ericcson which have been particularly weak of late. they had a record low churn rate, which is the rate of cancelations. we're going to hear from sprint and verizon next week. it's interesting to hear whether it's at&t story or a better story across the board on the wireless base. health care issuing a potential delay is lending itself partially to the rally. mostly it's on the better than expected earnings, better than expected existing home sales report. let me send it to rick santelli in chicago. last i checked, ten-year yield was at a one-month high, right? >> you're right on. you cover every sector, don't you? if you look at tens minus twos, everybody issing looking for a deal. it has steepened a bit today. here we hover in the mid 260s where the yield curve was a week ago. this beckons to be look at more closely. two-year is up rather dramatically, at a three-week high. as we pointed out with scott, bond, ten-year note,

particularly at the highest level in amount exactly a month. rates move up, the curve stee n steepening is slight. shortening is participating. that's something to keep in mind if if you really want to have some fun with what's going on in the marketplace, let's see what the winners of the day are, knowing next week we're going to be issuing twos, fives and sevens. intraday is up 16 basis points in yield. supply having an effect. listen, the expenditures and the uncertainties over health care, everybody on the floor saying at least 20 to 25% of this rally in their minds is a fact that it's stalling a bit. take it for what it's worth. now, let's go to brian shactman covering the nasdaq. >> thank you very much, rick. listen, we were very strong today. if we finish to the upside, it's 12 consecutive positive days. we haven't seen that since january of '92. it's kind of historical when we have a lot of numbers to really display how historical it is. the longest such winning streak on the nasdaq which has been trading since 1971, 19 days,

there have only been 12 -- actually 12 other streaks including this one. so far in this one we gained more than 12% which brings up another interesting thing to take a look at if we can. what are some of the biggest things in terms of the runs that they've had of 12 days or more. and this one doesn't really even compare to the dotcom boom. we've had all of them from 2001 all of the way back to 1998, 21% and better. so we have an incredible run here. but in terms of percentage gains, it's not necessarily close to the highest in 2001 and april, they gained 29% over that stretch. so we're still positive. i want to tell you, rebecca, microsoft and ak zone report after the close. they beat -- we are poised to go 13. and we'll get out some new numbers on how historical that will be if we do that tomorrow. back to you. >> absolutely, thanks, brian. we will be following the numbers after the bell.

thanks, also, to scott and rick. president obama, meantime, wants a health care reform bill passed before the august recess. but it looks like this isn't going to happen. at least if you listen to harry reid. cnbc's john harwood has the news. >> rebecca, you can see that crowd in cleveland that president obama is getting ready to address as part of his p.r. campaign to sell health care reform to the american people. he got some disappointing news before he arrived at that venue from senate majority leader harry reid who said there would be action within the senate finance committee before the august recess but not by the full senate. >> i spoke to senator bachus last night. i spoke to senator conrad this morning. they are going to be able to mark something up before we leave here, which will, of course, leave me with the responsibilities during that time that we're on our break to come up with a bill that's better to have a product that is one that's based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something through. >> reporter: rebecca, this is a

disappointment to the white house, but i don't think it's a dramatic setback in terms of the eventual prospects for health care reform. still a difficult slog but the senate works very slowly. you still have the potential for house action, although this could slow the house down as well. the real deadline from the standpoint is getting this done by the end of the year. they've still got time to do that if they can create a package with 60 votes support in the senate, guys. >> thank you. i know you'll be monitoring the situation in ohio as well as the developing situation as it pertains to health care. health care is on hold, at least that's what some would say for now. the president's plan in critical condition, will it survive? here now the discuss, we have great guests. igor for health care research and co-author of howard dean's book "prescription, the real health care reform" and sally pipes, pacific research institute president and ceo, and the author of the top ten myths of american health care, a

citizen's guide. igor,kick us off, is it going to happen, is it going to get passed before the end of the year? >> as john pointed out, it's not a major setback. the president has committed himself to reform, he said yesterday at a press conference that reform has to happen. i think when members go back to their districts over the august recess, they'll realize that many of their constituents are losing health insurance. we know 14,000 americans lose insurance every day. that means between the recess, between august and labor day, we know that about half a million americans will go uninsured. i think that's pressure that lawmakers will see when they're visiting their districts and they'll hear that message and they'll come back and get something done by the end of the year. >> igor, they are losing health insurance but they're also losing confidence in the plan. less than half the country, according to a handful of polls, are supporting the president on the proposal, sally? >> you're right, harry reid today came out and said that the senate will not vote on a bill in the foull senate.

nancy pelosi would like to extend the recess. this is a major blow for the president. he wants to get health care done by the august recess. it's not going to happen. i think the thing that upsets him is that congress people will go back to their constituencies and the american people are less than 50% or, you know, liking what he's doing on health care. and 53 % are against the public option, the government plan. i think there's going to be a tremendous backlash to constituents to their politicians which is really going to make it difficult. they know they're going to face higher taxes. they're not going to have access to the type of health care they have. and ultimately the public plan is going to take us down the path to ration care canadian style care where there are long waiting lists sump as i grew up with in canada, where i'm from. >> do you think the president is any better off with the american people and what were the strong points in his speech? >> i think the president is better off. i think after watching that speech the american people

understand that health care reform isn't about 24-hour news cycle or the politics of which congressman is going to vote for what aspect of the bill. they know that health care reform is about them. it's about middle class families, it's about making sure that middle class families have access to affordable and adequate coverage. that small businesses can afford a reform. >> as far as those middle class families go -- >> i think sally can talk about canadian health care all she wants, but the truth is we want an american solution for health care and we want one that builds on the employer model, the employer system. the americans understand that, no matter how much sally wants to fearmonger about canada. >> i'm not fearmongering about canada. i see this public plan taking us down that path. getting back to what -- >> igor, let's give sally a chance to respond. >> you know, the president said he wants to lower health care costs. dr. jeff anderson at pri traently did a study show that since 1970, medicare and

medicaid costs are 35% higher than private health insurance. the president -- the cbo has costed out the various house and senate bills that became 1 and 1.6 trillion. he himself said that over ten years, we're going to add about $239 billion to the deficit. the american people are going to face, all of them are going to face, we're all going to face increased taxes, whether it's a tax on beverages, a tax on wine and beer, whether it's this sur tax on people earning -- families earning over $350,000 a year. the american people do not want tax increases. they don't want reduced quality of care which is going to happen. the group says 83 million people are going to lose their private coverage and move into this government-run option where the government is going to determine what is offered in a health insurance plan. >> all right. igor, sally, i'm sorry, we're out of time.

on strobviously a continuing conversation and could extend the conversation if harry reid, what he's saying right now is the case and things won't get done before the august recess. what do you think? will we get health care reform? write to us at streetsigns@cnbc.com. coming up next, we are counting down to the top state for business. we can't show you pictures, but we'll give you a hint. the top state for business is not actually a state. plus, a good news airline story. yes, you heard that right. the ceo of an air travel company whose stock is up 80% in the last year. that one is coming up in a few minutes. taking its rightful place

in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz.

take a look at the top mover in the s&p today. it's more than 20%, intuitive. all right, folks. another big day of earnings, it's a big day for the automakers as well. cnbc's phil lebeau in dearborn, michigan, with more. phil? >> huge day for ford. they beat the street and beat it by a wide margin. look at the 2-q numbers for ford. loss of 21 cents a share, ahead of what the street was expecting. revenue, 2 $1/2 billion more than what was forecast. so with ford within spitting distance of turning a profit, will they change their guidance? uh-uh, ford ceo mulally tell me their on track for profitability for 2011.

however, the company is exploring ways to improve the balance sheet. we might even see an equity for debt offering in the future. is theis an indication that for right bring back the jobs that have been cut when it started restructuring in 2007? earlier today on a first on cnbc interview mulally spoke about the prospects of ford once again hiring. >> i think there's a real chance that with our plan to possibly grow forward, we'll be able to offer opportunity for employment again. the real reason is, and you've covered it very well, phil, is the strength of our product line. >> that product line will bolstered by the tourists that hit showrooms this fall. ford is in a sweet spot. for more on why ford is motoring ahead of what many people. >> reporter: projecting for the company, check the blog. behindthewheel.cnbc.com. i'm not sure people expected ford to do this well and that's why the stock is surging today. >> absolutely. there's been focus today on

general motors with the new board of directors. what are you hearing on that? >> well, the government had to name the final six members of the new gm board of directors. they have been named. interesting selection. you've got some people from acedamia and the outside world. this is a real outsider group if you will. not within the industry but vast experience in the business world but not all from the auto industry, none from the auto industry. >> seems like they're going to fit that bob nardelli profile a little bit. >> that's what they want if they want to bring in people from outside the auto industry to work on the board of directors. the feeling, the treasury department, was that gm had way too many people insiders in the past. that was the problem at gm. now they're bringing in a whole new set of eyes. >> thank you so much. company earnings aren't the only thing on a tear. the nasdaq hit 1960 for the very first time since 2008 today.

it's up 11 straight days in a row. so where else acan you find thi kind of return? let's ask brian kelly and scott nation's chief investment officer. great to see both of you. brian, let's kick things off with you. what's your trade of the day? >> my trade of the day is africa. and there was a big headline yesterday in the financial times about how china is going to diversify reserves. i would argue, one that it's not really brand new news. china has been diversifying their reserves for a long time by buying other countries. by buying other companies in other countries. but, what's different this time is that they publicly announced it. they have run under political pressure and problems in western countries, i'll call them, which include australia in that. where they haven't run into africa is africa. africa can is resource rich. they have 40% of the world's gold, 20% of the minerals and 20% of uranium. china has a big nuclear program

so that's important. the easiest way to plate it would be the officer investors, afk, and not only they have china buying into africa but saudi arabia buying up farmland to produce soy beans for that country as well. >> thanks, bryan. scott, your play involves china and the asian markets here. >> right. mine is las vegas sands which is a unique case because the long-term returns for las vegas sands is almost binary. in the january 2011 exploration, i want to be a buyer of call spreads. i want the $10 call spread and i want to buy the $10 call, i want to sell the $20 call. i can put that spread on for ability $2.25. and given the ipo las vegas sands expects. this has an opportunity to get back to the $60 level that we saw within the last 52 weeks. so as a binary return, this is a

great play for options. it could just as easily run into a bunch of problems. if that is a case, yomt to be long on stock, i want to be long on options. >> thanks for being with us today. have a great one. don't forget to check out scott the rest of the options action gang, friday, 11:30 p.m. ahead on "street signs", the final countdown approximately. we'll have the governor of the best state for business. all right, you're living the la vida loca. we'll tell you about the deal and which venture capital firms will get their royalties we have to pay for using this song right now.

back above 9,000, first time since early january of this year. but the main focus at this moment in time, folks, is game time. we promised to reveal the best state for business. scott cohn is there. so, scott, the big reveal, where are you?

>> well, we're not going to get to it right away, rebecca. we've got to tease you a little bit more. remind you of the hints we've been tormenting you with all day. let's review. the first hent is got milk? music city usa. the third hint, this place is for real. and the fourth hint, cross that bridge when you get to it. so now, without further ado, let's take a look at this year's version of america's top state for business. it has been a year of seismic shifts in american business and in the competitive landscape. an economy turned upside-down. what state has what it takes to emerge from all that? america's top state for business 2009, virginia. the old dominion state regains its dominion in business, rebounding from its number two finish last year, with 1478 out of 2500 points. virginia wins its top marks in

the business friendliness category. the second friendliness state behind neighboring delaware for the second year in a row. in the state's hard fought and closely watched governor's race this year, the economy is the number one issue, and virginia's still hurting. but compared to the rest of the country, virginia is starting to level off. it improved to this seventh best economy in the nation this year, compared to number 17 last year. virginia's unemployment rate stands at 7.2%. foreclosures are relatively flat. the top individual income tax rate is 5 3/4%. the corporate tax, which virginia boasts it hasn't raised in 30 years, is 6%. the sales tax, state and local combined, is 5%. virginia's largest private employer is walmart, followed by n northrom drum mans. they've been saying it for years

virginia is for lover, lovers for business. virginia, the top state for business 2009. >> we're on the grounds of the historic state capitol in richmond, virginia, a building besigned by thomas jefferson and crowns over this city. and by the way, milk is virginia's state beverage. richmond claims the title of the origin of country music, the virginia reel and bridges. 70th governor of the state of virginia, happy to have you with us. >> i'm excited to hear the news. we like being number one in '07, we dropped to number two last year. it's great to be back on top of the cnbc list. >> it can't be a whole lot easier though in this sort of economy to continue courting business at a time when budget are tights and so on. how do you continue to do this? >> it is tough. you know, we had a great ground breaking yesterday. a joint venture between them to build the first nuclear components for reactors in the u.s. to be built here.

i have two job announcements today, both in south virginia verge. it isn't easy. there's just viewer feels out there. we sell a great tax and relat n regulatory climate. your video was talking a little bit about our tax rates. we sell a powerful education system. great test scores. great higher ed i understand stu institutions. we have dulles and we have in the port of virginia one of the most active ports in america. we say education plus global connections is what is going to keep virginia strong going forward. >> we didn't set out to influence the governor's race coming up here, but i guess it's a factor here. >> yeah. >> the republican bob mcdonald who is out to succeed you is attacking the democrat nominee on the economy. >> right. >> so why is he vulnerable? >> well, i don't think he's vulnerable. it's a challenging time and people are hurting which means they're going to take this election very seriously. a state senator, i worked with very closely, democratic nominee, basically a dead heat

race right now. nour years ago when i was running in the summer i was down by 7 or 8. gosh, i wish i had been increased. but, you know, people are hurting. the great thing is i tell folks all the time, you know, the nation is in the longest recession since the 1930s but virginia not only is doing significantly better than the nation's averages, but more importantly, i think we're even positioned for the future success. again, with a great education system and global connections, there's really no stopping us. >> you are also, we should point out, the chairman of democratic national committee, which you will take on full time when you leave office. >> yep. >> and there's a lot on your plate. and primarily, right now, health care, which it looks as though there is not going to be a vote now before the august recess. how big of a setback is that? >> i don't think it's a setback. we're doing something that has never been done. every president since harry truman said we need to reform the health care system. hasn't happened. we had votes already, which hasn't happened before. we had folks opposed in 1993 who

are at the table now wanting reform. find that right balance and mixture, of course that's a challenge. i applaud the president and congress going after it seriously. i'm going to be a at clinic tomorrow in south western virginia where people drive from all over the east coast of the united states for a three-day weekend to get free medical and dental care. when you go to that and see how far people drive because they don't have health insurance, over a million virginia ans without health insurance. that's why we want to make sure this happens. >> again, congratulations. >> absolutely, scott. >> as of now, folks, you can see how your state stacks up. read your entire study at cnbc.com. virginia number one for 2009. rebecca? >> thank you so much, scott cohn. you can come home to us as soon as possible. get ready to start trading.i see where jim cramer is riding this rally. lance armstrong will no longer be making benefit glorious

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his town hall in cleveland, ohio. we are monitoring. but for now we're going to head over the sharon epperson who is monitoring oil. >> oil prices is finally climbing back to where they were at the beginning of the month, above $67 a barrel. and equities helping as well as gasoline. gasoline rally today on the back of that data we got from the energy department. 2% decline in refining. run rates, well, that means they're not processing unless gas heating oil. we may see tighter supplies in the month ahead. natural gas after that sharp technical rally over the last couple of days, saw a technical sell-off today. that mass brought that lower. tomorrow will be looking ahead to michigan's consumer confidence survey as well as new home sales to see if they provide the same lift to equities that existing home sales did today. another lift in equities could send it up a couple notches.

back to you. >> thank you so much. it is time, everyone, to stop trading. jim cramer of "mad money" is here. you know, want to get to a macro pictfirst. >> sure. >> and then microdetails. do you believe in what's happening today? and if so, how much more is there? >> absolutely, i believe. i think that there's a lot of things that are happening individually to individual stocks that are quite exciting. look, i hear the health care debate and i see reid step down. let's go buy some health care, right? we're not going to have a rd call reformulation of health care. a lot of stocks have been punished. we lose an unbelievable number for ford. wait a second, maybe that means we're going to get a bill going. that is going to be as phil lebeau asks, perhaps people being rehired. i'm seeing rehiring, a little more consumer spend. i'm seeing named executives like the new corp. executive on my show saying they're seeing stabilization. how about housing? >> it was good. >> yes. third in a row. >> things really picked up when

we got the housing numbers today. >> fortune brands to 39. that's when you get whirlpool snapping right back, black and decker is probably too cheap. sears is way too cheap at 68. that can go to 80, 85 on a housing rebound. i think that housing and autos and health care, they're a huge push. let's not forget, the tech rallies for real because the product cycle is in dl. >> people are buying them. >> yes, they are. we say that but they aren't six months ago. >> exactly. and i want to talk about the tupperware story. that one caught my eye. i know it caught your eye. half their sales are emerging markets. >> we're going through my data at my time, really revolutionized not just where tupperware sold but the product line. this product line is more than just the plastic. people -- >> they have reinvented it. >> yes. i think that's really important. it's kind of like coca-cola going to vitamin water. they've got these line extensions that are really working. tupperware is not done going up.

it's got more room. they had a couple quarter where's they missed and the short sellers are all over it. a lot of stocks are up big today are short sellers being caught flatfooted. they still exist. >> how about the philip morris trade? >> yesterday i came on here with mark haines. i said, listen, i think pm is going to be huge. no one thinks anyone is smoking tobacco. i don't think, wrong, wrong. pm is not -- this is still a cheap stock with a very good yield. best management in the industry. it's a great growth story in an area where frankly we don't like it politically but we sure should like it financially. >> is it going to run into political obstacles? we're monitoring what we do as citizens. >> a lot of states, a lot of countries have cracked down on tobacco. these are countries for the most part that have not been able to convince young people that they shouldn't smoke. you know, there's a lot of peer pressure in this country not to smoke. in these other countries it's just -- it's still a way of being.

>> you're looking at it beyond the u.s. market. >> pm is really just all what's left of just overseas. and the overseas market is still a very big growth market. they're just not thinking about it as a taboo like we do. >> jci, that's another one you're following. >> johnson controls importer is a good number. everyone forgot it because it was a week ago. circle back in that because goldman says it's goes up. jci is a winner. it's a forgotten industrial because it happened to have the misfor chun of reporting a week ago and we have no memory. >> as we are watching the oil trade, the international trade right now, and saying it looks like the u.s. is doing well. the asian markets seem to be doing particularly well. where do you dedicate your dollars? what's the breakdown in terms of u.s. and international exposure? >> 20% is right. that's up from 10% where i was a few years ago. asia is -- if you own a tech stock, you're buying asia.

people forget the breakdown. >> all these companies that have come out with their earnings have talked about -- >> asia. >> especially in places where there's weakness here, the story is in asia. >> i think that people should be recognizing that every one of the major tech companies that we think of as american, recognize our market was going to slow down. put a lot of money into asia and it's paying off. >> also, how about looking at the trades that flow through asia? what is asia buying that we can be buying? do you know what i'm saying? the fact that the premier came out and said, we're buying foreign assets. what might some of those be? >> okay. here's what they're buying. they're buying, going to the casino. and i've got to tell you, i think wynn, which i recommended the other night at 41, it's only up 3. macaw is going to be huge. the lines, the bolts, everything to get there. steve wynn has built underbelievable macaw facility.

i think it values, i'm going to use a window, 70, not 44. >> before we go. celgene. >> you can see it, those who doubted him, here's the deal. they actually did -- 3/4 where they missed. everyone got fed up. suddenly they get some nud indications and really good trials. and, boom, those who are shorting celgene because it had been an annuity, they are scrambling. >> how about the idea that being a takeout story now, too? bristol-myers squib deal. >> those are vying for takeout, i think it's a mistake. very big company. you own it for earnings and drug approvals. >> thank you so much, jim cramer. tonight on "mad money" jim has the ceo of newcorp and earnings and steel. that's tonight at 6:00 and 11:00 eastern. there's big money on small cities. for one airline it's making money, expanding. no kidding. we vidhave the ceo.

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take a look t the top-down mover today. 3-m, the company, says it will be higher than expected. it's benefitting from swine flu. they sell some of the respiratory gear that keeps people safe from swine flu. they sold a lot more of it as a result last quarter. religion, politics, dirty money, two mayors, several rabbis busted in a massive corruption sweep. jonathan deans has the details. >> rebecca, more than two dozen public officials across the state of new jersey rounded up, including the mayors of hoboken along with public officials in another big city here, jersey city, all rounded up by the fbi this morning.

all accused of taking payoffs and kickbacks and the fbi says they have it all on tape. this latest corruption scandal coming after more than 100 officials in new jersey in the past several years have pleaded guilty to corruption-related counts. now, in addition this investigation with the help of a confidential witness uncovered a massive money laundering scheme involving rabbis across new jersey who are allegedly funneling money back and forth over the israel and switzerland in a corruption scheme, and they say they also uncovered one of the leaders there, community leaders, allegedly for human trafficking of organs, kidney transplants, allegedly finding poor people willing to accept thousands of dollars to give up a kidney in exchange for someone here who needed it. they would then lie in a hospital saying that they were related, all to make money. and this middle man would charge $160,000 for that service. so an incredible case of corruption and, like you said,

money laundering involving rabbis, the fbi, announcing the charges earlier today. the round-ups began at 6:00 a.m. this morning. and these suspects being arraigned in federal court this afternoon. >> jonathan, thanks so much for being with us. and we're certain we'll continue to bring you up to date on this story, jonathan. we'll be back with us later with my updates. thanks for being here. >> thank you. this year's been a double whammy for the airline industry. rising oil prices, plummeting demand. american airlines is down 50% this year. earlier today on "squawk on the street" us airways ceo doug parker said the future may not be so bleak. >> it's definitely a challenging environment. as you mentioned, and as we said, we're certainly not counting on a quick recovery but we're seeing initial signs of recovery which sent couraging. >> we found one quarter of the airline industry which is seeing some of the encouraging signs. cfo of allegiance airlines and

blue star jet. great to have you here. let's start with you. how did you do it? >> thanks for having me. you know, we -- that's a long answer there. i mean, at the end of the day, we really were helped this past quarter obviously fuel is materially lower than it was a year ago. it's a very, very different revenue environment, but we have a great attention to cost. we have outstanding costs and we were able to lower that this quarter, costs away from fuel that is. and despite what we saw a little bit of softness for the first time in what's called ancillary revenue which is a number of different revenue streams including unbundled pricing, the sale of third-party products like hotel rooms and rental cars that we bundle. for the first time in several quarter wes saw a little bit of softness there. but that still held up quite

well. we had a 25% profit margin, which is good in our industry. >> rick, i want to talk to you because things have been perking up, at least in the month of june, even though they were down earlier in the year. what kind of people are coming out and utilizing your products more right now? >> well, what we're seeing in the marketplace is very, very big tradedown effect. so where you had ceos and corporate owners of jets, and corporations, they're trading down now to getting rid of the overhead that they have and just really looking to rent the jets. so we've been successful in renting those jets on a per trip basis. >> all right. let's talk, andrew, about growth and where you see the growth in your business coming from. >> well, rebecca, we think we just scratched the surface. we serve right now about 50 small cities, a total of 71 markets which include our destination markets. we think there's another four there abouts that we're going to go after in the next several years. there are many other

destinations that we think make a lot of sense. our mission is fwlii inflying c from small seasons to big leisure destinations that they want to go to. we're not trying to explain to you why you want to go somewhere. we're providing you an easy way to get there. at the same time, selling third-party provided services that you're going to buy anyway when you go on vacation. we feel that we have tremendous growth in front of us. as you probably know, the industry as a whole is shrinking yet we are growing at a fairly substantial clip. that's a little different. it's been that way for the entire year. you know, but when you can do the kind of margins we're doing, the kind of return on capital, we're doing, we think it makes a lot of sense to grow at a faster clip than some of the other competitors out there who aren't able to make those types of returns work for their shareholders. >> i want to talk to you about fuel costs. clearly,fuel prices have come down at this point in time. but they're trending back up. how do you manage that? >> el wiwell, the fuel costs be

down has been beneficial to us. we trade the price of jets like the commodity. when the jet price comes down, oil prices come down, the prices to our customers come down. and, also, with the marketplace the way it is, and corporations getting rid of their aircraft, individualing getting rid of their aircraft, we have access to more aircraft than ever before. so the supply and demand situation is bringing us also, there's more supply so the prices are coming down for our clients. >> thank you so much for being with us, andrew and ricky. have a great afternoon. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. dairy queen hoping to scoop up profits in china. the world's biggest ice cream plan open more. dq has 200 stores in china already. more than half of them were added in the second half of last year. the warren buffett owned ice cream giant saw sales up 17% the first half of this year. compare to 4% jump here in the united states. all right, folks.

coming up next, i'm just going to play this video and tell you we've got business stories about lance armstrong, britney spears, sheryl crow, ricky martin, business stories, i tell you. "street signs" coming right back. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card.

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♪ hotwire.com all right. welcome back. taking a look at the s&p top winners. we told you about intuitive surgical. jim cramer and i just talked about celgene. fifth third also up on that list. higher by 16%. meantime, the biggest losers, cit group, sandisk, and flir systems. the battle over michael jackson's will will focus on his most valuable asset, his publishing rights to the entire beatles catalog. it proved to be his savviest business move ever, and now wall street wants in on the global music rights business. cnbc's jane wells has details on a new music deal. hey, jane. >> hi, rebecca. is it the michael jackson effect? the music biz has been in the dumps this decade, but reports say a new joint venture between bertelsmann and kkr is buying an 8,000-song catalog, which includes some toxic assets.

♪ baby, can't you see ♪ i'm calling songs include britney spears' "toxic" and baha men's "who let the dogs out." and ricky martin. the catalog is valued at $80 million. and it's part of an investment division of cargill. who knew? the sale will reportedly double the number of songs for the new bmg kkr venture which was announced this month. music industry attorney alan bergman says song catalogs have recently attracted wall street money because they can earn back their purchase price relatively quickly. >> the best part of the business is the music publishing business because it's like life insurance. you can make money without working. once you sell a policy to somebody, the premiums just keep rolling in. >> this deal follows renewed interest in michael jackson's music, song catalog, and rehearsal video. ♪ the "hollywood reporter" says

sony has purchased jackson's rehearsal video from aeg by $60 million. may have it in theaters by halloween. tmz is reporting that aeg filed papers to be part of a hearing on michael jackson's estate next month. a big part of that estate as you said is the song catalog jackson bought in the '80s for 48 million, which is now valued at over a billion, owned jointly with sony atv. filled not just with some of the beatles songs but now it's songs by eminem, the jonas brothers, lady gaga. and the "new york times" reports that kkr is interested in making a bid for that catalog too. >> that is fascinating. thank you so much, jane wells. we do have breaking news, and we're going to head to john harwood for that. >> reporter: rebecca, president obama in that town hall meeting in cleveland talking about health care, acknowledged the news from senator harry reid, the democratic leader today, when he said that it would not have complete senate action by the august recess. the president of the united states said that's okay, i just want them to keep working. his goal is still passage by the end of the year. that's not out of the question yet. so rebecca, a setback.

but the president shrugged his shoulders today and said let's keep pushing. >> thank you, john harwood. we appreciate it. and coming up here on cnbc, lance armstrong. he has a new sponsor. we have the bottom line. [ engine revving ] [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you. introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, automatically. ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible.

and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 silverado xfe with an epa estimated 21 mpg highway for under 28 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details.

the s&p 500, the overall stock market up 2 1/2%. the dow above 9,000 for the first time since january of this year. meantime, lance armstrong, he came back to the tour de france this year after a three-year absence. after 18 stages he is currently in third place. but today he announced he'll be back against next year and with a new sponsor. and our sports business reporter darren rovell is here with that story. darren? >> that's right. interesting details here. you know, the last time we talked about ans armstrong and sponsorship we told you his current sponsor was essentially the government of kazakhstan. well, lance's new deal makes a little bit more sense.

radio shack will be the sponsor of a new cycling team headlined by armstrong. sources tell us it's a two-year deal negotiated by wasser medias group. it's in the range of $10 million a year. which is kind of what top teams get these days. who knows if armstrong will ride in 2010, but the deal cleverly covers armstrong's rights as a triathlete and a runner. he's of course run in the new york city marathon and expressed a desire to compete in the iron man. now, for radio shack the deal makes sense in that it actually has a product to sell, unlike lance's recent sponsor, the kazakh government and discovery channel. there's a challenge in this deal in that radio shack has very little presence outside the united states so it doesn't take advantage of armstrong's worldwide reach unless they use him to open up some doors. part of the value will be of course based on armstrong, who is 367 years old, and whether he can win again. armstrong might be in third place now but it would be a miracle if he finished in the yellow jersey this time around. there's also obviously a strong charity component with armstrong through the live strong name, which is one of the biggest names in cancer charities. >> so obviously a lot of moves here today for him. and you are the one who came out

and said he shouldn't do it again. is this telling us basically that he made the right move in coming back? >> well, listen, he's not taking a dollar. you know, he's doing it all for cancer. but you know, there is an argument to be said that if he doesn't win it tarnishes his legacy a little bit. there's both sides. i got a lot of hate mail. i'll tell you that. >> all right. well, we love you. thanks, darren rovell. meantime, the markets, in case you haven't noticed, they're up 200 points. at least that's the dow. in fact, we looking at the highs of the day's session as we head into that final hour of trade. thanks so much for watching "street signs." "the closing bell" is next with maria bartiromo. >> announcer: this is cnbc.com "news now." president obama says it's okay if congress doesn't pass a health care bill by his august deadline. he just wants them to keep working. as stocks are surging, the nasdaq is on the verge of a 12-session winning streak, its longest since 13 straight wins back in 1992. and ford ceo alan mullaly tells cnbc it's possible some job cuts by the automaker will be reversed. that is cnbc.com "news now." i'm mary thompson.

a live picture of the floor of the new york stock exchange. in the final stretch of trading triple-digit moves. best levels above 9,000 since january. we are looking at another surge for the market. nasdaq up 12 in a row. hi, everybody. welcome to "the closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. we're entering the final stretch here with some real momentum on the side of the bulls. we had better than expected numbers in the housing market today. that really set the tone on the up side, not to mention a ton of cash on the sidelines going to work, continuing for an 8% move in just the last two weeks. the market, dow industrials today up better than 2%. 200 points higher at 9,085. you also have oil doing well. the oil stocks, dow component certainly part of this move. oil back above $67 a barrel with a 2% rally here. nasdaq higher by 50 points. 2 2/3%. technology on the move.

microsoft the big highlight. company reports earnings after the bell tonight. s&p 500 up 24 points. 2 1/2% on the up side. dow jones industrial average meanwhile crossing that 9,000 mark for the first time since january. there you see the numbers. let's look behind the numbers. scott wapner here, our eye on the floor of the exchange today. scott, what momentum in this market? >> yeah, amazing, highs of the day, maria, thanks so much, let's take a look at the markets in the late day because really stocks rising on better-than-expected earnings. that continued story better than xpd housing data. and also that delay in that health care legislation is playing a bit of a role today as well. that's why the dow jones industrial average is ahead of 9,000 as maria was just saying. take a look at material stocks, for example, because that is definitely one of the best-performing sectors of the day. we're looking at alcoa, u.s. steel, bhp bill tin. as you take a look at some of those materials. again, best performers on the day today. oil moving higher, commodities have as well. as oil is above $67. commodity stocks like massey on the coal side,