1/3 of the money has gone to tax relief for families and small businesses. 1/3 of the money is cutting people's taxes. for americans strug lick to pay rising bills with shrinking wage, we kept a campaign promise to put a middle class tax cut in the pockets of 95% of working families. a tax cut -- a tax cut that began showing up in paychecks of 4.8 million indiana households about three months ago. we also cut taxes for small businesses on the investments that they make and more than 425 small businesses in indiana have received sba loans through the recovery package. so that's 1/3 of the money was tax cuts. another 1/3 much tof the money

helping folks who have born the brunts of this recession. for americans who were laid off, we expanded unemployment benefits and that's already made a difference for 12 billion americans including 220,000 folks right here in indiana. we're making health insurance 65% cheaper for families relying on cobra while looking for work. some of you know people who lost their jobs, were worried about losing their health care, couldn't afford cobra, we were able to reduce their costs by 65% so they could keep their health care while they were looking for jobs. and for states facing historic budget shortfall, we provided assistance that saved the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers and police officers and other public servants so that you wouldn't see the recession get even worse. so that's the second half. first half tax relief, second

half support for individuals, small businesses and states that have fallen on hard times. the last third of the recovery act, and this 00's what we'll talk about here today, is for investments that are not onlying people back to work in the short term, but laying ing a ning a n daugs for growth and prosperity in the long run. these are the jobs futuring of america, renovating schools and hospitals. the elkhart area has seen the benefits. dozens were employed to resurface the runway at elkhart airport. a four mile stretch of highway is being upgrade order u.s. 33. the health center has received recovery dollars to expand services and hire additional staff. and as part of the recovery plan, we're making an historic amendment to innovation. building a new smart grid that

carries electricity from coast to coast, laying down broad band lines and high speed rail lines, and providing the largest boost in basic research in history to ensure that american leads in the break through discoveries of the new century. just as we led in the last. because that's what we do best in america. we turn ideas ainto inventions. history should be our guide. the united states led the world economies in the 20th century because we led the world in innovation. today the competition is keen, the challenge is tougher and that's why innovation is more important than ever. that's the key to good new jobs in the 21st century. that's how we will ensure a high quality of life for this jen race and future generations. with these investments, we're planting the seeds of progress

for our country and good paying private sector jobs for the american people. so that's why i'm here today, to announce $2.4 billion in highly competitive grants to develop the nest generation of fuel efficient cars and trucks powered by the next generation of battery technology, all made right here in the u.s. of a. right here in america. made in america. you know, for too long, for too long, we failed to invest in this kind of innovative work. even if countries like china and skra p japanracing ahead.

that's why this is so important. i'm committed to a strategy tha design and employment of the next generation of clean energy vehicles. this is not just an investment to produce vehicles today, this is an invest nmt our capacity to develop new technologies tomorrow. this is about creating the infrastructure of innovation. indiana is the second largest recipient of grant funding and it's a perfect example what have this will mean. you've got purdue university, notre dame, indiana university and ivy tech and they're all going to be receiving grant funding to develop degree and training programs. that's number one.

we've got a small business in indiana that will develop batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. you have allison transmission in indianapolis, delphi, and magna, all who will help develop electric drive components for commercial and passenger vehicles. and right here in elkhart county, nav i vchnavistar will $39 million grant to build 400 advanced battery electric trucks with a range of 100 miles. right there. just a few months ago, folks thought that these factories

might be closed for good, but now they're coming back to life. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. thank the american people. the company estimates that this investment will help create or save hundreds of jobs in the area. and already folks like herrmann are being rehired. so these investments will save or create thousands of hoosier jobs. and i want to point out, these thousands of jobs wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the leaders in congress who supported the recovery act. leaders like evan bayh and joe donnelly who is here today and andre carter and brad elsworld. and these grants will create tens of thousands of jobs all across america. in fact, today vice president biden is announcing grant winners in michigan. members of my cabinet are

fanning out across the country announcing recipients elsewhere. we're providing the incentives to those businesses large and small that stand ready to help us lead a new clean energy economy by developing new technologies for new kinds of vehicles. i don't want to just reduce our dependence on foreign oil and then end up being dependent on their foreign innovations. i don't want to have to import a hybrid car. i want to be able to build a high braid car here. i don't want to have to import a hybrid truck. i want to build it here. i don't want to have to import a windmill from someplace else, i want to build a windmill right here in indiana. i want the cars of the future and the technologies that power they will to be developed and deployed right here if america. that's just the beginning. in no area will innovation be

more important than in the development of new ways to produce, use and save energy. so we're not only doubling our capacity to generate renewable energy and building a stronger and smarter electric grid, we reached angry to raise fuel economy standards and for the first time in history we'll build clean energy incentives that will help make it a roftable kind of energy in america while helping to end our dependence on foreign oil and protect our planet for future generations. the bill passed the house. we're now working for pass legislation through the senate. because we know the real everyone i innovation depends on the american people. if the american people get a clear set of rules, if they know what's needed, what challenges we've got to meet, they'll figure out how to do it. in fact, that's why our budget makes the research and experimentation tax credit permanent.

the r&d tax reacredit. this helps companies afford what are sometimes very high costs in developing new ideas and new technologies. and that means new jobs. this tax credit returns $2 to the economy for every $1 we spend. and for a long time, we were just trying to renew once every year and companies at any time know whether or not they were going to be able to get for the next year. that's changed. we've made it permanent. i've also proposed reducing it zero the capital gains tax for investments in small or startup business. because small businesses are innovative businesses. small business produce 13 times more patents for employees than large companies. of course in order to lead in the global economy and ensure that our businesses can grow and innovate, we also have to pass health insurance reform that

brings down costs. reform that brings down costs and provides more security for folks who have insurance and affordable options for those who don't. i promise you we will pass reform by the end of this reyea because the american people need some relief. now, we'll have to make it happen. in fact r, the recovery plan ben the process of reform by modernizing our health care infrastructure. we took some long overdue steps of computerizing american's health records which can reduce all the waste and errors that cost billions of dollars while protecting patient's privacpriv. it holds the potential of

offering patients the chance to be more active part paptss. you won't have to fill out the same form a dozen times. you won't have to rely on your memory when talking to your there about medical hesser to. all those things make people healthier, but they also reduce your costs, lower your premiums and give you more security in your health. now, in addition to energy and in addition to health care, we also know that the nation that outeducates us today will outxeou outcheou outcompete us tomorrow. right now our schools continue to trail many of our competitors and that's why i've challenged states to dramatically improve achievement by raising standards and modernizing science labs, upgrading came rec could ycame you lum, and improving the use of technology in the classroom. in the next decade by 2020, america will once again have the

highest proportion of college graduates in the world. we used to be number one. we will be number one again when it comes to college graduates. now, it reach this goal, we provided tax credits and grants to make college education more affordable. and we've made a historic commitment to community colleges which are the unsung heros in america's education system. america can and must have the best educated, highest skilled workforce in the world. because if we're building new cars here in america, if we're building a new clean energy grid in america, then we're also going to need to build engineers in america. and scientists in america. and skilled technicians right here in america. so all these pieces end up fitting together. energy and innovation, health

care and education. these are the pillars of the newfounew foundation that we have to build. this is how we won't just rescue the economy, but we're going to rebuild it stronger than before. now, there are a lot of people out there who are looking to defend the status quo. there are those who want to seek political advantage, they want to oppose these efforts. some of them caused the problems that we got now in the first place and then suddenly they're blaming other folks for it. they don't want to on be constructive. they don't want to be constructive, they just want to get in the usual political fights back and forth. and sometimes that's fed by all the cable chatter on the media. but you and i know the truth. we know that even in the hardest times against the toughest odds, we have never surrendered. we don't give up.

we don't surrender our fate to chance. we have also endured. wi we have worked hard and we have fought for our future. our parents had to fight for their future. our grandparents had to fight for their future. that's the tradition of america. this country wasn't built just by griping and complaining. it was built by hard work. and taking risks. and that's what we have to do today. so i know these are tough times. if you haven't lost a job, you know somebody who has. maybe a family member, a neighbor, a friend. you know that as difficult as the financial struggle can be, the central loss when you lose your job is about horn just a paycheck. we as american, we define ourselves by the work we do, a source of pride, a sense that you're con rib buttributincontre

co doing the right thing, and the truth is it can be easy to lose hope especially when you see a lot of folks who failed to meet their responsibilities from wall street to washington. it can be easy to grow cynical when you see politicians say one thing and then do another. or say one thing and then do nothing. when you've seen decades of broken promises and broken policies. but this is a rare moment in which we're called upon to rise above the failures of the past. this is a chance to restore that spirit of optimism and opportunity which has always been central to our success. we've got to set our cites hiig high, not lower. we have to imagine a future in which cities that led the global economy before are leading it again, a brighter future for elkhart, a brighter future for

indiana, and for the united states of america. that's what we're fighting for. that's what this plan is about, that's what you're about. that's what we're going to achieve in the weeks and months to come. so thank you very much, everybody. god bless you you. god bless the united states of america. thank you.the united states of america. thank you. >> a full-court press by the bomb administration. he's announcing grants to try to jump-start job growth in the had hardest hit parts of the country. our john harwood is at the white house. a very aggressive sales job on the recovery act today. >> reporter: no question about it. you can see that the scale of the challenge the president faces. he's trying to sell health care reform to a congress and having some difficulty with that but he's also trying to convince the country that his economic policy, that stimulus package, is the right course for the country, announcing those grants for electric cars, a lot of which will go to the development

of batteries which are important to the midwest. the auto producing region of the country. or the principal automatic it toe producing renlg on is part of that sales job, but it's not easy and he knows these job numbers will come out on friday and underscore the fact that even if the economy turns around, jobs will have to wait for a while before that rate comes down. >> he reiterated health care reform by the end of the year, but he's now clearly acknowledging that getting it done anytime seern an ooner an impossible. >> reporter: and he talked about health insurance reform, increasing focus on the insurance industry and trying to get americans to pay attention to the things that they don't like about the health care system and one of those is the relationship fwhot them and their doctor. they like doctors but they don't like the insurance companies and the president and democrats are focusing their rhetoric on that. thank you very much, john harwood. let's get you caught up on the markets. bob is down at the new york

stock exchange. slight down day, but trying to come back. >> we had a little weakness right after the opening. ism services number was on the weak side and really the earnings picture wasn't that great today. sales are very much on the light side across many different sectors. let's show and you few. energy stocks have been weak. some of the big names in the oil services group like trans ocean. they have no pricing power. things like the rings that they lend out to people, the demand isn't there. boston beer, the stock is up because they beat on earnings rare handily, but their volume growth is down 2.7%. the reason that happened, people are drinking less beer and they're trading down to less expensive beer. so don't be too fooled. finally, procter & gamble we mentioned all morning, same situation. they had very good -- a decent

earnings report beat by about a penny, but the volume decline was 4% there. and, again, some issues around pricing, maybe issues around some of the currency, as well. trader talk. tech stocks not helping either. >> thank you very much. and rebecca, welcome. >> thank you so much. glad to be here. and of course it's an important day. talk about the retail stocks. a very important back to school shopping season. one of the most important, they may all rise or fall on the shoulders of teenagers. will their parents hand over that plastic? we'll have the names that you need to know. >> and as we go to break, here's how some of the retailers are doing.  i get the question "does it work?" all the time, and you know what, it works. nutrisystem for men: flexible new programs

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stim dow jones above 9200. nasdaq just below 2000 down almost 24 points. and s&p 500 back below 1000 at

999.3. key level. let's see if we can hold it by the end of the day. >> all retailers up against a touchback to school season with the average family expected to spend about 8% less than they did last year. but teen retailers in particular are facing a double whammy. their consumers are under pressure, teen unemployment has tripled the national average at 24% and their capacity is still growing. >> up like other parts of retail where we've seen some capacity shaking out over the last six to 12 moment, unfortunately, the teen area is still seeing capacity increasing. there are a lot of new concepts growing and unfortunately, i think that's going to be offset by weak demand. >> tunick says one retailers favors gas and hot topic who could benefit from the hefty sales punch. the easy money has been made

with retail stocks up more than 50% from the marches lows. they're outperforming the s&p 500. so who is going to grab those harder to come by dollars going forward? who will be at the head of the class with back to school sales? let's bring in principal equity research specialty retail. great to see you. and what's your take? do you buy the teen retailers at this point in time or do you look to other segments of the retail population for growth? >> i think what the teen retailer, thrn the last two really fall off the cliff when the economy shows down and this is probably contrary to popular belief, but i think they'll be the first to come out of it. teens are the biggest 14 egest out there. unemployment for them might be up, but there are a lot of new fashion trends that are emerge, must have items that will get kids to go to the stores. >> one of the things that helped the market yesterday is the savings rate up to 6.2% from

that 4.6% level. if we see people going back buying this retail season, could that be a reverse indicator? could it mean that perhaps we've stopped saving and maybe it's not all bright? >> well, i think that certainly the savings rate will continue to be a little higher than in the past, but i think there's a lot of pent-up demand. you'll see that. i'm not so sure that the saving rate for teenagers is going up. i don't remember saving a lot of money when i was a teenager. whatever money i had, i was spending. >> but they should be. they'll owe a lot in the future. >> you mentioned the must haves. you say that there's the boyfriend blazer, boyfriend jeans and the plaid shirt? >> hopefully not worn all together, but there are these

must have items an teenager are very susceptible to peer pressure. thekies will go back to school, they'll see what all the cool kids are wear, they'll bewaring a boyfriend blazer over the skinny jeans, so a nice update to the wardrobe. you don't necessarily have to buy an entirely new outfit p. the plaid shirt, you can wear it with any type of jean. >> bill will give me his boyfriend blazer. >> you bet. some of my dads shirts from the farm, too. so you like urban outfitter, guess. why those in. >> well, they have what is cutting edge fashion and that's what the kids are seeking out. price is a consideration, but it's secondary. the fashion has to be right first and then the kids will look for value. >> thanks so much for being with us. and we'll continue the back to school coverage throughout the business day here on n nbc.

. >> what is a boyfriend blaze sner>> it's a little bulky. >> the vice president and president and a bunch of cabinet members hit the road today. what are you laughing at? you know what we're talking about. so all of these cabinet members are hitting the road trying to make the case that mr. obama's programs are making the economy a lotnomics working or not in. >> and we have the fast money halftime report. >> the markets are down across the board, but we do have a couple areas on fire today. the asset managers up some 13%. also, we've got the ad trade doing quite well. that and much more in the halftime report. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve

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president obama pushing his economic agenda on the road, but are his policies working? opposing views in our poe power

grid. rich, i'll start with you. >> i do think it's working. all you have to do is watch cnbc for the last several weeks. the stock market has gained in value by 12%. gdp is up. a lot of very positive economic indicators looking very, very, very strong across the economy. but we're not done yet. we have to make sure that wall street recovery trickles down and makes sure that in maine street people have jobs. >> he cited a lot of stats. are they proof that obamanomics is working? >> not all of them are quite true. you have unemployment 9.5% going double digits. you have net household wealth way down. the yield curve is deepening. and his idea of gdp going up is gdp contracting less than it was before. none of that is a robust recovery. otherwise geithner and summers wouldn't be talking about massive tax hikes to get a handle on deficits out of control. >> what about the stock market, jason? >> nothing falls forever.

the stock market and housing are proof that the stimulus plan didn't work and they were allowed to hit a natural bat. how can the stimulus plan work, rich, if it hasn't been spent? >> the stimulus plan is working. first of all, you have to -- >>ness at question, rich. >> i am answering the question. the second that we passed an economic stimulus package, attitudes improved. part of what drives wall street is an attitude that the government is finally coming to terms with the problems it faces and that's exactly what happened immediately when we started, you saw the stock market start to rebound. we've still got a long way to go. we're not going to be like the bush administration. we have to get jobs back. >> couldn't they just be the natural result of the business cycle? >> that's what republicans would like you to believe, but the truth of it is why didn't the natural -- if you look at the way the economy has gone throughout history, that upswing should have started in the latter part of the bush administration. it didn't. why? because no one thought he was

serious about fixing the economy. clearly barack obama is serious about fixing the economy and wall street has responded and eventually that will mean more jobs for more americans. >> wall street responded once health care reform was dead. that's when wall street responded. all we're trying to do is renature the bubble with artificial cash for clunker, with refinancing. the fha is $100 billion in okay. freddie and fannie are buying mortgages depend. what will do you when you run up against all this spending? there's to exit strategy once the economy wants to turn, they'll run up against deficit, tax increases, and higher prices. >> great discussion. well thought out on both sides. terrific. see you later. >> i think that was great under your terms, michelle. >> i like it when we have two people who solidly understand economics. >> but you still like bruises once in a while. >> coming up next, a stunning story and maybe some would call

it creepy from switzerland. it looks like the drug giant is under attack by animal rights activists. everyone the grave of the ceo's mother was vandalized and mike huckman will tell wlaus's going on there. in the mean time, despite the down market, financials are trading to the up side.

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picture of the dow at the new york stock exchange. we are down slightly off the lows of the settle, but still lower by about a percent. >> as you may know, animal rights activists have been raging war against drug research and cosmetics industries for year, but this time some there are some who say they've gone too far. >> and the president was talking about innovation a few moments ago go. this is definitely related to that. animal rights activists of suspected of stealing the cremated remains of the mother of the ceo, among the latest in a series of attacks depends the swiss drug maker. the doctor is not available for comment, but a spokesperson says his vacation home was also set on fire earlier this week and vandals recently scrawled things like death to vasella and vasella is a killer. in addition, several employees

cars and hopes have been vandalized. nobody's been hurt. this isn't the first grave robbery, though. frankie is president of the washington based national association for biomedical research which supports humane and responsible animal recertain and she says several year ago animal rights activists in the uk stole the skeleton remains of the mother of a guinea pig farm own who are raised the critters. i know we're looking for mice. these attacks are having a chilling effect. >> scientists who have been well funded in this country by the national institutes of health have decided to walk away from research because they don't feel that they can protect their families. and in addition to that, young researchers are choosing careers that don't involve biomedical research because who needs this?

>> for more, check out my blog where you can vote in a poll about animal research. >> still ahead, cash for clunkers, taxes, energy, health. and power lunch blogger is just minutes away. but up next, where can you protect your profit in this kind of market? the gang will tell you the fast money halftime report is on desk.

welcome to the fast money halftime report. the s&p 500 losing its key grip on that 1000 level. the bears are out of hibernation. let's get to the word on the street. let's start off with you. we lost that 1000 level. how do we set up for tomorrow? >> the factory orders were pretty decent. the newspapers are mixed. i think we're set up fine for tomorrow. psychologically, 1000 on the way down didn't hold. these numbers were fine. >> what was the reaction on the floor when we lost the level? >> it's psychological number.

i don't think it's a very big deal. we've got a long way to go before we get anywhere. i think a lot of people were looking for a breather and we really haven't seen one in the last ten sessions or so. >> we are seeing a 1% decline on the nasdaq. dennis, when you take a look at the move, this shows you that there is weakness. they're not willing to by olay in this economic environment. not say that they're cheap or anything like that, but they're not willing to make those kind of commend chexpenditures. >> that was a huge miss. clearly consumers have gone to the sidelines in some instances. >> and you're out of las vegas, as i understand. what are you seeing in terms of front lines at the casinos and hotels there? >> secretaignificant pickup out

except for real estate. but for that p and g thing, that's back to that row statitat of products. oil of olay just picked another price product and p and g wasn't as competitive as they need to be. and that's why they had the miss. people bought other face creams. >> let's get to some options action here. certainly one area that is on fire today, the financials across board. asset managers in particular. up by just about 14% -- 12% here right now. dr. j, you're watching that. we should know that fortress also posted pretty decent earnings. so that might be part of the reason why we're seeing that pickup. >> that's exactly right. and i've said all year this is a best market to traders ever. goldman sachs proves that day in, day out. i'd like to think that i do, as

well. this environment for good money managers, i think these guys are feasting. and when you look at the move it made, an extraordinary move to the up side, that's continuing today after a breather yesterday. i think these guys have some very good things in the offing. and i am long that stock. >> we're seeing the entire group trade higher today. jpmorgan higher by 4%, goldman sachs doing decently. what is the outlook, what's the flow that you're seeing into this group? because this is a continuation of the trend that we saw yesterday. >> it's a trader's market and the traders are taking advantage of it and they're the ones that are reaping what they sew. it's really not an investor's market. the beginning of the market, the end, that's where the most of the volume is, that's where most of the activity is it temperature that's where the traders are making their money.

so the goldman guys, we're seeing that flow through to the asset managers. >> let's move on to the next trade. oil services are down across the board. led lower by shares of trans ocean. reporting that they essentially missed analyst estimates and also they're highlighting weakness in north american demand. they're feeling pressure to cut their rates. are there opportunities here within the oil services sector? >> until you start to see rig counts begin to move higher an rig counts have been dropping here and in canada for the last year, until you start to see rig counts move high every, the only things they have going for them is brazil. this is not a place to go fishing. >> he's absolutely right. you wait, you don't get in early. they'll pull back significantly more i believe. i'm thinking they go a lot lower. but then i think you do jump in

with both both feet because valuation levels get attractive about $5 lower. >>ennis mentioned you could look at the names and have presences in brazil, what are the names and are there opportunities today to buy? >> well, diamond offshore in brazil. i look at rig and look at the numbers today. several rig cancellations, a billion dollars of cash flow they'll use annually. i would be worried about the short-t short-term store i didn't. i think there's a lot of politics down there, be careful. >> time to take positions. aside from the headline numbers, investor will be playing to what john chambers has to say and in terms of how people are setting up for this and the commentary

that chamers could provide. >> i think they are expecting cisco to do fairly well. but the big issue is are they going to be doing well because the business cycle is changing or doing well because inventories have been cut back significantly at all of these. and that remains to be seen. i think it's the latter rather than the former. will we see a bump because inventory is cut back? probably. will it move out over next four or five quarters, remains to be seen. we're pessimistic about that. >> are you seeing options market set up for this in any way shape or form? >> on the next closing hours, how about on "closing bell" i give you that? i like them, i think inventories are low there. that's going to be a positive going forward for guidance and i think webex their communication tool will be a driver as well. >> goldman sachs had a $140

million trading daybreaking the record high. goldman sachs made $50 million last quarter, for more. let's bring in the negotiator, a former goldman sachs employee. what do you make of these simply staggering results here? >> how are you doing? >> how are you doing? >> i own goldman. i'm everything goldman. most of the guys that run goldman i used to work for. you go back to what meredith whitcy said, $186 price target, they crush. it is a trader's market. these are the best markets we've had in a lifetime, probably will have in another lifetime. you wonder how long it can last. they will make 16.5, $17 last year and slap a ten multiple and we're right at 165, $170. if you buy goldman you'll

believe the tape will go higher. >> leave it there. on tonight's "fast money" we have the headlines from the cisco conference call. "power lunch" breaks down the ways to guard your portfolio against inplags. the last market moving after hours report, cisco lays out with tech spend sg headed and the fast money guys give you the real time trade. and rick santelli. he is as mad as hell and not going to trade it any more. get your portfolio in order, a four star general is leading the chart for the future of defense. we give you stocks to salute on america's post market show tonight. well if you're hurt and can't work it pays you cash... yeah to help with everyday bills like gas, the mortgage... ...and groceries.

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there is one stock popping up on the screen, aig, we're seeing 42% rise on this stock and it seems to be ticking higher. this is one to keep our eyes on. we don't see any news that would be behind that big pop in the stock but we'll keep our eyes on that one. time for your power lunch trade to go. you're watching an we had earnings out earlier and they had a nice recovery. >> i think we all should know, they are going into the best season of the year and seeing demand trends reemerge and guy that's delayed using fertilizer coming back to the table. with potash, this is the largest producer, at the 50-day moving average right here. a break today would be very bullish, people have priced in $350 a ton potash. they settled with india for 60 a

ton. these stocks have value that i think a lot of the analysts have missed. technically watch the stock today, a break of 99, very bullish for potash. do you guy or sell, dr. j? >> i would like to see us get softer into the tail end of today. think we ease into tomorrow setting up nicely for a surprise on friday. >> you called me michelle again. >> well, michelle, i think -- >> well, dave, what do you think? >> nice. >> i was a buyer going into yesterday, got even going home. i'm a seller today. i think there's some problems. i'm a little bit short right now, will get a little shorter. >> what do you say? >> melissa, i would say that i'm a seller going into market today.

>> tom? >> yeah, tommy tells you this market is going higher, sit tight and maggie, i hope everything goes well for you. >> it's tim, dr. j., dennis and daniel hughes. do not miss, tonight we're going to talk about cisco on the yaf hours trade. a power lunch debate. is twitter in trouble? michelle, what is on tap there? >> you notice how many names begin with m on this network. >> chances are if you guessed melissa you would be right though? >> for sure, thanks melissa. it may be summer but capitol hill is still buzzing about cash for clurnkers and health care. many investors are concerned inflation is on its way. as college students get ready to

get back to school, there's one school supply at the top of the wish list. helping to boost the company's bottom line, all of that next on "power lunch." the u.s. services economy contracted more than expected. latest nonmanufacturing index came in at 46.4, below estimates. senate leader march harry reid says the vote for cash for clunkers could be pushed back to saturday. some are still against putting more money in the program. a record $75 billion as it sells three-year notes and ten-year notes and 30-year bonds. i'm courtney reagan. second hour of power lunch continues, i'm bill griffith, stocks sliding a bit.

although one of our manufacturers reports did turn out well. >> sugar and soy beans are bit this year of the we'll give you hot commodity plays. >> i'm rebecca jarris, nfl and marines calling war on twitter. one ronald insana, cnbc contributor, i used to hate first day of school, always called me by my formal name. >> i'm sure it was worst for me, my grandfather heard this, every first day of school the teacher would say, does that mean you're insane? don't you have writers. what do you make of the market. i'm told the declines we sewed were the biggest we've seen since july 7th. >> people get nervous about small declines, earlier in the week with respect to the

streak.com portfolio i went 100% cash. this is more portfolio protection, i think it's still a bull market. the things should come in. some stocks are getting extremely speculative having run up three or four times their march 9th bottoms. it's a momentum market and any manager as cramer was saying, anybody who missed the rally is piling in. >> let's get to our first guess this hour. president is calling on the senate for the extra $2 billion for the cash for clunkers program, one of the many issues the senate is tackle before the august recess. joining us from capitol hill is robert bennett from utah, one of the top economic figures in the senate. senator, always good to see you. >> thanks. >> how will you vote on cash for clunkers? >> i'll vote against it. i did last time. it's good for the auto dealer

and short time pump for the auto manufacturers, but as far as the economy as a whole is it concerned, i don't thing the evidence is it will do much good. >> you don't believe it contributes to even some sort of feel good -- >> oh, yeah -- >> can it have ancillary benefits beyond selling cars? >> the evidence i'm told with respect to europe that tried this, they found it was selling cars. then they looked around and said, but it's dropped off sales of refrigerators and air conditioners and other things people might be buying. there's apparently only so much money out there. if you put it in a car, it's good for the auto dealers and auto manufacturers, not necessarily for overall economic stimulus. >> senator, these cash for clunker vouchers are effectively tax cuts. why as a republican would you oppose something that stimulates the economy through a reduction in the price paid by a consumer?

>> if you look at the amount of money we're talking about adding to the national debt. >> the $3 billion. >> that's pocket change. >> that's the attitude we're getting into and we need to get out of. the other aspect of this thing is it is extremely badly managed. people have no idea how many vouchers there really are out there. i talked to a dealer who has dealerships in seven states in the west. and he said, we only had confirmation from the department of transportation of 20% of the deals that we've made, we extrapolate from that the $2 billion total is already gone. >> is this republican opposing something that works? >> i don't think it's working. >> the car dealer -- car manufacturers say it is. >> car dealers and car

manufacturers, back to my earlier comment i won't repeat. the other thing to keep in mind, we in the congress made it very clear when we did t.a.r.p. that the t.a.r.p. money once it went out to try to stimulate the economy and save these people, as it got paid and came back in it had to go to pay down the national debt. they are recycling the money thus increasing the deficit and national debt and stoking all of the worries -- >> if we could just take a right turn here. i read the op-ed you wrote about senator biden. i love what you're proposing, you want to end the tax free treatment of employer sponsored health insurance. the well off compared to the underclass in america, here's my thing though, what i understand, nobody likes that. do you think it can really get in a through congress? >> it's not quite as simple as

you have described it because it does change the tax laws fundamentally and still allows the companies to deduct the cost of health care but passes the tax benefit through to the individual. so the individual can get the money but not have to pay taxes on it. and there are other aspects to it. i won't go into all details. >> is your vision here we buy car insurance and life insurance and now we should buy our own health insurance? >> exactly. >> well, we originally said it's not connected to the employer. there was so much push back from employer groups and some of the employees saying, hey, our employer has given us a plan we really like and we don't want to lose it. we've said, okay, if you really like your employer plan as it currently stands, you can keep it. but the difference is we'll change the tax law soz that an employee who's stuck with an employer plan he doesn't like can take his money and run. and he can take his money and go out. that means the employer has to

have a plan if he's going to keep it that the employees like rather than the kind of plan that many employers simply force down their employee's throat and say this is it. >> because it's very much in the news now, i'm curious how you're going to vote on sonia sotomayor. >> i'm going to vote no. >> among the republicans voting against the supreme court nominee. thank you for joining us. >> can i interject something quickly? do you mind. >> go ahead. >> when he brought up the issue of t.a.r.p. money being recycled as opposed to stimulus being -- the money is designed to be recycled. $700 billion to be committed at any begin time. as it was paid back, they had the right to use the dollars again and again if they were required to save the money system. >> you did notice treasury expects to borrow much less in

the third quarter because of repayment, which suggests they would retire that money? >> and they could. >> they want the authority, they want the ability to step in when necessary or if necessary to -- i thing they would feel we're in a dangerous place if they had to go back in an emergency situation to congress for new authority to bail out the financial system. >> another busy day for economic news, steve leaseman joins us, he has a deep data dive. >> fresh data on the economy today, uneven improvement in the economy and clear message for investors in a hurry, this will take considerable time. look at the adp number. on friday, minus 371. economists have been looking for minus 350. june was better, 463 and the system for this friday is minus

467, that's government and private. the numbers are better but far from good it is said. >> we are on track from the big job losses we saw earlier in the year of over 700,000 to something that is going to dwindle to close to zero by the end of this year, early next year. >> in the service sector, only rebounding haltingly, came in worse than expected. here's the data from ism, 46.4. economists were looking for better than that. prices were also down, which is a good thing. there it is coming up right now. 41.3 on prices. not as good as the manufacturer earlier this week. if we have the two lines of the ism, manufacturing and the services, the services sector index is a very new index, we don't know how it's going to behave. there's only one recession in

its history, but you can see if you watch the yellow line in 03-04. manufacturing did rebound before -- in 01-02. a little bit before the yellow line did. okay. so economists will joke -- >> have to, right. >> one of problems with recessions is there aren't enough of them to have the data to know what happens. there's only 11 in the post-war era. this index has a track record of a single recession. we don't know how it behaves when and if it recovers. >> we pity the economist. >> we would like more data. we tried to talk about the leadsing indicators of job rebounds -- >> i saw you on cnbc this morning, i haven't been on morning 1967. it's been him. >> treasury secretary walked up to me and said hey, mr.

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welcome back. the conversation on the desk continues and we are looking right now at the picture of the dow down about 83 points at this moment in time. below 9300 as it has been for some time. let's get to the market reporters, beginning with bob pisani. >> financials outperforming and energy stocks are under pressure because of lousy earnings. metal stocks are higher. i'll tell you why in a little. let's look at the earning situation, this is typical of problems we've been having. big users of rigs out there, they lease rigs out and there's less demand overall. while earnings may be a little on the weak side, top line growth is notably week because the volume demand is down. this is happening across the board. procter & gamble, their volume

declined 4%. they had higher prices but maybe that cost them a little bit in terms of market share because people went to lower price products. let me note, citigroup, volumes increasing. that's because there's going to be a big move here in the s&p 500 to buy more citigroup shares to reflect the big increase in common shares that occurred on friday. tradertalk.cnbc.com. the dollar is weaker again today. i see base metals moving up. >> it is an interesting dynamic to observe. we know the relationship with dollar dominated commodities. gold is down and shows that so many traders are watching, maybe it gets out of sink and that there's a huge fundamental life for commodities outside foreign exchange activity even though that is a big piece of it. let's look at interest rates, a

couple days, rates moving down. today we're at 3 and three quarters. about seven basis points, five years of popular area yield curve these days. if you look at the dollars we're talking about, it's hard looking at one-week chart to see not only is it pro actively going lower, the bounces are minimal and this will be a big deal. you hear p and g talk about foreign exchange, it will be a big deal for friday's labor statistics, how in or out of safety will push the dollar. we wants to see what sharon is seeing on her side. >> we're looking at the dollar and fact it is slightly weaker here. we have oil off the lows but we are lower on the day. we did get that report out from the energy department showing that crude supplies increased in the past week, also saw a build there.

that may add to the weakness in prices, but a lot of traders seeing we're in the range, 62, $72 a barrel and particularly until we get the case on the jobs front. in terms of this supply data, we did see that include supplies, gasoline both declined but the decline was far greater than many anticipated. folks trying to figure out why it happened. we're seeing a mixed market in terms of refined fuels. we are going to be paying attention to natural gas for tomorrow. that's going to be the data point to watch as well. back to you. >> let's get back to bob pisani for this week's edition of cnbc 101. >> very interesting fight going on around energy ets. the trading commission, cftc today is holding the last he three hearings on energy speculation, they are considering putting caps on futures contract investor kz buy

in the energy area. the idea is to limit they may have, they are also buyers of energy future soz we have a problem here with the energy etfs. it sounds like the demand for etf is increasing the commodity prices. most other people say there isn't any correlation between prices and etf demand. there's a real issue for the people that own commodity etfs. there could be caps on them that would impede the growth and accessibility to commodities, look how successful they have been. there's a tracking error issue as well. that's our etf 101 for the week. >> we'll continue to follow not only that etf story but the story about commodities in general. is warren buffett making money

on the back of taxpayers? >> it's a question circulating on the internet. and answers in the power lunch blogger buzz. check out stocks moving higher today. the common thread here the earnings report. ralph lauren, garminnesota, devon energy all trading higher today.

is warren buffett profiting on the back of taxpayers and why

they are pouring tens of millions into the campaign. here what the power lunch daily buzz. guys, good to see you. ryan, i read your piece on warren buffett. you make the case a lot of his profits are thanks to taxpayers? >> this is a reuteres column and $26 billion in companies through berkshire hathaway and bank of america and wells fargo, which is a particular favorite of buffett and he got a better deal on goldman investments than the u.s. taxpayers, his preferred stock warrants returned 30% paper profit and taxpayers return only 23%. >> what about the fact he was in before the government? >> that's good to point out.

why couldn't the government get those terms? >> if you're looking for ways to jump start the economy, how about the amount of money being spent on health care reform? >> we love it here at the networks. >> it's a full employment act for those of us in media, but, in fact they've been 5 $2 million spent since the beginning of this week with health care advertising with tens of millions to come. one of the ironies is, despite the perception that it's by people opposed to health care reform, the large majority, substantial majority of the money so far has been by people supporting reforms. >> in terms of that support, how are people coming in in response to that story? >> this is one of the imbalances that you can see all over the blogosphere. a lot of the money is being directed by proponents of health reform, the momentum and passion is on the side of those who

oppose reform. we have a piece on the dailybeast.com by michelle goldberg who tracks the origin of one of big myths against health reform that it will encoura encourage uj ace i can't, to encourage provides doctor. >> care to the elderly. what about cash for clunkers, i have to manage there's piles of stuff. >> there is an incredibly popular program. people are concerned whether this will be a long-term fix for the american car industry. the "washington post" lead story getting a lot of buzz reported that four out of the top five best selling cars are made by foreign companies. ford focus is number one and prius is selling really well. everybody loves cash for clunkers and someone should

trademark the term. but it is not necessarily a but it is not necessarily a american car industry. >> thanks, we enjoy the buzz. >> straight ahead, we're talking commodities, soy beans, sugar up 65%. what are the smart money plays right now in those commodities. stick around to find out. >> twitter is under attack right now. in a few minutes we'll talk to tough guys, the nfl, marines, about what's going on. there is a red hot social network scandal coming out, co "power lunch" is back in a few minutes. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah. his and hers. - ( crowd gasps ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven. - ( chirp ) mansion? - ( chirp ) good to go. ( grunts ) timber! ( chirp ) boss? what do we do with the shih-tzu? - ( chirp ) joint custody. - dog: phew... announcer: get work done now. communicate in less than a second with nextel direct connect. only on the now network. announcer: get work done now. communicate in less

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welcome back to "power lunch." procter & gamble's fourth quarter earnings fell by 18%. profits about beat the street estimates and they are sticking with the forecast. mortgage applications rose by 4.4%. lower rates on fixed ratd getting credit there. labor market, adp says private sector employment fell by 371,000 jobs in july. it is the smallest decline we've

seen in that indicator since october. >> we'll talk about markets because commodities have been on a tear. and one of the commodities i've been noting is the soybean market. part of that and maybe ron you can talk more about this. part of this -- >> expert on soy beans. >> i know you follow china and follow the command in china. one of things is the revisions on soy beans continue to go up. the supply continues to be con strained by weather problem. where china is demanding new goods, we're seeing them demand new goods in the soy area. >> as soon as china hits the wall, when it comes to the restocking of raw materials which may be in the relatively new future, you have to be careful. copperen never spiked up. i would be a little careful given the run we've seen thus far about jumping on a train that left the station many months ago. >> restocking for what. >> part of the stimulus plan,

buying raw materials. >> they may be overbuilding or have their even own bridges to nowhere. >> tuna fish cans under the bed? >> no this is the result of their stimulus. >> sorry to cut you off, but we can bring in jonathan, at rex capital group. we're talking about the fundamentals we're looking at. what do you see in the forecast for soy and sugar and coffee. >> i put sugar at the top of this game. there's also an interesting fundamental picture growing there. one of those global staples, everybody has sugar, table top commodity demand picture. >> it's up big already. >> 65%. add to that the fact in a india, a huge emerging market has changed from being an exporter of sugar to importing of sugar.

that's happening a lot. in fact, they are flirting with 28-year highs, it's expected they move 30% higher by year end. >> the u.s. government still subsidizes sugar, right? >> in this country yes. we're looking at the global demand picture. >> how about the ethanol demand coming out of brazil who uses sugar in the ethanol making? >> i would add to that, this investing in commodities inflationary, edge, a lot of influx coming into the market despite regulatory threats being made in these markets now. >> john, is it a little difficult to call commodities a noncorrelated class when they are moving with other assets over the years? >> i would argue the last couple

of years part of the statement. i would say the last 18 months they've been in lock step. if you draw the picture out to a five or ten-year look, you would see almost a zero correlation of a basket of commodities to fixed incomes or equity securities. >> thank you, jonathan. >> your tax dollars funding new guaranteed multimillion dollar contracts designed to lure heavy hitters from competition on wall street. charlie. i'll bet the answer may be yes? >> i think so, did we have music in the background. >> i noticed that. >> a new theme song now. ♪ we're in the money >> i think it's appropriate for you. >> i'm not in the money. >> why am i in the money? >> it's an option. continue. continue about what? okay. who's in the money? we're not going to go there with

what do you go. i know that. what's interesting about this, the taxpayers are bailing out b of a and citigroup and i came across interesting examples of excessive compensation. i'm going to mangle this person's name, zemia -- do we have the name to put up on the screen? >> we're working on it. >> i can't say it. i can't say t whatever it is, she headed sales at gold man sacks, fixed income sales at goldman sachs in london. got a job at the bank of america merrill lunch to do that for the combined company. this is, remember, bank of america, a taxpayer bailed out company company, she's getting $15 million a year guaranteed for two years and $9 million bonus that basically covers her stock at goldman sachs. when you talk about your

taxpayer's money being put at work, what we see here is bank of america is using that money. it's -- they are being bailed out. paying $15 million a year for someone, maybe she's very good, i'm sure she's good at her job. paying somebody $15 million a year for two years plus the goldman sachs stock. there's a lot of anecdotal evidence going on about this sort of compensation that's at some of these bailed out banks, the commodities trader, is -- there's a, a huge controversy whether he should be getting what's in his contract. $100 million bonus right now. we're going to see more of this in the month to come. there was another -- it was a part of citigroup. solomon was bought during the travelers day and merged with citi corp to create citigroup.

some people were telling me a goldman sacks operations guy making $500,000 a year moved to citigroup guaranteed for two years at the pay of $1.5 million a year. so, goldman sachs has been getting a lot of guf lately about making money. i've been supplying some of that, making money on the taxpayer dime. they borrow cheaply. they are commercial bank. they are too big to fail. that helps them out. they can take risk almost at the taxpayer expense. what you're seeing here is another type of risk. banks that have been bailed out essentially go out and hire people with that bailed out money and hire them at -- you know, i would think $15 million a year is a lot of money. >> it is. >> to be guaranteed for two years even though she's -- this woman -- >> we just found out a key individual has walked out of a hearing. we've got to cut you off to get

to him. thank you, charlie. >> resigns for $15 million for three years with the giants. eli manning. >> the key individual michelle was talking about gary gensler held the third and final hearing, the energy futures market. good to see you again, welcome back. >> good to be with you. >> you're generally in favor of these, you lean in that direction. after these hearings, do you still feel that way? >> well, bill, i think we really heard a lot from the public, a diverse set of views, but it does look like there was some support, set limits and what we're doing is to promote market so no one trader has too concentrated a position and markets then would be hopefully more liquid and fair and orderly. >> today you did hear though testimony from two of the largest funds that participate

in those markets, obviously arguing against that because of the argument that they add liquidity to the markets and this would be an unfair practice regarding their business. how do you respond to that? >> actually, in fairness, the large exchange trade fund said if it's related to hedge funds, it might be appropriate or all right. didn't want it to apply to them. from the large hedge fund that testified today, they do think we should have position limits on what's called physical futures. >> those settle in cash. >> that's right. >> in terms of providing liquidity, folks have talked that high frequency trading provided liquidity. do you think that could accomplish any of your goal fz it is moved forward? >> i think we'll separately look and see where there's flash trading in our markets. our preliminary look has not found that but we are going to take a look.

position limits are more about making sure no one trader is too large. we can all agree we wouldn't want to have somebody half of a market. then really the question is, what is the size to limit it at. >> how is it possible that previously the cftc said speculators weren't the cause of what we saw going on in oil and now we have reports indeed they are the cause? how is that possible the same agency can come out with two position snz. >> i'm not sure which reports you're referring to. there are some reports in newspaper that's were inaccurate and premature. just like we do for agricultural products, we set position limits to promote the market. and energy markets are both consumable problems that are a finite supply. why wouldn't we be consistent with these? our statry fame work says we should do it if we find it

necessary to promote the market. >> when you go back and look at the super spike that took place last year and analyzed the numerous players, whether russia, opec countries increasing the price of oil by 50, $60 a barrel. how do you prove it was the speculators at the margin who were responsible for the spike. >> we did have an as et bubble in commodity prices the hedge funds and index investors and financial actors were part of it. certainly there were many factors. >> how about the federal reserve and cheap money? >> as i said, i think there were many factors, many imbalances with our low savings rates here in the u.s. and high savings rates overseas and yes even the low interest rate environment. >> we have to go. we've got to put -- an

exclamation point on the end. do you and when we'll see limits if at all when you get around to imposing them. >> i look forward to consulting with my fellow commissioners and staff f. we were to move forward, i would imagine at least publishing rules in the fall, but i don't want to get ahead of myself. i need to consult with my fellow commissioners. >> thanks for joining us. >> thank you so much. >> we thank steve for joining us as well today. >> you know, there's so many places i can go. >> don't do that. ron, we enjoy having you. when we come back, paula abdul announces she's leaving fox's "american idol" on twitter. however, the nfl and marines are banning twitter. is the social network in real trouble or hotter than ever. speaking of fox, here's how the stock performed in the last year, down more than 20% over the last year. trading today lower by more than

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stock market coming off the lows right now. the dow down 52 points, trading at 9266.61. >> do the viewers know how restrained i am sometimes? >> twitter, the popular service is facing serious backlashes, asking them to putle cell phones down and stop tweeting. is this going to hurt the company's growth? julia joins us with the details.

>> twitter has been the wild west of digital communications but now companies are making rules good how they use the service. u.s. marine corps banned twitter from the network along with facebook and myspace saying they pose unnecessary information, putting security and personnel at risk. the marines continue to use them to post news. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff tweeted that he will continue to tweet. all as the pentagon reviews policies across the department of defense. the nfl is developing a broad policy, they already ban cell phones and electronic devices on the sidelines. but they are pushing to tweet during games, the san diego chargers fined quarterback $2500 for tweeting complaints about training camp food. the ncaa scrutinizing how

coaches use twitter, they can send direct twitter message but can't post public tweets. espn issued guidelines for behind the scenes employees. the uneducated communication is becoming a go-to source for information. paula abdul announcing she's not returning to "american idol." we have to expect more companies to enforce guidelines, which raises the question if twitter communication is limited, it is less interesting? >> less discuss that. we'll get more from john able and dennis neil who once made the mistake and upset pr when he broke news on twitter by mistake. let me start with you. what do you think about the marines and nfl coming out against twitter, is this going to hurt them. >> no, at the time not going to hurt twitter at all. there's no such thing as bad

publicity. it's unusual they would allow their recruits to communicate on company time as it were any way. >> aren't we just figuring out the role twitter will play in the social -- >> it's easy to confuse the medium with the message, people are not used to it yet, trying to transpose a telephone for twitter, to communicate telepathic dtelepath icily how we would regulate that. there are rules of etiquette and common sense. you don't snark about your company unless you want repercussions. >> i think this is a sign twitter truly has arrived. it's only a matter of time before we see first twitter libel case. i think we could see a twitter first amendment complaint. i can understand taking espn

on-air talent and telling them can't twitter. yet you go all the way down to a ups truck driver? >> we already have a twitter libel case, a woman in chicago said something about the mold in her apartment and mentioned the landlord and he is suing for defamation of character. >> we wouldn't be upset if it was a conversation conference call with 20 people. >> it is different. most communication is open. you put a tweet out there, anyone who wants to follow you can find that. it's a very different than facebook more about wall gardens, it is open, that's why we're starting to see regulations, i think this is a sign that twitter arrived and companies are trying to figure out how to allow employees to use it for their benefit.

talking about arranging system fz something is tweeted it directs people to the website and boost their bottom line. >> the problem is twitter's attractiveness it is so wild west as you had said and you could actually see a guy tell his real thoughts. and the more regulation that's come in, the more twitter loses its charm. >> you mention the fact this is good news that they are getting news and getting a little bit of marketing for their company. what's the future of twitter's business and who comes out -- you mentioned this category that is growing. >> there's no limit to where twitter can go right now. it's a private company, closely held. it has angel investors -- >> are they making money? >> they are not making money. they have no business model yet. on the other hand they don't need to make money for some time. >> they are a mazing audience, but their operating expenses are

virtually nothing. they can burn that for a very long time, very large runway. >> i want to say, a couple of weeks ago i spoke with the co-founder of twitter who said they plan to start generating revenue this quarter and the first will not be advertising, but instead will be helping companies like jetblue and whole foods who already use twitter, charging them to monitor to see how people react to the brand. dell generated $1 million in incremental revenue thanks to twitter. twitter thinks it won't have a hard time charging to help the company. >> little advertising. >> thanks, good to see you. >> see you tonight on cnbc reports. >> 8:00, tune in. don't miss it. >> coming up next, prices of college text books are outrageous. now some schools are giving students kindles to download

their books, is this a huge big bucks breakthrough for amazon. >> check out the amazon stock. not bad today, down 1.50 to 84.30. we're back after this. 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. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

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if you have kids in college, you know how expensive text books are. amazon may have a way to save you money. >> jim? >> the world of electronics books is heating up with sony slashing the price of the e-reader to take on amazon and the kindle. amazon is using a back to school kindle promotion to own the education market. analysts estimate amazon sold 1.75 million kindsles with recent price cuts spurring more growth. the education market is becoming increasingly important to amazon. amazon saying 60% of u.s. text books will be available for download on the device, in addition to arizona state and princeton and case western are all offering kindles for free to students and savings on the text book bills are significant. >> i think that students will

ends up saving between a third and 33% and 50% of the total cost of their texts. >> and you know, for hard working students, every penny counts. amazon and sony are jumping into a battle for e-book supremacy. $11.99 to $9.99 and introduced two new devices, a competitive disadvantage for sony, no wire lgs downloads and you have to plug into a computer to buy them. amazon's push on to college campuses could yield big time dividends. >> i know a couple of other universities in a offer kindles as well. let's go to john harwood. another high profile regulator stepping down. >> james lock hart who heads the federal housing finance committee, fannie and freddie, has decided three years in the job is enough. we're seeing news break across

the wire from rueters he is expected to announce hresignatin imminently. he wants to return to private life and is not delaying. >> bush appoint ee, good friend of president bush from high school? >> he was a bush appointee and stayed on and provided service under president clinton and helping to implement president clinton's housing, but he's decided he's had enough of this job. >> and of course, made the transition to fhfa as well in the whole process. thanks very much. the show is called "power lunch" we'll leave with empty calories, jon and kate, the perfect bon-bon if you will. gt

the empty calories are the best kind. jon and indicakate returning to 61% drop in viewership since the previous episode on june 22nd

that had the record-breaking 10 million viewers when they announced they were splitting. >> when you turn in $4 million on tlc channel. >> darn good. 51% of 12 million. >> lots of cable ascribers for 12 million. >> some of the networks are 4 million viewers. for the young people, cable is different than networks broadcasts. >> people who don't know. >> that's it for "power lunch" we'll see you tomorrow. "street signs" begins in 30 seconds. reports say the government's chief regulator james lockhart will resign to return to private life. >> myron gets six years, two were convicted of defrauding investors. the postal service expects

to lose $7 billion by the time the fiscal year ends. i'm courtney reagan. i'm erin burn net, this is street signs, a new world for investors what does the new world look like for banks and for anyone buying stock? a report of fighting in the obama administration true or not? we'll have mary shapiro and we'll put everything on the table. cramer, major wall street news maker and one person who wrote a op-ed saying the crisis could be afoot right now. ceo of owens corning, that's our show and it starts now. we begin as always with a check on the major market averages, we're down 63.

this is not the low of the session. it is right across the board. we are well off the lows no matter where you look. stocks are suffering the worst losses, right now on the dow the biggest loser are png and the milk company and electronic art falling 7% on the nasdaq. let's check in with the markets and see what the other headlines are. bob is there at the big board and rick is in chicago and brian is at the nasdaq. >> the important thing is earnings are continuing to come in from several different sectors like retailers and energy companies are coming in and casinos, here's a good example of how a company using the world stabilization isn't getting the move up they thought about. a big gaming company. we had the results today, a little bit of disappoint on nevada