The Squawking Dead

OK, we had a lot of fun on Halloween this year and almost all of it's worth a second look (or a first look if you missed it)! So I'll begin, at the beginning, with our "Squawking Dead" custom show open as seen on our Facebook page (big shout-out to the CNBC graphics department who rocked this animation for us). It was just so cool and made Joe Kernen almost as happy as when Daryl (actor Norman Reedus) came on the set a few weeks ago.

We then tacked that on the end of a brilliantly written cold open by 7 a.m. ET producer Matt Greco (follow @mgreco27) and edited by Squawk Video producer Dean Meelarp (follow @dmeelarp) and we had classic Squawk TV production magic.

Talking Squawk

By the way, there's absolutely no truth to the rumor that the name of this "Talking Squawk" blog was inspired by the post-zombie show "The Talking Dead" on AMC. (And if you believe that, I can also tell you ... if you like your health plan, you can keep it!)

But in the spirit of Halloween, we thought we would audition Joe, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin as zombies. Maybe they'll land a spot on AMC's "The Walking Dead" as extras!

Squawk Horror Stories

What would be your ultimate horror story in the year 2025? Our 8 a.m. ET producer Dave Evans (follow @colonelglasses) wrote a great series of nightmarish future news headlines for our anchors to read in scary voices with only flashlights for illumination. (Most of the stories come a little too close to the truth!)

Pumpkin Blaze

You have to check this guy out. His name is Michael Natiello (follow @Natiello) and he carves pumpkins in ways you can't imagine until you see it for yourself.

He runs a show every year called the "Pumpkin Blaze" where thousands of pumpkins are carved, lit, and arranged into all kinds of displays like 15 foot tall dragons and dinosaurs. Watch the segment to see the pictures!

He also came in and carved awesome pumpkins of Joe, Becky, and Andrew. The carvings were so good we wanted to freeze them so we could use them again next year!

Please follow them @

I mentioned some of the Squawk team who helped put together that great Halloween show. But let me throw out a few more Twitter shout outs to Squawk Director @PaulDeFabo, Technical Director @keith_falcone, Senior Producer @RobContino, Senior Producer Anne Trivett (who doesn't Tweet), and News Associate @melodyhahm who ordered a ton of custom graphics.

Life according to Langone

There are people who just tell it to us straight. No Band-Aids. Just the brutal truth as they see it. Billionaire Home Depot Founder Ken Langone wrote the book on this. That's why we love him.

Here are his takes on why Obamacare can't lower health-care costs and how the government shutdown proved to be a 'black eye' for his fellow Republicans.

Don't forget, Langone is also a very savvy investor. Here are some of his top new stock picks with a focus on making money in the energy sector.

An Apple a Day

What would this blog be without a weekly post about Apple? This week was easy because Apple reported earnings, and its new lighter, thinner iPad Air went on sale. Here's one market pro's approach to trading Apple by the numbers.

2014, another double digit Dow year?

Squawk Market Master Jeremy Siegel thinks so! The professor told us this week he sees another 10 percent-plus gain in the stock market next year.

Team Danica

Danica Patrick (follow @DanicaPatrick) was the first woman to ever win a IndyCar race. She's now on the NASCAR circuit. The Go Daddy driver has become one of the world's most recognizable female celebrity/athletes, and major corporations are lining up trying to get her to endorse their products.

She made it to the Squawk set this week, and posed for a quick photo with @JoeSquawk—taken and then Tweeted by @BeckyQuickCNBC.

Danica totally stole the show—pitching her new sponsorship deal with the sunglasses-maker REVO. She also talking about the business of NASCAR.

A Bitcoin ATM

Yes, it has come to this. A coffee shop in Vancouver opened an ATM that allows people to exchange the virtual currency bitcoins for real cash. The kiosk looks like a normal ATM, but has scanner for your hand and barcodes. At the ATM you can swap your bitcoins for cash, or deposit cash and get more bitcoins.

Our friend @TonyFratto tweets to @JoeSquawk, @andrewrsorkin, and @beckyquickcnbc—Re Bitcoin ATM: a sucker is born every minute.

Increasing incentives

Is it finally time for me to trade in my 1997 Chevy Suburban? GM is surely hoping so and it's driving up incentives big time in an attempt to get me in the showroom. Check out our Phil LeBeau's (follow @lebeaucarnews) interview with GM's CFO.

News tidbits you can (kind-of) use

The FDA said that 12 percent of spice imports are contaminated with insect parts, whole insects and rodent hairs.

As we mentioned earlier, we had race car driver Danica Patrick on the show this week, but now we find out the GoDaddy.com website that features her in Super Bowl ads is no longer going with the "sexy" theme but rather plans to focus on "humor" this year.

Cramer's dead horse

Twitter is getting ready to debut next week. But before you jump on the Twitter bandwagon listen to Jim's history lesson on last year's big tech IPO, Facebook, and why he thinks the stock now may be a dead horse. Watch the video here.

Earnings on tap

• Monday: Kellogg, Marathon Oil, Unum
  
• Tuesday: AOL, CVS Caremark, Dominion Resources, Office Depot, OfficeMax
  
• Wednesday: Activision Blizzard, CBS, Devon Energy, Duke Energy, Qualcomm, Time Warner
  
• Thursday: Beazer Homes, Walt Disney, Groupon, NVIDIA
  
• Friday: Cablevision Systems
  

Tweets of Note:

@beckyquickcnbc: Lookout! Kraft issued a recall for Polly-O string cheese. Found the affected UPC in my fridge. pic.twitter.com/Iup3YUBlea

Word Jumble

Joe and Becky's running Word Jumble contest after the show was knotted at two wins apiece on Thursday. Joe's bonus word of the week is YDNKOE. Becky's word is EHYTRO. Get the answers at the end of this blog.

• Mark your calendar (or set your DVR)
  
• Monday: James Bullard (St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President)
  
• Tuesday: Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital Group CEO)
  
• Wednesday: Richard LeFrak (The Lefrak Organization President)
  
• Thursday: Twitter IPO day!
  
• Friday: Ron Baron (Baron Capital CEO)
  

Next week's economic calendar

• Wednesday: ADP Employment Report (8:15 a.m. ET)
  
• Thursday: Weekly Jobless Claims and GDP Advance Estimate Q3 (8:30 a.m. ET)
  
• Friday: Non-Farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate for October and Personal Income & Spending for September (8:30 a.m.m ET)
  

The 'Corny-Sappy Motivational Business-Based Inspirational Quote' for the weekend

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

—By CNBC's Matthew Quayle. Follow him on Twitter @matthew_quayle.

*Joe's Jumble bonus word answer: YDNKOE=donkey

*Becky's Jumble bonus word answer: EHYTRO=theory