said, adding that comments on websites and blogs can get particularly nasty.
"The downside of the business is that when you're not popular everyone likes you. When you get popular a lot of people don't like you," she said. "You get a lot of turmoil from other competitors in your business."
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6e9287fb75cc124ae6610757251d3532 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/top-us-health-official-marilyn-tavenner-to-step-down.html | Top Obamacare official Tavenner calls it quits | Top Obamacare official Tavenner calls it quits
Marilyn TavennerGetty Images
A woman who played a key role in the roll-out of Obamacare—and oversaw the massive government-run Medicare and Medicaid programs—unexpectedly resigned Friday after two often-tumultuous years..
Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, emailed staffers Friday to tell them she will leave her post at the end of February.
Tavenner's exit will come two weeks after the close of the second open-enrollment season for Obamacare health insurance plans.
Her boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, credited Tavenner on Friday with being "a big part of the reason why, as of this past spring, roughly 10 million Americans had gained health coverage since last year—the largest increase in four decades."
Read MoreGimme an Obamacare taxbreak!
Tavenner will be replaced as administrator on an interim basis by Andy Slavitt, the former top Unitedhealth Group executive who is currently second-in-command at CMS.
In an email to CMS staff Friday, Tavenner wrote, "It is with sadness and mixed emotions that I write to tell you that February will be my last month serving as the administrator for CMS. I have great pride and joy knowing all that we have accomplished together since I came on board five years ago in February of 2010."
Tavenner did not say why she is stepping down, and her departure came as something of a surprise.
But an HHS official noted, "She has been working a 24/7-job for five years. She plans to take some time off and then will look at the opportunities ahead of her."
A former executive at the Hospital Corporation of America who had begun her career as a nurse, Tavenner joined CMS in 2010. She was confirmed as head of the agency, which has an $820 billion budget, in May 2013 after serving as principal deputy administrator, and then acting administrator.
Tavenner's tenure will be remembered primarily for including the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which included the disastrous October 2013 launch of the federal Obamacare health insurance exchange HealthCare.gov.
That site was unable for two months to enroll significant numbers of people because of widespread technological problems.
Although a massive repair effort fixed HealthCare.gov well enough that it was able to enroll millions of people by April 2014, Tavenner and other officials in the Health and Human Services Department remained tarnished by the botched roll-out.
Read MoreHealthCare.gov beats last year's tally already
Last year, Tavenner was blasted by Republican critics of Obamacare and others when it was revealed that she had publicly overstated Obamacare enrollment tallies as of the summer by nearly 400,000 people nationally. HHS said the gaffe resulted from mistakenly including dental insurance plan enrollments in the tally of people with health insurance.
Tavenner's prior boss, Kathleen Sebelius, left as HHS secretary last spring after about 8 million people signed up nationally for Obamacare plans. While that tally was lauded by the Obama administration as a sign of success for the Affordable Care Act, Sebelius, like Tavenner, remained bruised by criticism for having earlier opened an enrollment web site that did not work as designed at first.
Andrew SlavittGetty Images
The current Obamacare enrollment season has gone much more smoothly on the federal exchange, which serves customers in the 37 states not running their own insurance marketplaces. HealthCare.gov has already signed up more people for coverage in 2015, nearly 6.8 million, than were enrolled in the entire nation as of October.
Burwell, in an email to staff Friday, wrote, "I hope you will join me in thanking Marilyn for her exemplary service, leadership, and historic record of accomplishment."
"Marilyn delivered historic results at the helm of CMS," Burwell wrote.
"It goes without saying that Marilyn will be remembered for her leadership in opening the Health Insurance Marketplace. In so doing, she worked day and night so that millions of Americans could finally obtain the security and peace of mind of quality health insurance at a price they could afford," Burwell wrote. "It's a measure of her tenacity and dedication that after the tough initial roll-out of HealthCare.gov, she helped right the ship, bringing aboard a systems integrator and overseeing an overhaul of the website."
But Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who until recently chaired the House Oversight Committee, said Tavenner's departure was overdue.
"Tavenner had to go," said Issa. "She presided over [CMS] as it deceptively padded the Obamacare enrollment numbers"
"It was a deplorable example of an agency trying to scam the American people.They weren't successful this time because of Congressional oversight. We deserve better," he said.
Read MoreObamacare Year 2: Still a mystery
Kinder words came from Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-IA), a former Finance Committee chairman who said, "I've had a positive working relationship with Administrator Tavenner. I respect her abilities and her willingness to engage in open and often productive conversation."
"CMS administrator is a tough job under regular circumstances, and hers was especially hard in implementing a misguided new health care law," Grassley said. "I wish her well."
Although Obamacare got much attention during Tavenner's tenure, her agency also oversees two other larger health-care programs—Medicare, which mainly provides health coverage to senior citizens, and Medicaid, which provides such coverage to poor people.
"CMS has always been 'the biggest payer of healthcare services in the United States' and that in and of itself is a huge and complex responsibility for any Administrator and his or her team to manage," Tavenner wrote in her email to staff.
During Tavenner's time at CMS, Medicaid programs were expanded in 27 states and the District of Columbia to allow nearly all poor adults to obtain coverage if they applied. So-called Medicaid expansion is a key part of the Affordable Care Act, and has been credited to with adding millions of people to the rolls of the insured in the past year or so.
Read MoreHealth insurance paperwork wastes $375 billion
Burwell wrote that under Tavenner's watch "the solvency of the Medicare Trust Funds was extended to 2030. In addition, her work on health care quality helped our nation achieve a 17 percent reduction in hospital acquired conditions – saving an estimated 50,000 lives and $12 billion in health care costs."
"Marilyn led the effort to accelerate the development and expansion of innovative new health care payment and delivery models. And thanks to her efforts, CMS is a government leader in the use of predictive analytics to help combat waste, fraud and abuse," Burwell wrote.
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90a55a9e0ce50809dd82fef4039e1a2d | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/16/upenn-leader-backs-obamas-call-for-free-community-college.html | VIDEO1:5401:54Schoolhouse rock
President Obama's free community college proposal has at least one big supporter, in the form of an Ivy League college president who believes the initiative is necessary.
"Making college more accessible to more people is absolutely critical," says Dr. Amy Gutmann, who has led the University of Pennsylvania since 2004.
In an interview with CNBC's "On the Money," Gutmann called higher education "the engine of opportunity for our population since the mid-20th Century." Degrees beyond high school have "only gotten more and more essential to what makes for having the opportunity that has really defined the American dream for millions of people," she added.
President Obama is expected to unveil "America's College Promise" in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. According to the White House, the proposal would make two years of community college free for an estimated 9 million students, if all states participate.
Yet the plan, though free for participants, will come at a cost to taxpayers. Early estimates project the federal government's tab for the program will cost tens of billions of dollars, and critics have derided the program as yet another offering by a government that is already suffering from mission creep.
Calling higher education an "engine that needs to be stoked," Gutmann says a proposal like the President's is "one of many proposals that are needed to get this engine more vital than it has been in recent years."
Read MoreHow to ease the burden of student debt
Amy Gutmann, University of PennsylvaniaDaniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
While tuition increases have been slowing, paying for a college education is still a high cost challenge for many Americans.
According to The College Board, the average cost of community college is $3, 347 this academic year 2014-2015. The public four-year college tuition average is $9,139. Meanwhile, the average cost of private four-year college tuition is $31,231.
While University of Pennsylvania's 2014-2015 tuition is $42,176 this year, the Ivy League school has an all- grant, no-loan financial aid policy for its undergraduates. This year the school says 47 percent of its undergrads receive need-based grants.
Gutmann says Penn is the largest university in the U.S to be all-grant for any undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need. For its part, the university maintains an endowment of nearly $10 billion, of which 17.7 percent goes toward student aid, according to the school's annual report.
While she acknowledges Penn and other Ivy League schools are in a fortunate situation, she says Penn has "made it a priority" to have all-grant financial aid. "We have the resources and have raised the resources from generous donors to do it," she said.
Gutmann tells CNBC that "most state universities and most community colleges have been starved for resources and simply can't afford to" provide more financial aid.
"We have to find a way to allow them to do it," she said, "not only for the lowest income families, but for the middle income in this country."
Read MoreObama proposes idea of two free years of community college
For her own life story, Gutmann credits financial aid for making her career possible. "I believe we as a society have an obligation to 'pay it forward'," the academic said.
"My father was a scrap metal dealer. We had no savings. We had no money for college," she added
Tragically, Gutmann's father died when she was a junior in high school, but was able to earn a free ride to one of the "Seven Sisters" colleges affiliated with the Ivy Leagues.
The university president says "I owe it all to a full scholarship based on need at Radcliffe College."
"It's not only my story. It's the story of millions of successful Americans," she added. "So many people in all walks of life, who are not guaranteed success, but are aided in it, by the affordability of higher education?"
On the Money airs on CNBC Sundays at 7:30 pm, or check listings for air times in local markets.
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304dc14363c40852e7d1e9db428fe934 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/18/is-the-china-share-selloff-a-teapot-tempest.html | Is the China share selloff a teapot tempest? | Is the China share selloff a teapot tempest?
ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images
China's margin lending crackdown may have spurred a sharp knee-jerk selloff, but analysts aren't convinced it's anything more than a minor hiccup in the mainland's bull market.
"This is not a day to be a bull on the equity market," Tim Condon, head of research for Asia at ING Financial, told CNBC. "But I think this will be a transitory blip and monetary accommodation will return as a driver and share prices will continue to move higher over the course of the year."
Admittedly, it's quite a large blip: the dropped as much as 8.3 percent in intraday trade Monday before finished down 7.7 percent after rallying more than 50 percent last year as retail investors piled in, accounting for around 80 percent of trading volume.
Read More A red flag in China's unstoppable market rally
Hong Kong's Hang Seng China Enterprises Index closed down 5.0 percent after falling as much as 6.6 percent in intraday trade Monday.
Regulations
Brokerage and other financial shares took it on the chin after regulators announced measures to crack down on margin trading late on Friday.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) last week barred Citic Securities, Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities from opening new margin trading accounts for three months after regulators determined the three failed to correct violations of rules prohibiting rolling over margin trading contracts. Another nine brokerages received warnings. In intraday trade Monday, Citic Securities dropped more than 16 percent in Hong Kong and by the 10 percent daily limit in Shanghai.
But concerns over margin trading in the A-share markets were brewing before the CSRC's move Friday.
"China's current level [of margin financing] is already close to or higher than the peak level of other countries and with the much faster pace suggests little upside potential but high downside risks," Citigroup said in a note last week before the CSRC announcement. It downgraded brokerages in the CSI300 index to underweight from overweight.
Margin balance - a measure of investor leverage - as a percentage of total market capitalization of A-shares stood at 2.4 percent at 2014's end, among the highest globally and on par with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Read More China December new home prices slip, somber omen for 2014 GDP
But while the NYSE's ratio rose from 0.9 percent to 2.4 percent over 13 years, it took A-shares just 17 months – from July 2013 to December 2014. As of Friday, outstanding margin trading was at a record high of 1.19 trillion yuan, according to data from OCBC.
Still bullish
Others also don't expect the selloff to mark a major change in the bullish view on China equities.
"Part of the reason why the market has gone up is because retail investors have been using margin to invest, but that's only a small part of why it's gone up," Mark Matthews, head of research for Asia at Julius Baer, said, citing factors including the Hong Kong-Shanghai stock connect, an anti-corruption drive, recent positive export data and improved corporate governance.
He also noted that CSRC move isn't a system-wide ban on margin financing, affecting only the named brokerages for a limited time period.
VIDEO2:3102:31Going behind China's margin trading issuesStreet Signs Asia
It isn't entirely clear how badly the brokerages will be affected.
Daiwa expects the three penalized brokerages will face significant market share losses, but it's keeping a "positive" sector call.
"Though we expect the regulatory crackdown to dampen near-term margin lending growth momentum, we believe the rising trend of lending businesses' contributions for securities firms' revenue and earnings is intact," Daiwa said in a note Friday.
Some expect longer-term investors will see the selldown as a buying opportunity.
"If the retailers want to get out, they want to get out. If they bought on margin, certainly they would be forced to wind down the position," said Steve Wang, chief China economist at Reorient Financial. "Long-term investors will come back to see what's a better entry point."
Wang isn't alone in that view.
"Near-term headwinds could be meaningful to A-shares," Ben Bei, an analyst at CIMB said in a note Monday, citing "clear risk control signals from the government" and the recent rally's dependence on liquidity.
But he's keeping a more positive view for the medium-to-longer term.
"Curbing the soaring leverage level can provide a solid foundation for the equity market in the long run," Bei said. "Regulators' risk control measures may expand the room for monetary easing in 2015."
—By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1
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335b8199e389a48e51bd37b671cedea7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/18/minh-nguyen-tech-veteran-charged-in-murder-of-ex-wifes-husband.html | Minh Nguyen, tech veteran, charged in murder of ex-wife's husband | Minh Nguyen, tech veteran, charged in murder of ex-wife's husband
Wavebreakmedia Ltd | Getty Images
The co-founder of a social networking upstart has been charged with premeditated murder in the slaying of his ex-wife's current husband.
Minh Nguyen, who created social media site Plaxo with Napster pioneer Sean Parker, was arrested last Wednesday in Ashburn, Virginia for entering the home of his ex-wife and shooting her husband, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Although the report did not cite specific names, published reports identified the victim as Corey Mattison.
Mattison's wife was not home at the time, but the sheriff's office said two children were in the residence. His wife returned home with one other child, where they walked in on the incident unfolding.
The Plaxo founder is a George Mason University alum whose career has spanned at least ten different technology start-ups, according to his LinkedIn profile. Plaxo boasts 50 million users in 83 countries, though its scale and user numbers are eclipsed by those of social media juggernauts such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. All of those platforms have hundreds of millions of users in the professional and personal space.
Nguyen is being held with no bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention center. The investigation is ongoing, according to authorities.
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42a671089abac3ff2e6a3a86fa2f0cee | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/19/why-people-pick-team-apple-versus-team-android.html | Why people pick Team Apple versus Team Android | Why people pick Team Apple versus Team Android
VIDEO1:0401:04Why people pick team Apple versus team AndroidTech
It's a common question of our time: "Which phone do you use?"
With BlackBerry's once commanding position diminished considerably, it largely comes down to Team Apple or Team Android.
As of now, it's a pretty close race between the two major operating systems. In October 2014, according to ComScore Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer in that month, with 41.9 percent of market share, while Google's Android operating system—which is used on smartphones made by companies like Samsung and Xiaomi—led as the No. 1 smartphone platform, with 52.3 percent of market share.
So why do people pick one over the other? Since both are high-quality, reliable products, marketing experts say brand image is the deciding factor for many people.
Read MoreApple hikes iPhone price in Russia on sliding ruble
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy Note 4 smartphones on display at MBFW in New York.Adam Jeffery | CNBC
In her book, "Branding For Dummies," author Barbara Findlay Schenck defines brands as "promises that consumers can believe in" and brand loyalty as a philosophical attachment to an ideal.
For Android users, "affordability is the biggest reason [it] is the No. 1 most purchased system in the world. It also has a really great operating system," she said.
Apple's appeal is somewhat more abstract. "What does Apple stand for? Apple stands for smart, fun, sleek. It makes people feel good about who they are and who they want to be," Schenck said.
In other words: "Android is a commodity platform, Apple is a brand," she said.
Other marketing experts echo those distinctions between the appeal of the two operating systems.
"Android is for the purist who wants a killer operating system. Android has the halo of Google. It has the cutting edge element that goes with it," said Nelson Freitas, chief strategy officer at Wunderman New York, a communications and marketing agency.
"Apple, on the other hand, makes people feel like they have a superpower. It makes them feel like a better designer. It makes them feel supercool," Freitas said.
Carmi Levy, vice president of marketing at multinational agency Voices.com, also said that user's attachment to the Apple brand transcends the mere device at hand.
Read More Small app studio seeks to build the 'perfect' iPhone keyboard
"The average consumer doesn't want to know what's going on beneath the hood," Levy said.
Apple is "the rare example of a company that doesn't market itself as a tech company but as a solutions company. They sell the emotional connection with consumers," Levy said.
"Even though Android sells the vast majority of devices and tablets in the U.S. today, it still doesn't have that psychological hold on consumers to the same degree. Android devices are largely sold on the basis of price, features and performance, not on emotional connection," Levy said.
"You've got to be more tech-savvy, you have to know how the apps work, you have to be comfortable digging into the settings. These are people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. It's part of the [Android] game," he said.
Other recent data show that users' attachments to their smartphone brands can be strong.
In a December poll by SurveyMonkey Audience, 98.18 percent of respondents said their cellphone was "extremely important" or "very important" in their lives, and 94.05 percent said they felt anxious when they were without it.
The nonscientific survey, which polled 513 U.S. consumers between the ages of 25 and 60, found that 91.82 percent were either Apple or Samsung users (Apple: 58.18 percent; Samsung, 33.64 percent) and that 93.57 percent of people felt at least somewhat loyal to their brand. 90.83 percent of respondents also reported that they felt passionate about their phones. Only 3.17 percent felt little or no passion for their device.
Read MoreHere's our strategy with the new BlackBerry Classic
In fact, survey respondents said lively debates and trash-talking are commonplace among smartphone enthusiasts, though heated arguments are unusual (13.78 percent). Rarer still—though not unheard of—are physical altercations (2.86 percent).
Android user Allen Levings, owner of Revolution Studios in Las Vegas, calls Apple users "sheeple."
"[Apple users] follow the crowd," he said. "Techy, geeky personalities tend toward Android, whereas people who choose iPhone are more status conscious. The iPhone is a status symbol. Why do people wait in these insanely long lines? Status. There seems to be a bit of brainwashing going on."
Levings insists his aversion stems from "the way Apple does business."
"They're too controlling over their products," he said. "I don't want Apple to tell me I can only download music from Apple and only watch the movies Apple tells me to."
Peter Shankman, founder of the social networking start-up HARO and author of several business advice books, owns a Galaxy Note 4 phone as well as an iPad and an Apple laptop.
"It's the classic MAC versus PC argument," he said. "In terms of phones, I'm pro-Android because I just think it's a better phone. When I upgrade, which is probably every six months, all I have to do is insert a new SIM Card and the phone repopulates instantly. I'm not going around saying, 'All Hail the Church of Android,' but Android perfectly combines form and functionality."
Read MoreRetailers still haven't figured out mobile
New Yorker Dan Nainan, a comedian and former senior Intel engineer, is an iPhone loyalist.
"My iPhone essentially runs my life," he said.
Nainan, who once appeared on a "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercial, said he formerly owned a Samsung Galaxy Note and "could not stand it."
"I'm the ultimate geek, but when it comes to my phone I don't want a lot of nonsense. On the Android there are too many variables," he said.
Some of the snarkiest comments from smartphone loyalists can be found on online subreddits with provocative names like Cult of Android, Android Master Race and Apple Circle Jerk. There, Apple and Android haters can express techie outrage at the opposing team's image, perceived technological deficiencies and pretty much anything else that annoys them.
For his part, Shankman says he is frequently offered iPhone cases as corporate gifts but when he tells them he has a Samsung, "there's this long pause. Then they say, "Ohhhhh,'—you know, like, they offered me a free pair of sneakers and I told them I only have one foot."
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to requests for comment.
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3d5a87a30e1051e3816ce447877a2229 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/heres-how-the-ecb-could-deliver-a-euro-shock.html | Here’s how the ECB could deliver a euro shock | Here’s how the ECB could deliver a euro shock
The battered euro has fallen fast and furiously in recent months—and may have to brace for another drubbing if the European Central Bank (ECB) delivers "shock and awe" monetary stimulus this week.
Analysts expect the ECB to unveil a sovereign bond-buying program worth in the region of 500-600 billion euros ($579-695 billion) to fight deflation and lackluster growth in the euro area. Such a number is already priced into markets and is expected to give the single currency some relief.
Read MoreWill QE be enough to save the euro zone from deflation?
Daniel Roland | AFP | Getty Images
However, that's not the only possibility, and as the Swiss National Bank demonstrated last week, central banks are not afraid to deliver the unexpected.
"If we see a real policy of shock and awe being conducted from the ECB, then easily we could find ourselves sub-$1.10 (for the euro), looking at $1.08 relatively quickly," said Jeremy Stretch, a markets strategist with the Canadian stock broking firm CIBC.
"And if that happens, clearly the parity threshold would be discussed widely."
The euro traded at around $1.1579 on Tuesday, not far from an 11-year low hit last week of $1.14595. The currency has fallen roughly 14 percent in the last six months, fueling speculation that a move towards parity against the dollar, something that has not happened since 2002, could be on the cards.
"There are financial institutions out there that do take that view and have built in a forecast for parity," said Neil Mellor, a currency strategist based in London at Bank of New York Mellon.
"If the ECB does deliver a bigger figure in terms of quantitative easing, that would be quite something indeed," he added.
Mellor said that the Bank of New York Mellon was looking for the euro to weaken to around $1.07 on a six-month basis, reaching the one-to-one level against the greenback over a 12-month period.
Read More Are Spain and Italy headed for 1% yields?
VIDEO2:3102:31ECB will disappoint, euro will go higher: ProSquawk Box Europe
However, strategists stressed that given the heavy short positioning on the euro – suggesting a view by currency speculators that the single currency will weaken –there was scope for a short-term bounce.
"If they (ECB policymakers) imply a very large figure in the region of one trillion (euros) and the credit risk was neutralized, then I would argue that the profile for the downward path for euro/dollar would be somewhat steeper," said Derek Halpenny, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. "But I am certain of view we get some respite and some reversal of euro shorts."
And if the ECB delivered a different surprise, one where it chooses to take no action, then any bounce in the euro could be steep, Mellor said.
"If the ECB does nothing, the euro will go higher; there will be no surprise in that – especially because the market is very short," he said. "That would be an unexpected outcome, for obvious reasons."
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
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9055062bbada5f505b2bf283fc7f0d39 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/live-state-of-the-union-2015.html | State of the Union: 'Shadow of crisis has passed' | State of the Union: 'Shadow of crisis has passed'
VIDEO14:1914:19State of the Union: Tonight, we turn the pageEconomy
VIDEO15:3815:38State of the Union: Middle class economicsEconomy
VIDEO14:4714:47State of the Union: Let's close loopholesEconomy
VIDEO15:0715:07State of the Union: More than a collection of red & blue statesEconomy
VIDEO1:1301:13Obama: No hacker should be able to shut down our networksEconomy
VIDEO0:3000:30Obama: I have no more campaigns to runEconomy
VIDEO9:3309:33State of the Union: Republican rebuttalEconomy
President Barack Obama, facing a new Republican majority in Congress, asked for a broad package of tax and other reforms in his annual address to lawmakers.
Obama trumpeted the success of "middle-class economics," in his Tuesday night speech, but he also pushed for more reform. "That's what middle-class economics is—the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules," he said, according to a copy of the written remarks.
Read MoreObama aide: Our 'strong logic' for tax hikes
Obama used the address to look to the future, and to the next 15 years for the country. "We are 15 years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many," the president said. "But tonight, we turn the page."
Despite turning a page, Obama asked Congress "to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL"—essentially making an official new war in Iraq and Syria.
(Mobile users, click here to read the live blog in a web browser)
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643a1bf3b94aeda89061c97ca11b34d9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/main-street-reaches-for-a-comeback.html | Main Street reaches for a comeback | Main Street reaches for a comeback
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
By a growing stack of indicators, 2015 may be the year Main Street finally reaches a comeback.
Small business trends are heading positive, including more job creation, higher wages and an improved overall sentiment among small business owners—which recently reached an eight-year high. While lending among start-ups remains relatively tight, recent joint data from the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta show pockets of businesses seeking capital with plans to grow.
Among smaller businesses seeking credit under $100,000, nearly 40 percent said the primary purpose was business expansion, according to the banks' small business credit survey released Thursday.
More business owners are feeling buoyant, too. The small business optimism index rose 2.3 points to 100.4 in December—the highest reading since October 2006. The latest sentiment reading was released last week by the National Federation of Independent Business.
The optimism index has 10 components, with eight showing gains—a sign Main Street could finally be shaking off the Great Recession. Smaller employers plan to hire more workers, invest in capital outlays and anticipate higher sales.
Read More Americans shake off economic pessimism
Another Main Street positive is higher wages. NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg told CNBC that compensation is trending upward among small business owners, rising by an average of 20 percent over the past several months. December showed a 25 percent increase in compensation, and November recorded a 21 percent uptick.
The wage gains may reflect additional health-care benefits. "The thing to remember is that compensation includes wages and benefits," Dunkelberg said. "That increase could be due to Obamacare."
Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with 100 or more full-time workers have to offer coverage or face a penalty of $2,000 per worker per year for failing to comply.
Robert and Fanny Davidson are co-founders of Fanrod Group, a software boutique based in New York City.Source: The Fanrod Group
The banks' credit survey also found most credit applicants were experienced borrowers and planning for expansion.Twenty-seven percent of firms said they would apply for financing this year.
For entrepreneurs like Robert Davidson, the timing to invest in growth couldn't be better.
Davidson is co-founder of the New York-based Fanrod Group. The company helps build start-ups based on the product innovations of Davidson and his co-founder Fanny Davidson.
"Corporations are deciding they can get innovation from [small] companies for less—it's a great way for entrepreneurs to get started," Davidson said.
VIDEO1:5501:552015 the year to start a small business?
Dunkelberg adds that this optimism may be tied to post-midterm positivity, with a new Republican-led Congress in place, giving small businesses some hope that policies may be friendlier toward their cohort.
Read More2015 may be the year you actually start that business
Small business optimism may also be benefiting from a Republican-led Congress in session after last year's midterm elections, NFIB's Dunkelberg said. Some upstarts are betting on less red tape and a friendlier business environment.
But a broader Main Street recovery is far from a slam dunk.
While Davidson is almost entirely self-funded, he's in the minority, and many entrepreneurs who need capital remain on the sidelines. The credit survey found that in the first half of 2014, only 22 percent of businesses reported applying for credit, and there was weaker demand from firms with less than $1 million in annual revenues.
Despite the potential risks, small business owners like Davidson are taking the plunge. "The market is hungry for the next great idea," he said.
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cab481f688996bb8e491396cade91c3e | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/porn-stars-best-business-advice-diversify.html | Porn stars' best business advice: Diversify | Porn stars' best business advice: Diversify
Not too long ago, the chief requirement to become a porn superstar was to have sex on camera, and do so in an enticing fashion to win over fans.
Today, the rules have changed.
The barriers to entry in the porn world are considerably lower—with every newcomer hoping to become the next Jenna Jameson or Jesse Jane. But for wannabes who hope to become bonafide stars, rather than simply getting by in porn, sex appeal is secondary to business savvy.
Read MoreThe Dirty Dozen: Porn's biggest starsRead MoreMore from the Adult Entertainment Expo
VIDEO2:2202:22Porn star investment plans Adult Entertainment
Today's big stars aren't just performers. They're also directors, sex educators and lecturers. They oversee huge social media empires on Twitter, Instagram and their own websites. And they license their names to adult novelty companies in return for a portion of the sales of their branded sex toys.
"Years ago, the big superstars were contract girls [performers who negotiated contracts to work with a single production company, rather than getting paid on a per-scene basis]," said sociologist Chauntelle Tibbals, who studies the adult entertainment industry.
"Even if you were a medium star, you had a contract somewhere. It was more of a conventional job. That's not how it works anymore," she said. "In order to stay relevant and make a living, you have to diversify."
Jessica DrakeGabe Ginsberg | FilmMagic | Getty Images
One of the role models for diversification in the industry is Jessica Drake. A performer since 1999, Drake is something of an exception in porn, having worked exclusively for Wicked Pictures since 2003. But rather than simply staying in front of the camera, she expanded her focus.
Today, Drake directs and oversees a line of sex education films for Wicked called "Jessica Drake's Guide to Wicked Sex." The most successful was the most recent, which focused on sex for plus-sized individuals.
Read MorePorn business beset by challenges
"We immediately sold out of our initial run of the title and are now in our second run," said Steve Orenstein, president and founder of Wicked Pictures.
Drake says the move to sex education (she also lectures on the topic around the country) was done for two reasons: to fill a void she saw and to further her own brand.
"Girls get in and don't understand what they're doing," she said. "They think they're going to get in, make a lot of money and get out. I don't think it works that way. ... As far as building a brand, I see a lot less of that today. New girls don't understand that at the end of the day, it's hurting them. ... I always say I'm not the hottest chick in the room, but I work hard."
Chanel Preston, another top-tier adult actress, has approached diversity in a different fashion. She's not a contract performer, and thinks the days of world famous porn stars could be over, making it more important to approach the industry from several angles.
"I don't know if there are any porn superstars anymore—and I don't know if there will be," she said. "Girls have to start their own niche businesses.
"I learned very fast I needed to carve other avenues for myself. I asked myself what am I interested in doing and how can I set myself up?"
Read MorePorn's power players
She eventually decided on a Web series, "Naked With Chanel," that examines beliefs and attitudes about sexuality. She also recently began directing adult films and is a regular spokeswoman for the industry on cable news outlets.
Other examples include Joanna Angel, who is a performer and owner of her Burning Angel studio; and relative newcomer Bonnie Rotten, who, after just two years in the industry has already launched her own production company, named Mental Beauty.
The additional projects aren't always about doubling down on income. In some cases, they result in significantly less income than acting jobs. But they do help build awareness.
"It's important to branch out beyond the porn industry, whether its through sex education or movies, because it breaks down that stigma associated with performers," Preston said.
And in the long run, breaking down that stigma could result in other opportunities, noted Tibbals.
"I wonder how long it's going to be before someone bites the bullet and says, 'We're going to have a social media seminar hosted by a porn star,'" she said.
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128d78679408be893bc0d003ebc7e89f | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/starboard-letter-urges-staples-to-merge-with-office-depot.html | Starboard letter urges Staples to merge with Office Depot | Starboard letter urges Staples to merge with Office Depot
Starboard Value has written a letter to Staples urging it to merge with rival Office Depot, potentially setting the stage for the activist investor to pursue a proxy contest several weeks from now.
In December, Starboard revealed it had taken a 6.1 percent stake in Staples and increased an existing stake in Office Depot to 9.9 percent. At the time, CNBC reported that Starboard was pursuing a merger but the investor hadn't made its intentions public until now. Starboard met with Staples shortly after making its stake and had cordial discussions about a merger with Office Depot, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Read More Starboard wants Staples, Office Depot to merge: Sources
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Last week, Staples announced a series of governance changes such as its intention to separate the CEO and chairman roles but didn't address the possibility of a merger or indicate it was giving the idea any consideration. Staples is expected to reject the request for a merger from Starboard, the Financial Times reported.
In its letter to Staples, Starboard said that synergies from a merger with Office Depot would be sufficient to double the operating profits of the combined company. Starboard added that "if it becomes clear to us that you have no intention of seriously pursuing this unique and highly attractive opportunity, it would be a clear sign that significant leadership change is needed at Staples."
Starboard didn't indicate it plans to nominate directors on the Staples board, but it will need to make a decision soon. According to public filings, The deadline for nominating directors to the Staples board is 90 days prior to the anniversary of the 2014 shareholder meeting. That indicates a deadline on or around March 4, 2015.
Starboard faces a similar situation at Yahoo, in which it revealed a stake last year. The activist has urged Yahoo to make a tax-free divestment of its stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, while also considering a merger with rival AOL. Yahoo has not yet taken any of those steps, though it is expected to outline plans for the Alibaba stake later this month. The deadline to nominate directors to the Yahoo board is March 27.
Read More Yahoo shareholders spooked ahead of news from Mayer
Starboard's letter is expected to be made public later Tuesday.
Starboard declined to comment and Staples didn't respond to a request for comment.
UPDATED: This story was updated include the report from the Financial Times that Staples is expected to reject the Starboard request.
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2133769764b4e9daf7bae6207bafb400 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/two-ex-wwe-wrestlers-file-lawsuit-over-concussions.html | Two ex-WWE wrestlers file lawsuit over concussions | Two ex-WWE wrestlers file lawsuit over concussions
Two former WWE professional wrestlers say they have serious brain injuries after suffering repeated concussions in the ring and have filed a potential class-action lawsuit against the Connecticut-based company in federal court in Philadelphia.
Vito LoGrasso, 50, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Evan Singleton, 22, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, accuse World Wrestling Entertainment of "selling violence" and ignoring their "numerous" concussions.
"Under the guise of providing 'entertainment,' WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality that it knew, or should have known" causes a variety of medical problems, including brain damage, the lawsuit said.
Tetra Images | Getty Images
LoGrasso, whose ring names included Big Vito and Skull Von Krush, wrestled in the WWE from 1991 to 1998 and from 2005 to 2007, was "seriously and obviously injured countless times," according to the lawsuit. It said he was "forced to wrestle though he was losing consciousness before and during matches."
LoGrasso now suffers from "serious neurological damage" and has memory loss, depression and anxiety, the lawsuit said.
Singleton wrestled for WWE under the name of Adam Mercer from 2012 to 2013 and at the age of 19 was among the youngest wrestlers in WWE history. He now has "an array of serious symptoms," including tremors, convulsions, memory loss and "impaired ability to reason," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit is similar to those filed in several other U.S. sports, including the National Football League, whose settlement with former players over concussions could reach as high as $1 billion.
Attorney Jerry McDevitt, representing the WWE, said the suit was similar to one filed in Oregon and that WWE had never concealed medical information from its wrestlers.
"WWE was well ahead of sports organizations in implementing concussion management procedures and policies as a precautionary measure as the science and research on this issue emerged," he said.
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6cd053f37782fd3e43ec2fe793e4f723 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/what-are-mcdonalds-fries-really-made-of.html | What are McDonald's fries really made of? | What are McDonald's fries really made of?
VIDEO0:4900:49Are McDonald's fries made out of potatoes? Restaurants
Are McDonald's fries even made of potatoes? Why are there 17 ingredients in its fries?
The fast-food giant lifted the veil on its fry production line and ingredient list Tuesday to dispel myths about one of its most popular items in two new videos.
The fry tour is the latest in a series of segments with former MythBusters star Grant Imahara aimed at addressing rumors about the quality of its food and improving transparency as it struggles to turn around its U.S. business.
Turns out, there are real spuds in the fries. As for that 17 number, that's a myth.
There are really 19 ingredients.
In addition to different oils, the list includes several chemicals that perform various functions, including ones that adds flavor, an anti-foaming agent that keeps oil from splattering, another aimed at keeping "the potatoes from going gray" and preservatives, Imahara explains.
Read MoreMcDonald's shows how McNuggets arereally made
Imahara also takes a tour at Simplot, which supplies potatoes to McDonald's USA, with Koko Neher, a production planner there.
Whole potatoes travel on a conveyor belt before being shot through a high-pressure water tube through a grate at 60 to 70 miles per hour.
Read MoreNearly9 in 10 diners willing to pay more for this
Next up is the "ingredient dip."
"This is the ingredient dip, where we control the color, and we're adding dextrose – all natural sugar – to make sure that we get a consistent color no matter what time of the year it is," said Neher, adding that it also puts in sodium acid pyrophosphate to control "graying after freezing."
After that, the fries are partially fried before traveling through a massive freezer tunnel of about 50 yards in length. Final preparation occurs at the restaurant.
Salesman to McD's mogul: Who will play Ray Kroc?
"So at the end of the day, it's not a Franken fry composed of chemicals," he said. "McDonald's French fries are made of potatoes."
That…and 18 other ingredients, according to McDonald's.
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b028a2e5fde9221ff5fb0125ea74fa31 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/21/a-life-saving-biotech-with-a-personal-mission.html | VIDEO7:4407:44Amicus Therapeutics CEO: Driving science to a cureMad Money with Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer has been on a mission to find the hottest biotechs of 2015. While reviewing all of the top performers of last year, he has found one that not only doubled in value last year but has a personal mission to find a life-saving cure.
"That's some incredible performance, and I think there could be even more upside here if you're willing to take the risk that's inherent in owning a company this small," Cramer said.
John Crowley is CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a father and a Navy reservist who fought to raise money to become a biotech entrepreneur. He didn't do this just to make money; he did it in an effort to save his two children from a rare condition called Pompe disease.
John Crowley, Amicus CEOScott Mlyn | CNBC
Wednesday celebrates the five-year anniversary of the movie "Extraordinary Measures," starring Brendan Frasier and Harrison Ford, which chronicled Crowley's devotion to saving his children's lives.
Pompe is a neuromuscular disease that can ultimately be fatal, even with enzyme replacement therapy. Amicus has a drug in Phase 2 trials that leverages their advanced enzyme replacement chaperone platform.
To find out more, Cramer spoke with Crowley on how his personal passion has fed into the passion of the company culture and stock.
"We got involved in biotech in the late 90s, when two of our children were diagnosed with a rare genetic disease…at the time there was nothing," said Crowley "So we really focused as parents initially on what could we do to help drive science to a cure. That was our initial effort, and that led to the development to a first generation treatment that our kids have been on for more than a decade. It saved their lives."
Amicus is a company that develops treatments for rare orphan diseases that need good medications. Biotechs that specialize in orphan diseases have been on the radar of big biotech recently, such as the acquisition of NPS Pharma by Shire, which indicates to Cramer that these companies could be headed higher in the future.
---------------------------------------------------------- Read more from Mad Money with Jim CramerCramer Remix: Netflix after the news Cramer: Fear is back! Selloff ahead Cramer: Don't fall for negative press----------------------------------------------------------
The company is specifically working on treatments for lysosomal storage disorders, a genetic condition. The current standard of care is done with enzyme replacement, and Amicus has a drug that stabilizes the patient's enzymes that naturally occur in the body.
"We are always working in devastating disorders where there are tremendous burdens on the people living with the disease, the family members and the people that care for them. What we want to do is develop these life-saving therapies," Crowley added.
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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11b9bc1f4323d4674382755e4ec194b2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/21/hot-topic-for-the-1-percent-at-davos-inequality.html | Hot topic for the 1 percent at Davos: Inequality | Hot topic for the 1 percent at Davos: Inequality
A man begs on a street in Shanghai.Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Images
Rising economic inequality is casting a shadow over the World Economic Forum, a conference dominated by the proverbial 1 percent.
Oxfam, in a report timed to the start of the Davos conference, estimated that the combined wealth of the world's richest 1 percent could overtake that of the remaining 99 percent by 2016.
"Inequality is rising, and rising fast," Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, told CNBC on Tuesday. "This is dangerous. It is bad for democracy and for stable societies and it is bad for (economic) growth. The poor hurt."
Read More 'The poor hurt' as inequality rises 'fast': Oxfam
VIDEO3:3303:33Oxfam: 'Poverty is still here with us'
Inequality was a major topic on Wednesday, the first formal day of the WEF.
"We have a big problem in the United States," David Rubenstein, co-founder of private equity heavyweight Carlyle Group, said during a panel discussion on economic growth.
"If our GDP growth is 3.5 percent, that sounds great—corporate profits are terrific, stock prices are high—but what about the people left behind?" asked Rubenstein, himself a billionaire.
Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told CNBC on Wednesday that middle-class incomes have not kept pace with the economic recovery.
Growth needs to be equally distributed, Summers said, "so we have a 'race to the top' rather than 'race to the bottom' when it comes to questions like taxation and regulation."
The blame for inequality, according to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, is with central banks.
Singer repeated his longstanding contention that economic stimulus programs like quantitative easing have artificially inflated asset prices, which have disproportionately benefited the relatively small amount of those who can afford to invest.
"The mispricing that exists in world financial markets … is exacerbating inequality and at the very time that investors are doing well to very well," Singer said on a panel.
"The inequality is a function, actually, of government policy, and social unrest is a function of the inequality and the seeming growing distortion," he added.
Read MoreAt Davos, it's not all about themoney...seriously
Singer's comments provoked some disagreement.
New York University economist Nouriel Roubini, speaking on the same panel, said QE was necessary given the circumstances following the financial crisis of 2008 and losses of jobs, and income for lower income levels would have been worse.
"More of benefits have gone to the wealthy, but … think about the alternative. We would have had another recession in the U.S.," Roubini said in rebuke to Singer's point.
Sushil Wadhwani, a partner at hedge fund firm Caxton Associates in London, added that QE could have had less of an effect on inequality had it been structured differently.
He said QE, which usually entails central banks buying bonds, could have been used to finance fiscal expenditures, such as infrastructure spending, or even mailing vouchers to all citizens.
"That has a different effect on inequality," Wadhwani said.
Read More PaulSinger: Minimum wage hike would 'destroy' jobs
VIDEO2:0402:04Here's how to fight income inequality: Blackstone CEOSquawk Box
One solution put forward was education.
"The middle class has to increase its wealth and we have to get better jobs, and it's going to have to be done, among other ways, through education," Blackstone Group head Stephen Schwarzman said on CNBC.
"We all have different views as to what level is the most important for education," the billionaire private equity boss added. "I think you have to start at the beginning, and you also can take enormous steps that can take people of very low income and get them to perform at very high levels."
Read More Schwarzman: Middle class must grow through education
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b9d40cb29ae4eddb16586809c38c5de2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/21/mcdonalds-franchisees-brace-for-sales-slowdown.html | McDonald's franchisees brace for sales slowdown | McDonald's franchisees brace for sales slowdown
Despite cheap gas padding Americans' wallets, McDonald's U.S. franchisees surveyed by Janney Capital Markets forecast negative trends to continue.
This month, respondents expect a 1.7 percent drop in their domestic same-store sales.
In light of its lowered same-store sales assumptions and potential currency effects for the company, Janney slashed its U.S. first-quarter same-store sales forecast by 350 basis points to a 1.5 percent drop. It's also lowering its full-year earnings estimates for fiscal years 2015 and 2016 as the fast food giant faces macroeconomic challenges in Europe and food safety concerns in China.
Getty Images
"McDonald's not seeming to participate in the industry's overall lift," said Janney analyst Mark Kalinowski.
Buoyed by favorable weather comparisons and cheap gas, December is shaping up to be the "best month in years for U.S. chain restaurants," he said.
"Those are factors that I would think McDonald's would benefit from, but the franchises that I talked to said they didn't get any meaningful benefit from those factors," he added.
Read MoreWhat are McDonald's fries really made of?
Same-store sales fell 2.1 percent in December for the 30 domestic franchisees surveyed, representing about 198 locations. This report is the 64th franchisee survey from Janney. The average difference between the survey's reported sales and the actual result from McDonald's is about 1 percent.
So what's pressuring McDonald's sales?
Several cited the need for more menu simplification even as the fast-food giant announced last month it planned to make some cuts to its expansive menu.
"Moving too slow, let's bite the bullet," said one.
VIDEO1:5901:59Chipotle & fast casual growth trends
Others mentioned the headache that complicated Happy Meals create while some wanted to pare down or eliminate the McCafe line—McDonald's answer to the growth that brands like Starbucks has seen in coffee.
Read MoreNearly nine in 10 diners pay more for this
Franchisees also expressed disappointment with "lackluster promotion" and a "lack of marketing." Janney wrote that recent changes—notable to advertising—by the chain do not seem "to be generating any meaningful near-term lift in sales trends."
Much of McDonald's advertising has centered around dispelling myths about the quality of its food, emphasizing its "I'm lovin' it" campaign and its popular Monopoly promotion.
Other franchisees expressed positivity about December and January with a couple mentioning better weather and one saying it "it feels like our sales decline is beginning to flatten out."
Overall, though, franchisees' six-month outlook for the domestic business reflected concern.
On a scale of 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor), the average response was 1.88 with no franchisees saying the outlook was "excellent" or "very good."
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