quarter being very tough and said they may even lose money in the quarter. we were expecting a profit gain of 17 cents. the market and caterpillar started to roll over on that particular news. again, a sale of two stories. the second quarter versus the third quarter expectations. rick santelli and bond prices are moving up during mr. bernanke's testimony put pressure on stocks. >> absolutely and bob, i think this dynamic we will see a lot more. the yield curve steepen and flattened today. is mr. bernanke saying the rates will be low for a long time. we are looking at the other end of the curve. we're looking at longer maturities. mr. bernanke said two things traders think are important. he talked for joblessness to continue for a long time.

fiscal irresponsibility. if we don't get the outs in order, there consequences. we put those two together, it continues to push the notion of inflation further down the road and makes the current economy and maybe the near term outlook for several plus or more quarters, mediocrity. the course is stag without flation. it's going to flat curve the long rates moving down. the one aft rick, maybe there is a glitch in supply. that's not what traders are looking at. they are looking to buy and bought everything from five years out. down a dozen basis points and short maturities are down about half of that. hence the flattening. >> thank you. the 787 billion dollar american recovery and reinvestment acts set aside 27.5 billion. to date, 16.9 billion has been

obligated to the state. we have three states with us to provide an update on how they're putting tax dollars to work. first up is california. at the epicenter of the economic crisis. that's more than any other state. that's because they probably have more roads than any other state. it created or saved 450 jobs. wow. 450 jobs. with more than 400 projects under way. the deputy program manager for the caltrans recovery project and california is gaining momentum and expects up to 1,000 projects before the spending is done. competition is high with bids coming in 30% below estimate. texas received $2.2 billion in highway funds. more than 230 projects under way. steve simmons is the deputy director for the texas department of transportation and

his challenge is selecting which projecting will pull through and bids coming in 20% below estimates in the state. massachusetts has gotten up what? 438 million? wow. it saved or created up to 300 jobs. james is the transportation secretary for the mass executive office of transportation. that's a lot to get on a business card. they reduced the project and bids are coming in below estimates. i will start with massachusetts. how did you wind up with the short end of the stick. $438 million? >> we have $439 million and we are not as big as california or texas, but we are doing fine

with the money and as you pointed out, we are creating jobs and also building a platform here in massachusetts for the future. this is enabling us things we couldn't do on our own. we are building a platform. up to 300 jobs. it could be less than 300. 31 projects under way. priced with estimates and people are bidding for the business. >> they are bitting aggressively and people need the work and the good news is they're able to invest tied to economic growth in massachusetts. they are doing a lot of bread and butter and road repaving across the state. we are also trying to be innovative and create infrastructure for future development.

we are trying to use the highway money to do transit centers across the state. we think it's good on the short-term and it is it's great. >> is it 450 jobs? >> that is correct, but we are moving into construction. there is three waves and the first is certification of projections and the next is obligations. we leave the country with obligated projects. those 422 are moving to construction at this point. once those move in. those start to shoot up rapidly with comparison and expect to see larger numbers in july, august, and september. >> you will get more than 450

jobs out of the 2.57 billion. >> absolutely. we are expecting that and that will be a considerably thing. >> i would ask for my money back if that was all you could do. mr. simmons, what's your experience here? you have got a challenge? you have 230 projects under way? >> we started with a very high level and meeting the criteria that was set forth in the act and economic advantage areas of the state are distributed across the state or making sure the jobs worked good and put people to work. >> i realize you couldn't give exact numbers here. would you say the bulk is being spent in urban or non-urban areas? >> in texas we distributed

across the state and it is whether it's metropolitan or urban or rural areas, they are getting some money to put folks to work. in texas alone, 21% of all the unemployed are in economically distressed period. 79% are in noneconomically distress distressed. we are trying to find the right projects to put people to work. >> there was an article in the "new york times" i guess or "wall street journal" within the last few days about how urban areas are getting shorted. what's the experience in california? >> in california the funs have been distributed with about 90% of the funds in the economically distressed areas and the entire state is in a distressed area in a handful of counties not meeting that criteria. we are in good shape with respect to that. >> all right.

very little time left. want to give one shot at the same question. urban or non-urban? >> a mix of both. we focused on regional equity and modal equity. we are trying to mix it up regionally across the highway and using the highway dollars. >> thank you, gentlemen. appreciate you filling us in. appreciate the time. in california, steve sim ones in texas. and james in massachusetts. tonight a special report, california in crisis. how the golden state will lift itself out of troubled times. among the push, leaders to get things back under control. sue herrera anchors and is joined by jane wells and julia boorsten. tune in right here on cnbc.

health care is a consuming issue in washington today and it will be everybody day as they race to meet the august deadline for an overhaul of the health care system. that's why we are starting a special segment on street signs today. our own john harwood will give a daily update on everything you need to know about how much money they are going to tear out of us to pay for health care. john, thank you for being here. what's the latest? >> the latest is that this is hand to hand combat time and they are notuing handbags for this. in the tough bargaining between democrats and republicans. president obama offered the public face of the argument today when he came out again as he will every day talk on this issue and say he is committed to a plan that improves quality and cuts cost. >> we have agreed that our

health reform bill will include dramatic measures to cut costs while improving quality. each of these bills improves oversight while cracking down on waste and each produces give aways to insurance companies in medicare. each of these will give incentives so patients get the best care and not just the most expensive care. >> here's what's happening behind the scenes. there is disagreements between the house and the senate and the house which had been on track for rapid approval before the august recess, now they want to wait until they see what the senate does. they don't want to crawl out on a by themselves. secondly within the senate, they are looking at a plan instead of taxing directly to do it indirectly by levying attacks providing those benefits and think this is a way around the political problem that unions oppose this tax and finally you

have members of the house and the senate looking to strengthen the cost controls in the packets. that's what a lot of the bargaining is on. ken conrad, one of the key advocates came out of a meeting a few minutes ago that we are making progress. we will see how much more they can make and when they put a bill on the table. >> that's disappointing. they are coming to the party so late in the process. shouldn't that have been at the top of the list? do they need to see the o to tell them? >> they need a kick in the rear. this is something that president obama has emphasized from the beginning. it doesn't come naturally. to try to deny services or bundle services in ways that save money. cost control is not the most popular thing to do. they have gotten the kick and they are working on it. >> thank you very much, sir. coming up on on "the closing

bell," a first on cnbc interview with kathleen. health and human services secretary. john is going to be here every day until this issue is resolved. reporting on the progress of this health bill which if you have been reading in the papers could cost an arm and a leg. up next, we have an earnings rodeo on tap. first, mortgages from the financial sector for the money managers. we have the ceo of mason. surprising good news. the french company that makes handbags that can cost more than a car. they say sales are up. we will find out who is still shopping there.

we're back. i love that music. the first quarterly profit since december of ought 7. joining us now on a street signs exclusive is leg mason. good morning, sir. thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> indeed in the great state of maryland.

>> are they ready to run you out of town. there was a lot of -- i was stunned at the reaction when goldman said we were doing good. you financials guys want to keep your boots on your neck. >> we have a lot of shareholders and to be honest, they were rightfully more mad when we were trading much lower and to see the improvement. >> how did it happen? >> what we focused on is the fundamentals of the business. a appointed the ceo and we put in place the new management team. we have focused on improving performance for clients on cutting cost consistent with the economic crisis we are in the midst of and really station slows to our clients. >> what are does the revenue line look like? >> the revenues were over 600 million for the quarter, especially flat. about a 2.4 billion company on

revenues. >> year over year the revenue is down almost 42%? >> that's correct. if you look at the industry as a whole, we were a bit higher. generally somewhere in the 25 to 35 range for the industry. >> don't you need to rebuild the revenue. you can't keep cutting cost, can you? >> no and in fact we think at the moment we cut 160 million out of the cost and in total when you combine affiliates, wu cut about 30 to 35% of the cost against that revenue decline you are talking about. we are keep together dry because we see a turn and want to be in a position it serve clients effective thely. >> can you -- you cut to a certain level. can you maintain that or are those emergency cuts and sooner or later you have to spend again? >> this is a good fundamental for us going forward. we took advantage of the time to look through the cost and make

sure that when we get the revenues back as we are starting to see, we are not adding cost proportionately. we think we have upside on the leverage and specifically the profit margins. >> as the revenue increased, some of it goes to the bottom line. a lot of it. you snuck in a little phrase there. you see a turn. expand on that.

. >> as you can see, caterpillar is off its highs. the infamous spot that ultimately brought down a u.s. president. the foreclosed watergate hotel went on the auction block. hoping to pick up a bargain outside the watergate with a story. diana? >> reporter: db capital holes the loan on this historic hotel back in 2004. this morning, the opening bank bid was $25 million and here's how it went. >> california it for $25 million. that crowd was silent and sold back to the bank for $25

million, but they want to stay with the property. per obviously a lot of work to be done going forward, but we hope to be able to negotiate with the lender to be involved. >> now the 250-room hotel famous for the watergate burglars before the break in have been empty since 2007 and under water owners have been trying to sell it to no avail t. needs about $100 million for renovation, not exactly easy to finance in today's environment. the fed chairman noted that this morning. >> the facilities for commercial real estate through banks or the mortgage-backed securities market seem more limited. >> hotel revenue per room is down 20% to date and cash flow declines from peak levels. last month 13 hotel loans defaulted.

they each drove the delinquency rate up 48 basis points and more are expected. >> unfortunately there will be more foreclosures. typically it will be in urban areas and heavily dependent on business and group travel. the areas what i would expect to see foreclosures in the phoenix area. it could be in southern california. also see some in new york as well. >> monument realty wants to negotiate with the bank yet again. they were partnered with lehman brothers and that's not going to work anymore. they will market it and try to sell it. mark? >> this thing is really a snake pit and has been for a long time. thank you very much. >> getting ready top trading. cramer is on the way. he has earnings on his mind.

plus, time for california to make good on the ious. the state has a deal. we have one of the deal makers. find out what's next for the golden state. street signs is coming right back.

welcome back to street signs. at the nymex, the futures have gone off the board. futures trading around 65 1/2 and again the trade was largely dependent on the fortunes or misfortunes of the stock market. we had them going in hand em for much of the session, but the dichotomy is to hope for greater demand and the demand is weakened and plenty of inventories. we will get the energy department status tomorrow morning. >> all right, it's time to stop trading. jim bob cramer from the refer of what is working now is here. james?

good afternoon. >> great to talk to you. >> you have names on your mind. >> first of all, there is kind of a misconception about what quarter was good or bad. i actually thought the coca-cola quarter was terrific. the problem is that the stocks run with we have a bend in caterpillar. that was really, really good and want to emphasize there is tremendous growth in a business i pretty much had given up on. it's because of inventions. you had the seed that people are going nuts over. i think that people are going to say wait a second. even though corn prices have come down giving us a chance to buy a stock people have given up on. >> you looked at merck? >> i wanted to point out that

they came into schering-plough and swore he would make money for you. he tied up with merck and people felt that was a mistake, but you get a pretty good price here, up 10%. it was during a period where wherever he goes next, you have to buy the stock. >> a big picture question. i'm hearing debate wherever i turn. what about these revenues. should we be concerned or not? >> you said you know what, this market is rewarding companies that generate good earnings without revenues, but what happens if we don't get a turn in revenues? the answer is we will see phenomenal data in the country year over year that started in september and went through october. we will have stronger numbers and won't care.

we will take the companies that cut cost and bring them higher. bernanke did not tell a positive story and later, i see the kind of money that a caterpillar can make and bob pointed out that wait a second, the next quarter will be bad. it turned out to be not true. >> you didn't think he told a good story? >> it's not the time to say this. he was a great hero. greenspan talked himself up. bernanke is a modest man and nor did he want to say look, we are out of the jam and say why did you give goldman sacks so much money? bernanke took a course that was i think very, very good. he blamed fiscal irresponsibility and did not say i'm great. maybe he will keep his job because of that. everyone wants to have that happen.

>> bernanke doesn't keep his job. bad news for the market? >> horrible. >> that's what i thought too. thank you. see you on "mad money." the ceo of mlb.com. "mad money" at 6:00 and 11:00 eastern time here on cnbc. is china the investment opportunity of a time even now? one investor is betting a billion dollars that it is. recession? what recession? no one toll the people who shop that there is a recession. they are still buying handbags that cost as much as a year's tuition at a college. we have the story. you are watching cnbc first in business worldwide. welcome to the now network. population 49 million.

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>> per we are back. the shanghai had the largest one-day point decline in three months. the market overall is up 78% this year. that composite lives in a world of its own. two guys named william treed brave the volatility for the opportunity of a time. joining us for the inside scoop, william yip who is the china real estate opportunity fund managing director. william nobrega, managing director. they are advising i heard just this morning in fact that real estate transactions volume in china has rebounded dramatically. >> yes.

since the beginning of this year, they had as much as 207 if not more. >> they have quite a bit of foreclosure and distress and the end of last year. >> do you think it's a good investment? >> we think it's one of the best asset classes and fundamentals are in line. we have a growing middle class and a shortage of supply. you have a gdp trajectory that is far superior and the demand for house suggest not going to stop.

the majority of the chinese cannot afford high end stuff. i was looking for my phone and couldn't find it. mid-level real estate, are you actually going to buy real estate or the mortgages? how do you plan to make this investment? >> we are going to buy the real estate. >> that is called real estate in china for the general public. this is a high end for the buying. it's as much as hong kong. the homes in china, people can

afford to buy, talking about a few hundred u.s. dollars. >> are you going to focus on urban or non-urban? >> we are focused on the first or second tier cities. as far as the shanghai businesses and other areas that we focused on. >> you. >> we are focusing on it, but it could be higher. that's if the stars align. to t could be higher depending on the amount of leverage they take. the reality is that the debt is very cheap in china and for the right to fund, it is readily accessible and the key is to have the right balance. >> isn't that sirevolve of the

gfl stimulus and can't they take away the bunch bowl? >> they can, but no reason to do it near term. until the government sees a strong economy. the window for the distress play within the next 18 months. >> all right, gentlemen. you want to make a point? >> time is the most important element in china today. it is a good time in 20009 and also 2010. >> thank you very much. william and william. the government backed investment fund and a 1% stake with the world's fastest growing alcoholic drinks market that shouldn't be a surprise. it's the fastest growing market

for almost everything. according to beverage research group and ibm. they expect the chinese market to rifle the u.s. market by 2021. shares are up today when times are bad, the super rich keep shopping. they cost more than most of us would spend on a car. they are coming on strong. here with the ed kor, women in chief with women's wear daily. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> people are still buying the handbags? >> of course. the rich are spending even if they are spending less. their assets have declined like everyone else.

they have grown at least in the second quarter came from currency. even without that, their sales were up almost 4% which is impressive in this quarter and environment. >> can you break that down. are the sales up in the u.s.? >> sales were up by about 13%. most of the growth came in asia and that's where most of the growth in almost everything is coming these days. this is one of the cautious brands that was cautious in the boom types and is still benefiting even in the bust times. the rich are still spending for status brands. >> are lux retailers in general in this boat? >> not in general. they remain cautious for the second half and still looking for only slightly up to flat sales for the remainder of the year. it is one of the brands that people still want to spend 10 to $20,000 for handbags.

you will spend. >> we had a graphic up on the screen with production at full capacity? >> they are one of the brands that produces below demand. they were never one of the brans that went crazy and tried to get what was termed the accessible luxury consumer. if you go into the store you know you will spend a lot of monmoney for whatever they have to sell. they never had to mark down. they are cautious on the sales. they have benefitted in this time. >> they are right across the street from the stock exchange. >> that store has done relatively well. it was a gamble to open that store, but it has done well and will continue to do well. as i said, they were never one of the brans that went crazy during the boom times, but continued to do well and look cautiously. they are opening up to 10 more stores in the second half because they are taking advantage of the cheap real

estate when they they can get it and some of those stores will be in the united states. >> yep. guess who's never been in it? thank you sir. up next, california has a deal for now. but what's next? one of the dealmakers, "street signs" coming right back. i never thought it could happen to me... a heart attack at 53. i had felt fine. but turns out... my cholesterol and other risk factors... increased my chance of a heart attack. i should've done something. now, i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help.

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we're back. california leaders say they now have a deal to close the $26.3 billion budget deficit. what is it? will it work? in a remarkably good piece of timing, sue herrera is in sacramento gearing up for a primetime special on california's crisis and she is joined by a special guest. sue? >> indeed, thank you very much, mark, and timing is everything. they got the timing right last night when they did, as you mention mentioned, come to that agreement. the question is, long-term is that the solution the state needs? here to talk about that is the speaker, karen bass joins us. it's a pleasure. thank you for joining us. you were quoted as saying these are cuts you did not want to make but you feel as though you

had to because of the depth of this recession. >> we had no choice. california is one of three states that requires a two-thirds vote to raise revenue. raising revenue was not an option this time. we did have to make over $15 billion in cuts. they're devastating cuts because if you think about it, we just finished a couple months ago making another round of cuts to the tune of about $11 billion. >> one of the things that worries people though is the fact that the local municipalities will have to give money to the state and l.a. county, i don't know if you've had a chance to see this, l.a. county says it is going to sue if the state takes any local money. >> right. >> you may be facing a number of lawsuits because some of these municipalities themselves are hurting. >> i do have to tell you that the money we are taking from the locals is borrow. we will pay it back within three years. also, the cities are eligible to borrow for those loans, as well. >> are you confident though in this environment with the credit market still relatively frozen

that they're going to be able to be access that borrowing? is that money there for them? >> we have heard they should be able to get loans. i do have to tell you though that in these times when we've had deficits every few months, it's not uncommon for there to be lawsuits. when we make cuts to health and human services, there's typically lawsuits. the fact of the matter is you know california was running out of cash. we've been issuing ious for the last several weeks. we had no choice. >> the fact that $2.7 billion i think is roughly the number of costs gets put into subsequent fiscal years, some people are calling that kicking the fiscal can, if you will, down the road, that this is not the overall solution that california needs. >> i agree, it's not the overall solution because we need to deal with structural issues. for example, we have a tax structure that is way out of date. we do have a commission that's looking at modernizing our tax structure. i mentioned the two-thirds

requirement to raise revenue. if you think about it, our overall budget is about $110 billion. and just this year an lean, in the last seven months, if you totalled the deficit from february to now, it's $60 billion. we had no choice. >> you hope to get a vote on this on thursday. >> yes. >> do you think it's going to pass? >> yes, i do believe it's going to pass. there are 24 separate pieces of legislation. we hope to vote thursday evening if all the bills are ready. i do believe that the proposal will pass in both houses. the governor will probably sign it by the weekend. >> good luck, madam speaker. thank you for joining us. >> tonight on cnbc, a special report hosted by sue. california in crisis. tune in tonight at 9:00 eastern time, 6:00 pacific. here on cnbc. coming up, we'll count you down to some of the biggest tech --

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all right. coming up in just a few minutes, whoa, apple earnings. and according to our friends at s&p, the last time apple missed was fourth quarter, 2002. the company has only missed three times since the fourth quarter of 1999. apple and yahoo! coming up today. dow has rebounded a bit, up 24.5. thanks for watching "street signs." next the closie g bel ing bell maria. house demes say they're hoping to bring a health care reform bill for a full house vote next week. they may stay past the recess to get the job done. bob nardelli has returned to serb bris capital as an advisor. he was in charge of chrysler

till they emerged from bankruptcy and former putnam investments chief executive charles heldman had been named ceo of freddie mac. i'm rebecca jarvis. and there's a live picture of the floor of the inform stock exchange tuesday afternoon on wall street. stocks back and forth. higher by 31 points extending the rally of the last seven days as we enter the final and most important hour of the tradinging day. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the nyse. we've been focused on ben bernanke for much of the day. a shot in the arm for the stock market, up 31 points. want to bring in bob pisani. i wonder what your thoughts are on the supply out there, just looking at trim tab's latest report here, new offerings set to accelerate here. theo logic reporting four deals totaling $3.1 billion already

scheduled to price. what does that do to the moment up on the upside? >> it's good news. however, those numbers are only if the market starts to hold up. if it starts to deteriorate, we'll see those canceled. there's a lot of people who need to raise money out there. the fact that there are people scheduling new offerings is a good sign overall. now we need the follow through to have the people actually price those. >> once again, we've got earnings dictating the performance to see where we are. we have real good momentum on the upside here based on better than expected earnings. you wrote in your blog it's really focused now on caterpillar on the industrial side of the economy. not just the banks. >> remember the gain here. it's very important to illustrate not just cost cutting is working for these companies but somehow we're going to get some stabilization in pricing in the top line here. that's the magic word this morning. let's go through what happened here, why we're