it is time for the call to action on stocks you need to watch today. cnbc's scott cohn is on the case. >> hi, mandy, back to school time. would you want to be in the student loan business at this time? first marblehead is in the loan business and doing well despite what could seem like ominous comments from moody's yesterday, which downgraded a number of student loan related securities and noted it is concerned with first marblehead's ability to access the financial markets and securitization. i think we have a chart of fmd, the symbol on the stock doing well. wired is in the trucking business, one of the top gainers in the nasdaq, a lot of people

thinking issues with trucking have bottomed out. the stock up 14%, as you can see. everything chip related strong, omni vision technologies rising the waeve, expecting to profit this quarter. and that is an impressive six-month chart there. immuno medics is a stock that has gotten a huge pop, especially in the last week, testing a lupus drug that is a very tough category in pharmaceutica pharmaceuticals. you can see the stock with a 10% drop today. mandy? >> thanks, for the update there. that is it for today's edition of kwau"the call." >> and i'm larry kudlow, i'm going to see you at the kudlow report, 7:00 p.m. eastern. but now "power lunch" is up next. >> all together now, it is friday. aren't we glad for that? something like that. >> definitely. >> welcome to "power lunch."

i'm bill griffith. stocks are sliding for the most part today. consumers, we saw weak sentiment figures out this morning, fears putting pressure on the averages, the dow fighting to make it nine days of gains in a row, the first time we have seen that since 1996 if it were to happen. also, a number of unusual volume leaders today, which we'll get to. aig continues its surge, so stick around for details on all of that, coming up. >> i'm sue herrera, goliath versus goliath, ramping up moves into financial services. we'll tell what you the world's biggest retailer is up to. >> we are pleased to welcome our special guest this hour, j.j. burns, the president of j.j. burns and company, good to see you sir. we'll find out where he is putting his money to work these days and his take on the fab five stocks this week, the fannies, the freddies, the aigs, and b of as. here's what else is on the menu today. >> i'm jim goldman in the

silicon valley bureau, another helping of california cuisine, a one-two punch of good news from dell. and intel strength where we didn't expect it and the news that isn't merely less bad but actually good. and shares are reflecting that. >> i'm julia boorstin in los angeles. retailers suffered through the recession, but now things are starting to look up. cost cutting helping the bottom line and protecting its high end i imaginage, back in the door when they were ready to spend. >> all right, i'm jane wells with a blue light special. everything old is new again, including brett favre and how his comeback may help lay-away make a comeback. i'll explain next hour. >> how does she manage to connect those two things? >> can't wait to find out how she does that. to our market action today, the dow does my to continue its winning streak of the last week-plus. technology among the best performers. health care, consumer staples among the worst. of bob pisani kicks us off.

look at that rogue gallery. tell us what's going on in the market today. bob, you first. >> thanks. we are struggling, frankly. techs have been up all day. but even they are off their highs, sold right into the good news from intel at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. here is the big tech names, st micro on a high. ibm positive earlier has now drifted lower. again, not a lot of energy and bids in the market, even for the tech stocks. take a look at aig, we have been talking about those high beta stocks all week. bottom line, trade taking very heavy range and signs this rally and these high-tech-hype beta branches are a little tired. fannie and freddie, same situation, looking weaker. talk about energy now, no participation in the rally we have seen this summer or really this year, as oil has faltered around 75 and natt gas down 75%. dry ships, which ships dry

goods, not oil, but frontier oil and general maritime, they ship oil. nothing. and they have gone nowhere all through this year. and a lot of debate about what, if anything, will turn them around. tradertalk.cnbc.com. scott, we're up this week, but just fractionally. >> we're weakening, given a few more minutes, could be in negative territory, because we have given almost everything back. we're ahead right now by just about 4.33 points. 2/10 of 1%. technology has started to pull back. you have the continual good stories from dell, earnings better than expected after the bell and intel raising its revenue and profit margin forecast. the stock is up 4.5%. do you have some strength holding up from apple, research in motion, microsoft and oracleful marvel is a standout from the chips base today as their earnings were better than expected. also, their outlook was better than expected, so you have some strength across the chips base. but that's when things starting to south from the consumer discretionary names and staple

names, and stores down 3.5%, posted their second quarterly loss in a row. some of the bio phrma stocks specifically are weak today as celgene is off 2.5%, amgen off 1.5 herself, and even with a positive day, for technology, the reason why the nasdaq is threatening to go into negative territories, if you look internally here, you've got 5 to 3 is the ratio of declining stocks to advance. so internally, a fairly weak market, even with the advances that we have seen in big cap technology today because of dell and intel. let's go down to matt nesto at the nymex. >> thank you very much, scott. we're up for a second day in a row here. crude will have to get back to almost $74 a barrel if it's going to turn in a positive week. it's also worth noting the price of natural gas is the lone loser here today, heating oil and gasoline, as well as crude all trading higher, all be it fairly modestly, 1% right now. if you look at the natural gas contract, testing 302 with about

a 5% decline. we are off about 6%, just from intraday high, the first day of trading for the october, as the front month contract. and it looks like it could be a real test on whether or not it can hold that $3 level or not. let's get -- i'm sorry, i didn't hear you -- to rick. i hope. >> yeah! you have it right, mr. matt. you know, i like looking at the kpren currencies, one of the areas i pay attention. currency versus the dollar is interesting, up a little bit on the day, up a little bit more on the week. up just a bit, because it has some ground gain against things like the canadian dollar and the yen. but, boy still at a low level. intrad intraday, 10, yields have come down a lot. hey, this makes sense, going into the adjustment process for the end of the month. last chart's weekly. hey, yields were 355 at the end of the last week, so we shaved 12 basis points off. sue, back to you. >> thank you, rick, and great having you with us this week, by

way, in studio. >> so much fun. hey, is bill wearing his cowboy boots? >> no. are you? >> i am, indeed. we'll have a tony lamba conference. >> very good. rick, show 'em the wires here. all right. as we mentioned at the beginning of the show, five stocks, aig, fannie, freddie, citi, bank of america, accounting for close to a third of volume in what has been a thinly traded market. is that cause for concern? as you probably know, aig, fannie and freddie have been paying to go to zero by a number of analysts. let's talk about what's going on in this market. joining us is ray harrisson, founder of haricon financial group, and j.j. burns, president of j.j. burns and company. so j.j., i'll start with you. what do you make of what's going on here? aig, the volume that it is controlling, the percentage moves that this stock has made for a company that's almost basically completely owned by the government, is unbelievable. >> gosh, if the government could

back stop my business, i could take lots of risk and do anything i want, too. but it's funny, because the ceo of aig has been in talks of using the advisory capacity to consult and relationship of old hank greenberg, who is on the edge or finishing up a $115 million lawsuit that he hasn't admitted any fault or what he has done in the past. but interestingly, you know, i think what's going to happen with aig is that they're going to tap into this network of great people, and with the ceo at aig basically saying that, we want to just slow down a little bit, and let's see if we can get some value in these businesses. i think that's really propelling the stock to say there is more value there. we're not at armageddon levels. >> but ray, a lot of people also saying this is kind of the ultimate short squeeze that's going on, and it's not going to be pretty when it ends. >> for any of these stocks, do you think. >> exactly. >> well, our look at it is that there's a real disconnect between economic news, what's happening in the markets, and

then what really plays out. last year, when lehman had a bubble, there was a real -- what we call a revaluation of risk. and that revaluation is what is really driving this market. when it looked like everything was crashing, people wanted out. when it come down to the spring, it looked like maybe we're not going to crash, people started reevaluating how much risk this market had, and thinking i need to participate. >> kevin, how much of it is day traders just running these stocks, because they know they can right now? >> absolutely. there's a lot of guys who make their living off of these kinds of moves, and they're going to push it as far as they can get. and maybe there is some fundamental truth to what's going on with aig, with $180 billion of taxpayer money behind you, i guess you've got time on your side to let some assets rebound. >> how about fannie and freddie? we had an analyst on yesterday who said he wouldn't touch citigroup now. b of a also, running on two engines as opposed to four, which he buys, but he doesn't

buy citigroup right now. >> well, as far as fannie and freddie go, i think it's clear that the government and fed are not going to let these institutions fail. you know, the policies that the fed has in place right now to keep interest rates low and backstop liquidity for all financials, you know, with -- with tons of different tools, that's key. you take the economy from a depression, and we're going to keep it there. >> aig aside right now, because it's now a $50 stock, but the old adage on wall street, you can't break your arm falling out of a one-story window. of would you take the risk here? realizing the risk? >> i would not. because i don't understand how much more value is in aig. and by the way, the bond holders of aig, they're not jumping on board here. their bond values are still down. so that's very important to point out. lastly, a lot of these companies, especially aig, only has about seven major shareholders, so it's pretty easy to manipulate the stock. >> we're going to talk more about aig specifically in a few minutes. thank you gentlemen.

j.j. will stick around with us for a while longer. >> okay. so here's what the story is. our website today, cnbc.com, is conducting a survey. you'll find it on the home page in the headlines under overused words -- buzz words, i think it is. overused buzz words. you can go take the poll. they have a number of cliches and words that are used in word plays, all of the time. but what do you think of the most overused words in the workplace, cliches, that just drive you crazy right now? send us your thoughts, powerlunch cnbc.com. cathy says she never hears at the end of the day again, she'll be very happy. for example. and then dan wrote in, and said, you know, at the top of the list, it has to be the word issue. everything is an issue now. there are no longer any problems. something has issues. it doesn't have problems anymore, right, j.j. >>? yeah. green chutes is one of my

problems. >> you're tired of hearing that one? >> ben bernanke probably are ro the day he came up with that. sends us your information here and we'll air it at the end of the day. >> unless there are issues. >> right. as we mentioned, aig up 400% since july. can't get enough of this stock right now. are buyers of this stock heading for a big profit, or a big beating? we're going to drill down further on that in just a moment. and also in this hour, the health of high-end retailers in this economy and go shopping for stock winners. plus a lot of debate about our surging national debt. but are these deficits good for the u.s. economy? >> plus, get ready for the "fast money" halftime report. melissa lee is back the in chair. don't say we didn't warn you. we are back in two minutes. this is "for you we are lunch" on cnbc, first in business worldwide. the dow is down 46. i'm here on this tiny little plane, and guess what...

i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. anything before takeoff mr. kurtis? prime rib, medium rare. i'm bill kurtis, and i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. reading about washington these days... i gotta ask, what's in it for me? i'm not looking for a bailout, just a good paying job. that's why i like this clean energy idea. now that works for our whole family. for the kids, a better environment. for my wife, who commutes, no more gettin' jerked around on gas prices... and for me, well, it wouldn't be so bad if this breadwinner brought home a little more bread. repower america. i hope our senators are listening.

some of most widely clicked stocks, stop me if you've heard this before, citigroup, bank of america, freddie mac and fannie mae. bill? >> and wait, there's more. besides those, aig has garnered a lot of attention as we mentioned before yesterday, it was up an eye-popping 25%. is it simply a case of a classic short squeeze? or is it the confidence in a new boss? mary thompson is here to cut

through the market buzz surrounding this insurer. mary? >> lots of reasons, if you ask different traders, they cite a number of the reasons for the run-up. among them, high-frequency traders improving fundamentals and comments from the company's new ceo that he is in no rush to sell assets. robert benmoshe saying he wants to wait for the right price. but traders point to an overarching theme, investors now less risk averse. this is improving the direction of aig's stock which last month is up 256%. then layer in a significant short interest in the stock, 18% of its float compared to the slightly less than 4% average for other nyse stocks. the stock rally, investors hoping to buy it back at a lower price and pocket the difference, they have to buy it back to limit their losses. the result is adding fuel to a fire, more buyers mean bigger gain and volume. yesterday the stock traded at four times its ten-day average and fright now about

one-and-a-half times that level, just two-and-a-half hours into the trading day. so one other thing to note about aig that's interesting. right now. the average size of the trade is about 213 shares. and this suggests to some traders, you have to consider, as well, there is a 20 for 1 reverse stock. so the 213 shares becomes over 4,000, and the price at 50 actually is just about 2.50 on aig. a couple interesting things. >> very confusing. >> let's talk more about this. thank you, mary. talk with bill patrick with opteak capital management. what's your opinion, bill? whether this is a warranted rally or not? >> yeah, i'm not convinced this is warranted. i have my doubts about hank greenberg's involved. i think it makes sense to get this guy on the same team, but i don't think he'll be involved in the strategy of this company going forward. and really, there is no visibility on aig. they're going to be forced to sell assets, we know that. and just like citigroup, they're going to be selling what i would

call core assets. so at the end of the day what is the company going to look like, and i apologize for using that cliche, but no one really knows. i would rather be on the sidelines. >> let me be clear. you don't think hank greenberg will be on a role in the future? because he is a guy itching to get back in the saddle, to use the cliche? >> the management has turned over several times, perhaps you seek his opinion, but in terms of fostering relationships and being involved from a day to day perspective, i think that's a long shot. >> j.j., one of the things that's worrisome to analysts that i have talked to is the fact we have seen this stupendous percentage rise in the stock. and yes, there are those that risk is being repriced. yet we see yields on the short end of the curve going down, because people are piling into that, and they're pointing to the high-frequency trades, the flash trades as a result. how is this going to end up? what do you think will happen with aig and this particular situation? >> well, to the point that your guests made, it's pretty clear

that benmoshe has no investment from any type of financial aspect, because he had to come and basically confess that -- if there is any involvement, he has to say that. and from what i understand, most journalists reported that that is not going to happen. hank greenberg is not going to get involved. but bond holders, i take my cue from bonds, and that's why i take a lot of my cues from bonds when it comes to dealing with stocks. it's pretty clear, if there was any substance to this, you see aig bond holders not being down 50%. >> so what happens? when does this trade reverse? because what i'm hearing, if it does reverse -- exactly. but it will be pretty ugly. >> i would venture to say i'm just going to hypothesize this. that the first bad asset they sell is just going to be selling that news. and i think that's going to come sooner rather than later. >> what do you think happens, bill? >> yeah, i think we could get some poor economic data. that's a possibility. we could see some m & a that happens at less favorable turns, no question, some consolidation.

if it happens at depressed levels, maybe that turns over high beta stocks like citi and aig. >> all right. thank you, bill fitzpatrick, see you later. >> thank you. >> coming up next, we focus on tiffany. they raised their guidance, but hermes missed. what's the take-away for investors? are people ready to spend on luxury goods or not? we look at the stocks watch. >> and check out the shares of some of the players in the luxury space. tiffany, coach, nordstrom all higher. sax trading fraction nael lower. you're watching "power lunch" first in business, cnbc worldwide. carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday, was it really for fun, or to save money on heat? why? don't you think nordic tuesday is fun? oh no, it's fun... you know, if you are trying to cut costs, fedex can help. we've got express options, fast ground and freight service-- you can save money and keep the heat on. great idea. that is a great idea. well, if nordic tuesday wasn't so much fun.

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a few fresh clues about the health of the high-ends retailers in this tough economy. cnbc's julia boorstin joins us with more on that. hi, julia. >> tiffany and coach trading higher as the jewellers' earning beat analysts expectations, results potentially better in second quarter than the previous two. and the company increases full-year forecasts. as the recession forced consumers to shut their wallets,

the high-he said jewelers certainly suffered, a third and a quarter from a year ago. still, tiffany refused to move down scale, and wall street likes its leaner operations, having reduced marketing spending, administrative costs and offering early retirement to some employees. tiffany's is well positioned for discounting. >> there is a lot of pent-up demand for conceal l assumers, paying store the last two years, and i think we could see a nice fourth quarter surprise. >> hermes reported a drop in the first half of year, but the famous scarf maker says it will open or renovate at least ten more stores this year, mostly in the u.s. and asia. and beauty product giant loreal is getting a boost. the ceo saying the worst is over and he's looking for an acquisition. cost-cutting protects retailers, while mantding their high-end image ensuring consumers don't ever expect a sale.

>> how strong are high-he said retailers as we enter the critical fall and holiday shopping season? let's bring in brian nagle, retail analyst at oppenheimer. good to see you again. >> thanks for having me. >> you like tiffany at this point. i suppose if you're going to spend and you're a high-he said buyer, you want that little blue box. it's also kind of a security thing, isn't it? >> i think so. i do like tiffany. i think what's really the biggest asset of that company is their brand. and they have done just a phenomenal job, in my view of maintaining the brand image through this economic downturn. >> what do you mean, j.j.? you're nodding your head. >> he is right on the money. they have -- tiffany is a 1 100-year-old company, and they have such a great brand, and they have just begun to really infuse that brand to europeans who really already know the brand. and now have access to that. >> sounds pretty good. j.j., also, you were mentioning that you have had clients and people that you know that they may not be buying as much as

they were buying before. but if they make the decision to buy, they're going to go to a tiffany. >> absolutely. and you can see that, you can feel it going down the diamond district in the city. >> i don't get there much. i wish i did. but -- >> maybe come to you guys. but what's happening, because the really major purchases, they're not sure if their jeweler is going to be in business anymore. so they would rather take the higher end purchase to someone they know they can go back and get bigger diamond earrings or something. >> ryan, does this go for all looks retailers? this has been a recession that has taken a toll on the high end of the market as people got their head handed to them in the financial markets in the last year. so are all luxury retailers be just like tiffany? >> it's hard to say, it's a collection of unique companies. as i look at tiffany results with their report today in q2 and early indications of what we're seeing in the third quarter, you thii think the big driver is the stock market. now, there is a very strong

correlation over time between stock prices and comp. store sales of tiffany, usually about a one to two-quarter lag. so i think the market rally basically continues to begin in march. i think a big driver of better sales at tiffany, i would assume that that applies to other luxury retailers, as well, and some of the results of the companies i don't necessarily follow have the luxury chains, and that seems like it is starting to play off. >> brian, you also follow williams sew gnome, and a lot of people looking at that, and one is a luxury retailer and a reflection of what people are doing in their homes. i'm confused as to whether performance and williams sonoma going forward will be good because of the fundamentals of the economy, or whether because they have been so aggressive at inventory reduction and cost-cutting or perhaps a combination of both. >> you know, williams sew gnome, i give the company a lot of credit because they did take aggressive measures over the last several months in order to better position themselves to

weather this economic storm, if you will. the concern i have with williams sonoma is the deposit brand on tiffany, but with williams sonoma, i think the pottery born -- roughly half their business, i think it needs to be revitalized. and i think it's suffering a bit from just getting a little stale in the marketplace, and it's also much more tied to housing than obviously than tiffany would be. >> all right. brian nagle, good to see you. thanks for joining us today. >> thanks for having me. >> you bet. the forecast that the deficit is set to climb to $9 trillion over the next ten years created a firestorm of fear this week. but should it? isn't it possible that growing deficits could actually be good things right now? sparks are set to fly in today' "power grid." >> plus, minutes away from the "fast money" halftime report, and she's back. melissa. >> hey, guys, it is great to be back. of you think it's a quiet friday in august, but owe contraire, we have seen a turning in the

market, the fade in energy stocks, our traders will pick apart this session, and dell and intel charging higher in tech land. but the best way to play these stocks may not be in the actual stocks. we'll fill you in on the halftime report. but first, more "power lunch" right after this.

welcome back to "power lunch. "in the headlines this hour, the bulls running out of steam, but one sweet spot in the commodities market, sugar hitting a 28-year high almost doubling. whirlpool plans to shut a facility in indiana and shift production to mexico, a move that will eliminate 1,100 jobs. it won't change the appliance-makers profit outlook for the year, however. and intel shares on the move, the chip maker raising its sales outlook. we'll look at data techs in the next hour. >> the forecast of a $9 trill kron deficit over the next decade, but paul krugman writing in his column, saying don't worry, it's actually helping the economy. squaring off in the "power grid," mark walsh, and the radio host of the jason lewis show.

good to see you both. you know how it works, 20 seconds to make your case and we go after that. you have 20 seconds to dispute the reining nobel laureate. >> this is classic krugman, we have a massive run-up in housing and he says go indebt deeper. good luck with that. there are two kinds of geoff sits, one that grows the economy and one of spending that this government is in, that we will not be able to service the debt on and that's why foreign creditors are so nervous right now. >> mark walsh, defend the deficit. >> we're trying to pay attention to the two biggest costs in the u.s., long-term and health. it will be taken care of and drown down because people will realize america is finally facing its cost-structure problems, health and savings. done. >> what about the kinds of deficits, one caused by spending, the other caused by tax cuts? >>s is inned jason forget to

mention this is composed of investments, this u.s. government as made in things like aig and gm. in fact, they're equity investments which will yield something. so this is a different blend and type of deficit than our prior experience of deficits under bush and other republican administrations. >> unfortunately, that refutes everything about paul krugman's containsian definition. where you prime the pump to get spending, not investment. if it you think the government can invest better than the private sector, fine, go down that road. >> jason, krugman made the point in his column that if the government din do the spending it did, where it did in the last year, we would face the great depression 2.0. what do you think? >> well, we did this through the '30s. you know, hoover increased spending, hoover increased taxes, fdr then doubled down, and by 1938, we still had 20% unemployment. we didn't get ow of the depression until after world war ii, where taxes and spending

were cut. the kennedy/reagan tax cuts which led to a transitional deficit worked. government spending deficits dragged the economy. >> well, i love how it's easy to sort of ignore what we're talking about here, and i'm going to quote one of the conservatives' favorite of champions, dick cheney, who said, and i quote, reagan proved that deficits don't matter. so why this constant concern for deficits now from the right, when, in fact, their man, dick cheney, said it doesn't matter. and secondly, your interpretation of what deficits mean is immaterial to me. paul krugman himself said these investments will have yield. what i'm saying is these investments are not all costs, they're not all gone, they're equity investments that should have some yield. >> i've got to go. jason, both of you guys know about commercials and all that. we've got to go. thank you. good discussion. among the most overused workplace terms, we're asking four thoughts on it today, the cliches in the workplace that drive you crazy.

we heard a laundry drinks today from robert. he says this is the worst he hears on trading desk. one team, one dream. getter done. get involved. thanks for coming in. add some value. we'll see how -- let's count how many of these we hear in the halftime report coming up in just a moment, shall we? >> you have a favorite or least-favorite? >> you know what i'm hearing so many now that i've lost my train of thought of which i don't like. trust me, you're spending in plenty of them. and we'll get to them. >> my least favorite, you hear it all of the time on wall street. it is what it is. what does that mean? >> exactly. >> my favorite is, i need some color on that. >> okay. talking about slapping financial terms with a tax to keep from taking too much risk. can you say socialism, perhaps? how about anti business? a trip across the town for a live report after a quick break. >> plus, next week a monster for data.

the ism will be on auto sales, factory orders and of course the grabbed daddy of them all, the august jobs report. our trader triple play will get you ahead of the news next hour. you're watching "power lunch", first in business worldwide. the dow is down 71. some people buy a car based on the deal they get. others by the car of their dreams. during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. special lease offers now available on the 2009 es 350.

uk regulators are considering a tax on financial transaction. in an effort to cut down on risk trading. cnbc's guy johnson joins us from london with more on the fallout of that. hi, guy. >> hey, sue, you ever heard of the turban tax? check your history books, because james tobin around 30 years ago is being revised, the boss of london financial services authority, the equivalent of the s.e.c. briefly, it is a tax -- call it that if you want to, a tiny percentage on every financial transaction, tobin originally conceived this as an idea to reduce volatility in foreign exchange, because it basically mitigates against people round-tripping, doing very short-term trading and it encourages people to take longer-term risk. you're not in and out of the market every five minutes. now, i suspect that this probably won't go anywhere, and

it's been interesting. the mayor of london, boris johnson has already described this as crackers, and it's not getting a great deal of traction over here. but what it is going to do is open up this whole debate about financial first see, and market efficiency, the efficient market theory, if you will. the entire regulatory structure is founded on at the moment. so we're going to wait and see what happens. i think raising this as a mechanism of which we can start the debate of wider topics. and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here. phil, sue, back to you. >> what do you think? at the very least, certainly we know the intent of that kind of a tax, but could be a raise in revenue here, huh? is. >> it's admirable when you think they want some level of regulation. i wish our own government would have better regulation for banks laid out. but it's interesting they want to get into this discussion to open up other things. but from what i understand and going back to my history books, tobin wanted this to help out the problems that happen from

the dill tierous aspects of finance and how it effects social parts of the country. and then that money would be utilized for that. so there is some admirable quality to it. >> guy, do you agree, or what are you hearing about those who say that if indeed it did go into effect, it wouldn't necessarily encourage longer-term positions. >> well, there are -- there are those that certainly say it would have very little effect, that simply the market will absorb the tax, it will be fractional, and nobody would really pay any attention to it. but it could if you scaled this across the globe generate huge amounts of money, and that money would come out of the financial system and therefore make the financial system maybe a little bit smaller and a little bit more manageable. he said that certain investment bankers serve no social use at this stage, but investment banking has become so big that it rarely provides no social utility. so that is an interesting point of view, as well. >> indeed. guy johnson, as always, thank

you. see you later. so still ahead, dell rebounds, intel raises guidance, tech on a terror. of can you still serve the broadband wave? stick around to find out. >> the new age in walmart, and this time financial services. plus, the "fast money" halftime where you live... ...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. but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis,

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welcome to the "fast money" halftime report, we're getting to the heart of the action as it

is happening. stocks to the lows over the day despite great news from dell and intel. is this the beginning of the correction? our "fast money" crew today, the governor from the floor of the sock exchange, steve grasso, and scott nations of nations share and options action trader. guys, let's start talking about the markets. we got that great news out of dell and intel, and steve, you know what concerns me right now is not only is the whole market turning lower, but technology in particular. if you look at the s&p technology sector, it has been a drift lower without any sort of bounce that we are seeing in materials, as well as some of the other sectors out there. >> wouldn't you, with this marketplace that has had an incredible run take some profits, especially on a friday? no one knows what's going to happen, no one knows what monday is looking like. i would take a profit. wouldn't be concerned just yet. >> steve, tell me if this is something we should be concerned about or just write it off as friday, august, slow out there? >> steady as she goes game plan.

back in may, i talked about the s&p going to 1000, we will hit the target and i'll talk about the next leg, 1100, 1150, that's where we're headed. day-long look for places to buy. first place i would buy the s&p is 1020, 1010. and other thing we have to think about is how do we monitor our risk? because i do think we have 5 to 10% to go on the up side across the board. dow, nasdaq. but what would be the first sign of trouble? dow below 9250, nasdaq 100 below 1600. but certainly above those levels, so stay long and ride the next wave to the up side. >> are you seeing protection at this point? is there concern being manifest in your markets? >> there has been a little bit. of we have seen some put buying in the last couple weeks in the vix and a lot of people think the market might drift lower. but we have also seen call buying for stock replacement, particularly in tech names, and that means people are being careful, think the market has

gotten frothy. to me it seems like it's gotten so frothy it looks like the cappuccino machine has exploded. so today is probably healthy, because we have had a good run. >> let's go deeper into that foam on your beverage, scott nations, because we were talking about leadership in technology from dell and intel, and yes, those stocks are higher, but not managing to affect the entire sector. jim, is this surprising to you? >> no. it's not. i mean, it's great, they posted good numbers. they were leading for a while. but like steve said, this is a day where we're probably taking money up, too. your question, is this the beginning of the correction? i don't think it is, but yochk we should discount it sum mayoral, should copy an eye on it. because we are certainly due for a correction. there might be people coming in thinking about rebalancing their portfolios when they come back in the fall after taking the summer month off. so this could be the beginning of the correction. i don't believe it is, but keep a sharp eye on the levels. >> and it is a good point to make that some of these names

have made terrific headway over the last few months. dell up by about 88%, so it's not like these stocks weren't looking ahead to possible good news. jim, back to you. you've got a trade and you're saying perhaps not in the stock, but a way to trade in the options pit. >> no question about it. we have seen big call-buying in intel and dell. what is striking, this we expect. because of good numbers. but what is interesting to me is these companies are trading half what their hifrt california volatility is. options are cheap, a better play to come into the options market and buy the the calls than buy the shares. you mitigate your risk and a lot of people when they think about options they think about high-risk derivative plays. no, this is the way you mitigate risk and big institutional investors are doing just that. >> scott, give us trade school here, because implied volatility on these particular names across the board really, implied volatility has come in on a lot of stocks and that makes it cheaper. it's sort of a prophecy for the price of options.

>> right, implied volatility is the way we can compare apples to apples when we talk about how expensive options are. we end up ignoring timed expiration and how close an option is to a stock price. so it's the the apples to apples measure for the true cost of these options, and as jim said, it's really gotten cheap in these tech names. part of that is because they're no longer the tech names of the 19 0s, and they are now essentially bigger companies. blue chip companies that are less volatile, but what you get is, historical volatility. what you pay is implied volatility. >> okay. got to move on to the next trade. talk about the retail trade. there are a couple winners overall, tiffany's and j crew up 6%, those companies reporting better than expected earnings. we are being more selective with the consumer names since we got the sentiment out. these names are managing to go higher and not bringing the spector up. >> the names are managing to go

higher and you are looking at the higher end and tiffany's is doing well. i'm dumbfounded on that and they were so beaten up that it's natural to see them inch higher. >> in terms of retail names, you are watching and what do you see there. there doubts about the strength ever consumer spending with the data. >> this area surprised a lot of people. we got the clients in around 81 or 80. there is more off side. they will trade to 91 or 92 and target off the march lows. you are supposed to stay long here. it has underperform and had a nice run off the july lows and up about 16% and it's not over yet. >> and if you got in at 80, would you say it takes off? >> we are taking profits along the way. the next is around here. 86 or 87. i think this is more to go on the upside. the target is around 94 or 95.

we will take the profit and maybe even look to get short in front of 95. >> good to know. let's move on to the next trade. the shares of fannie and freddie by the billions. some think the stocks may actually be worth nothing and analysts saying he writes people have done well with trading, but when it gets to the end of the road, those stocks will be worth nada. you have been trading citigroup and you got in at about 4 or 3 and change? >> i'm staying long. it's anybody awe guess at this point. to say i think it's going up is kind of a silly answer. you have a lot of toxic assets on the book. we have to be clear. these are trades and you don't top the get too far away from the computer. if you see a nice move, you want to take profits off the table. that's the most overused thing, but that's what you want to be

doing. >> prehalftime call, you compared the stocks to tech.com. that is not a compliment. >> no and some of these companies will be good like citigroup. if people think it will be worth $50 in three years, they don't care if they pay $2 or $5 an hour. that's what i mean. it's more like aig and fannie and freddie. things like pets.com, people will pay anything for growth and it doesn't make sense. >> what does he mean it will be worth? to me, if you are saying that's not worth anything, we have a lot bigger problem than that. these are companies that have a built in put. >> does that mean you are buying these stocks? >> i'm not buying aig, but fannie and freddie seem reasonable to put money into. citibank jump and we just considered it in the trash pile.

b of a and citibank maybe not also. either way, i'm probably a guarded buyer. >> hold o. got to take a break on the fast money. we will talk to obama's economic advisory board if she think this is recovery is for real. wal-mart taking on the banking giants. "power lunch" has the latest on what wal-mart is up to. back in a minute. >> the dow trying for the best winning streak since '96 as companies and consumers show new signs of life. is this market pulling a fast one on you? they sort fact from fiction. news flash, a billion dollar market and why you need to trade hannah montana right now. heading to the backgroundry to get the gravo on a chain satisfying the investors. some people buy a car based on the deal they get. others by the car of their dreams.

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we have the markets off the session lows being dragged down by the energy names and technology heading lower right now. let's go to the fast line and talk to the liquidator about the tough trade today. just to talk to you, i haven't talked in about a week. >> we're all missed you and glad you are back. we talked about technology and that's everything that the rest of the market, the fundamentals are all bearish. if you look at the technology, the fundamentals are bullish and the price action i think is represented today looks bearish. you are not getting follow-through. apple is 172.49 and the fundamentals of the smart phone trade are in place. >> you have been a buyer and in terms of the plays you put on.

>> apple i think is a name and i bought apple. i think you have to own it because of the entry into china. how many people are going to touch. if they can take 1% to 2% it's $2 billion in revenue. palm is up 3%. you have to wonder. we talked about it on the desk and dell has the cash to take out palm. the difficulty is that the technicals make it tough to trade. >> i will see you tonight. >> see you tonight, melissa. >> an analyst and the did she for trash could leave many empty-handed. "power lunch" has the read on real estate. i should say back that up. state of the consumer. an indicator making a come back. it has been a long vacation.

>> not long enough for me. >> outlook for tech on the back of intel and dell. fall real estate outlook and the lobster industry at a boiling point. wait until you hear what you can get for lobsters. good for the consumer and terrible for the lobster men. seeing sales up 15%, but told the "wall street journal" we will see a hangover effect follow the end for the cash for clunkers program. tiffany's shares after the retailer beat estimates and raised forecast. in california, it's kicking off a two-day garage sale and hoping to raise money for the state. that's the news now, first in business worldwide. i'm julia boorsten. >> my mikes are on and we are

set to go. >> check, check, check, one, two, three. welcome to the second hour of "power lunch." the dow is struggling to make it with nine straight days of gains. if it happens, it would be the longest streak since november of 1996. the fab five still at it. city and b of a and freddie and fanny and aig are continuing higher and gm said sales could rise by two million cars next year. meanwhile ford said sales could hit 13 million on an annualized basis in august. >> i'm sue herrera and wal-mart taking on the banks and the world's biggest retailer making a move into financial services. what it mean for wal-mart and consumers. >> michelle continues off and we are joined by the senior editor of forbes magazine. how have you been? >> great. >> what do you make of the economy in the market? >> it's frightening and i don't

think we can talk enough about it. it's reckless speculation. this company has to take itself apart. why would you want to jump on a stock where 80% is owned by the government. >> they are also doing it in fannie and freddie and a lot of others. >> you have to be scared of all those things. >> do you think aig is going to zero? >> not to 300. i would bail now. i would not anticipate going to 300. >> that's what they said yesterday. it has been a wild ride. y we had bullish news on technology. dell beat forecast and raised outlook and intel has raised revenue forecast. chip demand is back. the bureau chief jim goldman has more on that. >> happy friday to you. this is the one, two punch that investors have been waiting for. beginning with earnings and stretching this morning with a surprising increase in intel

revenue expectations. that's where we will begin. they anticipated a figure of about $9 million, a half billion ahead of the 8.55 expected when they released earnings last month. intel was uncharacterly optimistic. >> the second quarter results are just a reinforced view that we had a quarter ago. we saw the markets bombing in the first quarter. we saw improvement and expect to see them up in the second half. >> that momentum only seems to accelerate and intel's increase dove tails with the top and the bottom lines last night. dell had seen better margins and the same for intel as the customers are buying more than just the low cost, low margin net books. intel played a supporting on the conference call with michael dell signalling out with one of the key reasons with the tech spending turn around. the news coupled with dell

suggests better times ahead and likely now sooner rather than later. there is more on the blog. tech check.cnbc.com. >> aren't we playing the expectations game? sales are lower and it's a matter of what we were expecting. >> less bad and the stocks always pop. we have to look at the fundamentals and continue to go back to the consumer and the businesses. this is better for dell than intel. dell will see the surge as people have old tech and businesses and consumersville to replace them. >> why wouldn't that be good? >> intel has longer term. remember they have to flood the computers to fill the inventory. it's better for dell in the short-term. intel has seen the results today. it's better now than two months from now. >> i am struck by what you said. intel was uncharacteristically

more optimistically than usual. they are guard and they weren't. that has to count for something. >> for does and i have to say when intel had their earnings announcement, that was unusual, but to see the company a month later take the step of saying look, revenue is substantially better than where we thought it was and we were optimistic back then. this is not just a revenue story. we know that the low cost net books are selling well. if they can move the market to the personal computers which have higher prices and therefore higher margins, that's an indication that people are cracking open the checkbook and willing to spend more if the technology is powerful enough. that's good news. that's an intel story and -- >> technology tends to be a leading indicator.

>> just like the stock marketus up 50%, you would assume technology would lead us out. >> for may be less bad, but could it signal the turn as we see in real estate and other areas. >> you will have to continue to come back and consumers have too much credit card debt and they put things on layaway. >> i'm trying. >> good for business. coming up in just a minute. the latest on tropical storm danny, the weather channel's nick walker joins us from atlanta a. it's slowing down. >> it is. it's barely a tropical storm at all.

certainly on the opposite side. even with a close pass of danny to the coast of north carolina, probably not going to get a lot of rain or wind. some possible here as we get through this evening and into tomorrow and that continues to accelerate northward affecting new england with wins and rain. we will get that anyway from this advancing area of low pressure and the front into the northeast. that's hard to tell how much is from the front and how much is from danny. it will be a blustery and rainy day throughout the new england area and towards the coast. bill? >> i think i had a 7:24 tee time. i'm out of luck. appreciate that. weather guys always have to

bring you the bad news. we are asking your favorite overused chi shays in the workplace. i picked this out for you, sue. tom wants to explain. it is what it is. his translation is i can't do anything about it and neither can you. he also threw in hey, i hear you. the translation is i don't care what you think. i know what's best. what's your favorite over used value ad? are send us your thoughts. go to wur website. we are conducting a poll. we have a laundry list. >> i don't like edgy. that's more of a television thing. >> it's more edgy to say that. >> i know. >> a look at a billionaire university. if only it were that easy. which institution for higher learning turned out more

fabulously rich people than any other. stocks struggling to try to keep the straight and narrow going alive. what's it going to take to make it 9-9. >> here's what else is on the menu. >> back to school and back to the traditionally quiet season in home sales. how did we fare in spring and summer and what do we need to watch for as the recovery progresses? >> a clash of tradition, territory and tough times resulted in violence and vandalism. who is making waves and why. we are back in two minutes.

stocks are heading lower. coca-cola enterprises trading low, but nvidia and expedia are trading higher in the trade so far. >> if you want to get an accurate pulse of the american consumer, look no further than the rows and rows of plastic bags a wading layaway payments at k mart. the impact of that trend and who is profiting. parlay away has gotten so big and made such a big come back that service has seen business double in the last year. here at this k mart in burbank, one of the first shoppers was hoar to use a program. you put down a deposit and it

has to be at least $15. they set it aside and you have weeks to pay off the balance and then you can take the stuff back. they are happy to see layaway back when credit is tight. >> i used to be a layaway fan when my kids were small. now they are 26 and 18. >> back in the day layaway. >> like crazy. now i came in today because my older son is going to be a daddy. we are looking at the stuff for baby to lay is away. >> k mart and its sister, sears say they are the only two national store to have layaway programs. one of the things is big electronics like tv sets. seers is now bringing in a pitch man. >> we found guys that agonized on making decisions. it's not their thing. they don't know what they are going to do. >> they drive me crazy.

>> bret favre is being used in a campaign to highlight how hard it is for some guys to make up their minds. not only is the commercial funny, but you see the out takes on you tube. >> that's brilliant. i wonder how you were going to spring it together with k mart. you managed to do it beautifully. >> as always. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> while it is moving on and no secret that going to the right school can give you a leg up in the world, but it can make you fabulously wealthy. harvard which i believe i head in your publication has turned out more billionaires than any other college on the planet. bill gates even though he didn't graduate and michael bloomberg and on and on. why harvard? >> 54 billionaires come from harvard and number two is stanford with 25. harvard creams the competition, so to speak.

harvard has a great business school and also attracted a great amount of talent and you have to realize that billiona e billionaires have a lot of smarts and ambition and they need certain networking. >> what are about the networking? >> any schools on this list from harvard and stanford and the university of pennsylvania had a lot of billionaires and they lost them. they had 27 billionaires and then they have 17. it's crazy out there. >> you can read more about it at forbes.com. >> let's talk more about the market. we are down 46 points. bob dasani joins us first. >> better economic news and from intel and dell. it hasn't helped a lot and it's more of the same. look at the s&p 500. we are getting low volume and that's the whole week.

you can see how narrow the moves have been. low volume and that face means stability in the market. i wouldn't put much more into it than that. j crew really making a come back. tiffany better than expected. both of them raised guidance and sales closeda the tiffany. tradertalk.cnbc.com. fill up on the nasdaq, but just barely. >> we are negative and down by three points and it's the big cap stocks that keep us from falling even further. you have the dell story and better than expected earnings. 2.5% and the intel story we have been talking about throughout the day today. raising revenue forecasts and

profit margins and looking for nine billion in revenue up from 8.55. the stock is up 4%. positive moves from research in motion and microsoft and oracle for the chip space today. it's helping to give that a lift. it's up 4.5% and they forecast ahead of expectations there. helping to offset the losses we see in the retailers and the biofarlas. . >> we see that the yield had movement to the downside and interday it's about unchanged. the chart is fascinating. keep in mind and look at the range from july to the middle left half and especially testing the lower end. we have unemployment next week that will be key. as far as foreign exchange, i will ask you. be objective.

here's the year to date chart. viewers, if this was a stock, are you picking bottoms? the chart doesn't look good. here's a guy that always looks good. matt nesto. >> slick rick. what an hour we have seen and the low of the session and rally back. we are watching the dollar closely and the weakness and that is seeing the price of oil looking to be en route to a losing week and possibly the second day of gains and the third out of four losers and it's close and crude up 54 sends. the one consistent trade that hasn't changed is the down trade level of 306. that was down from 302.

natural gas is facing a lot of pressure in the market place. can i show you sugar? a lot of people are talking about sugar hitting a 28-year high, up about 4% in trade here today. worth keeping an eye on because it's like water or oxygen. we use it. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> we love it, but we hate it. we love it, but we hate t. that would be sugar. >> jpmorgan's equity strategist thomas lee will be on the closing bell and expect it to be higher by labor day. find out how much higher he thinks it might go. >> more overused workplace terms that are just driving you crazy. you hear it one more time. here's a few more. patty wrote to us. she says most overused phrase is

going forward. most over used phrase is going forward. she is moving that along. one from john. he writes, if you will. if you listen, you hear that. more. what happened to terry? >> next time. >> moving along. we are going forward, as it were. if you will. >> it is what it is. it sounds like something out of a pirate movie. an offshore war, if you will. competitor boats shooting at each other. >> except in this case we are talking about lobster men? we are in maine with that story. >> i tie tied for tensions. we will show you who is stewing over what's happening in the waters. just ahead in a live report. @

this has been a bust for the lobster industry. tensions are running high and anger boiling over. janet shanley joins us with more. janet? >> this would probably not be happen figure lobster prices were higher. if you have guys like this-pointer with the ship to shore lobster company bringing

just $2.50 a pound, they have trouble. one of the most vivid examples is out about 20 miles into the waters on the island where earlier this month one lobsterman shot another in a dispute over territory. they're asking for protectionism. they want a zone where they and they only can go for lobster. here's lobsterman on that island. >> lobster like this. what do you take home? >> that's $2.75 lobster. if i take home $1.75 of that after bait and fuel, that's my take. i have to extend the expense of the boat out of that. all the maintenance. >> what did you get for this five years ago? >> five years ago at this time

of year i would be taking $2 or $2.25. a big difference. >> you can see the struggle they have. he said his bait costs are up and gas is up. he's got the expense of taking everything out from the island off the coast. they are asking for this protectionism and the state of maine is considering this ruling that perhaps the water is out there and only be intended for the people who live in that area. it's not unheard of and areas had it happen before. >> 'did prices go down as much as they did? >> a huge loss in demand. all the canadians, the biggest purchasers of maine lobsters are canadian processing companies and when we had the credit crisis and that froze out the companies. they stopped buying and people stopped ordering in restaurants. they closed at a large pace and this is a luxury item.

doesn't that look wonderful. people stopped buying these and the demand went down. they have been impacted by condition in terms of weather and gas and bait and everything like that. >> how organized is the lobster industry. when demand falls for productions, they will begin a marketing campaign to remind people like the turkey industry. you don't have to eat it just at thanksgiving and we started eating turkey at other times as well. in terms of the marketing, we haven't seen anything like that. they had charity events to boost support for the industry, but perhaps they could benefit from telling people it's a bargain cheaper than hamburger. >> how long do you think they really need to go through the

efforts of protectionism? isn't this supply and demand and once they come back, they will buy lobster again and prices resume? do they need to go through all of this? >> presumably so. their argument is that the islands like this, if you allow people from other cities in main to come out there and harvest the lobster, what need is there to live on the island. you can take what's in the ground and leave. they said we are 4th and 5th generation. protect us so people will live on the island. it's a lot about the heritage. you don't get into lobstering to make money. it's a love of the art. >> it's very hard work. and dangerous. >> absolutely. >> bon appetit. >> thanks. >> i can't believe it's fallen that much. >> i know what's for dinner tonight. >> buy lobster if you can.

>> this trading week, a borage of trading on tap, including the big jobs number. we will get you ready to make money in a moment. >> why wal-mart wants to you pay your bills at their money centers located in their stores. is there anything you won't be able to do in wal-mart? we will talk about that with "power lunch." first in business worldwide.  um bill--

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>>. >> consumer spending for the third month in a row helped buy the cash for clunkers program, but the sentiment dipped to the lowest since april. shares ofative an skpet shares did fall, but beat expectations. the the high end jeweller raised earnings outlook. a more optimistic outlook from the auto makers and sales could grow by two million vehicles next year. 12.5 million and ford said amized sales could hit $13 million this month. thank you, cash for clunkers. >> let's talk about the dow

jones and next week's trading day. the dow is down 41 points and the nasdaq is down as well. the s&p 500 down about 3 and 1/4 points. the cme, jessica from the ms global and the nymex from matt miller as well. i'm going to start with you. record numbers of debt auctioned off this week successfully. we have seen a lot of activity which people are talking about risk being replaced and the like. tell us what the markets are telling you. >> the investors need to recognize that there a lot of cross curns affecting the market and we are seeing better data and libor is at an all time low and people want exposure to the idea of the global recovery. on the other hand, we witnessed

that the news in china is negative. we are seeing lending and people are nervous about the emerging marks. if you look at the outlook going forward. where is the demand going forward? on that note, there is very, very much overleveraged and the bond market is saying well, those sort of factors will support us in the upside moving into next week and we look at the payroll number. the barometer for jobs and the treasury will be sensitive to that. >> labor day is late this week. we have a week to go and a lot of economic data and some could be market-moving. >> we will number for more volatility. the bet will be on the buy side. as the young lady said before me, ism is important and all about jobs and home sales. we can see any recovery there, the market will shoot up to that

1100 level. i'm still hanging on 1100. i don't know what i will do. we will get a cup of coffee or buy a lobster. >> absolutely. we have to support the lobster men in maine. i don't know whether to talk about crude oil or natural guess. the dynamic is amazing. >> i don't federal natural gas that closely, but it looks weak and has been for a while. if we can settle above $75 and the race to 1100, we will head higher to around 85. we are getting to the summer season and haven't seen that much demand. we are still in a range, but settling above $75, we look to trade higher. >> they pushing oil higher or the other way around? >> we have been following stocks. we hadn't been doing that for many years, but lately we have been moving in tandem with them. we don't like that down here. it's more difficult for us to

follow it. if that continues weeshlg go higher. >> what are role will the dollar play next week? we have seen volatility, but rick santelli put up that dollar index and it's getting pummelled. how big of an influence do you think the dollar will be? >> when you look at the foreign exchange markets, the risk trade is relevant. the dollar has been the poster child for abuse. whether the data is good and we take down the auctions, they get pummelled. when you look at the fx market and we see better data and they continue to hold on to that, we will see a weaker dollar. >> i will say we will be closing positive. s&p. we will close positive. >> all right. thank you all. have a good weekend. appreciate it very much. time for the daily look at the most widely followed stocks. our website's managing editor is here with what's clicking and

without any cliche buzzwords. pab be maybe we can leverage, but -- >> go with that. there is no i in team. >> that's of the hot ones. we are looking at buzzwords that annoy people so we wanted to make it friday fun and threw in a poll and people with comment and propose their own. maybe you have a few. >> a more serious note, we have what people are talking about. aig. why? is it a short squeeze or impending deal or greenburg coming back? you look at all of those and what investors might want to do. finally, topping it off and we had a guest and he predicted that 1,000 banks will fail. the report decided that was some of that too.hey drumd up

we are seeing a lot of action on that. people should check that out. >> very good. find that on cnbc.com. sue? >> great responses to the e-mails. coming up, wal-mart is wrapping up the move into financial services. they want you to pay your cable bill to credit card bill at their store. is there a real business here? >> we will talk to president of financial services about that. shares of wal-mart are down 7 cents to $51.17. back after this. 

>> when was the last time you paid a bill in person. plenty of people who do and wal-mart is trying to help them out and take advantage of the situation. joining us is jane thompson, president of wal-mart financial services. you surveyed 1200 people and found that 36% of them still pay at least one bill in person. pretty amazing given the technology and the mail out there. >> that's right. i think this is a segment of the population that people don't realize is mainstream for them. they pay bills by running around town and it takes a lot of time and energy to do that. >> my parents did that years and years ago. they paid the water bill and the

phone bill in person. people still do that today. the demographic you found, 45 years or older. 73% had no college degree and make more than half make less than 30,000 a year. right? >> this is a service that is part of our effort to continue to focus on customers who are living paycheck to paycheck. it is -- many of these don't have a bank account or they may have a bank account and are trying to pay that bill as late as they can in the month. >> do you see it as a growth opportunity? if it's the older crowd that haven't embraced technology or for whatever reason they are paying still in person. how much of a growth opportunity is this down the road? >> we look at it as part of our overall effort to help the customers. it's about helping americans through these economic times.

we talked last about six months ago when he launched the money ward and we do million was transactions a week to help the customer who is don't have a bank account or in this case may have a bank account, but still are waiting to pay that bill at the last minute. when they walk up to us and pay that bill, they know it's paid, it's paid on time and they get a receipt. >> do you find that once people are in the doors, they also tend to stay and purchase other items in the store? how much of that spill over takes place. yes, you pay the bill and it's done, but gee i'm already at wal-mart and i might as well pick up what i need. >> we do than in the case of check cashing service that 70% of the time they stay and shop. it's a chicken and egg. these customers are already in the stores. to take one example of one customer who pays for the gas,

heat, and phone, those three bills would take them minutes in the store and they're already in the store a couple times a week to. run around town even in a town like ours where there is not as much traffic, that might take an hour to run around town to get to those three. >> you did a dry run? >> yes. we drove around to see how long it would take to do electric, cable, and phone. cell phone. it's a time saver. it's a money saver and there is paying up to the last minute with a receipt when they walk out. >> what fees are people going to be paying to pay bills when they can do it free online. >> this is 88 cents and after that it's $1.88. those are often for people who need it paid today.

that's a service we have for people who the car company call and said you are delinquent and you need to get it in today. or for a credit card. i thought i paid the card and rather than -- you can pay by calling in. if you have a credit card. >> i know we are quibbling here, but a lot of people who pay in person, they keep the money in the could up until the last minute. if i'm coming to wal-mart to pay it the same day, i'm paying $4.50 for that. >> that's again for people who are saying i need your payment today or i'm come can be to get your car. the $4.50 payment is driven by a biller. the 88 cents is -- the service in three days, you don't have to worry about the mail. you know it's being paid and we also have a big service. we sell millions of money

orders. a lot of this may be a segment at this income level who may not have a bank or trying to pay at the last minute. the money order business, we sell millions. this is now faster and easier than a money order and put together in the mail. >> wal-mart financial service, thanks for joining us again. don't miss our documentary, the new age of wal-mart. david has updated his look in the world's biggest retailer and it will debut again september 23rd, a week after the forbes 400 comes out. >> get the marks up. >> coming up, the new age of p wal-mart. encouraging data on housing the past few weeks. things we have actually turned the corner on. the selling season is ending and the tax credits are going away. will real estate take a fall? we will looka the that coming up. >> you are watching "power lunch" on cnbc.

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>> are here's the "power lunch" realtime flash. markets that are trading down at the end of a week in august. looking at immunomedics that had a phenomenal week and based on promising trial data on a potential lupus drug. 70% gain as you can see. it's down 10% and more focus on human genome sciences. they are working on money going out of immunomedics and into hgsi. it is further along in a clinical process so we can see a

little bit of migration and people looking for bargains. it is a tough sector the analysts say. the tiffany's story saw earnings drop and the results were better than expectation and they raised full year outlook and the stock is sparkling today. what about more mass market jewellers like zales. they are showing a little bit of gain on the day and really the retailer is kind of a mixed bag. that should dilute the stock. the thinking is people are using this short stock and you can see not an expensive stock. it got more up 12 cents. that's a decent sized gain. >> a low priced financial stock and that's a recipe for a higher price. >> these days it is. >> thank you, scott. >> here's a sign of the times as

well. according to a profile in the latest fortune magazine, private equity hot shot brought a legendary town house for $53 million in 2006 and spent another 15 million in renovation. that's important. why? it was just put up for sale this year for $4995. the house had not been sold, but the website said it has been. we have been checking into that and haven't gotten the price, but they have likely to be taking a large haircut. >> as a result of the new math. the new norm. when we are talking about real estate, the home selling season is ending on rising numbers, but with first time buyers, credits expiring and rising rates down the road for the housing sector into the fall. will the sellers ever get more

realistic with the prices? diana has more on that. >> getting more realistic and getting with the rest of the world, but here in washington, d.c., the schools started this week, marking the end of summer for many families and that means the end of the spring-summer housing season. let's tally up how we did. if we look at the running from april through july, home sales rose steadily and the running average, it's up 5.5% from the previous four months. good solid progress. you compare that last year that saw no sales bump at all. prices rose month to month from april through july. the average is down 16% from the same four months. it appears prices are beginning to stabilize at least. enough of looking back. let's look ahead to what could affect housing this fall. number one is the ex-operation of tax credit.

that removed $8,000 in buying power, but there is a push to extend it. second is rising foreclosures and rising mortgage rates. all these are negative on the plus side. we have affordability and consumer confidence in housing, would you believe. i'd like to believe it, but the mortgage rate curve is key. that doesn't necessarily translate to lower mortgage rate on a continuing basis. >> what will happen when tax credit will go away and we will have a lot of problems taking advantage very much like cash for clunkers and worried about the availability and not just the mortgage rates. you have to remember if they continue to crunch or get worse on the problems like we had on the "wall street journal." will mortgages be available? >> what do you think of that.

i don't know. >> they wanted the expectations that mortgage rates go up. demand will go down because of the loss of tax credit. >> in the mortgage scenario, it doesn't depend on demand as to what the mortgage rates will be. you have to look at the bifrication in the markets between the confoirming and the jumbo loans. what we need is the move up buyer and many will need jumbo loans and conforming. those are still expensive and harder to get. until that eases, we will not see the full recovery. we are only seeing it on the low end. >> diana, thank you very much. see you later. we have been asking you all during the show what your picks are for the most annoying overused business phrases. we will find out. >> what are could be game changer, value added, our personal favorites.

we will give you the e-mails when we come back. >> going forward.

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earlier today, reuters reported that the owner of the mets might be forced to sell the team because of their involvement with bernie madoff and what was potentially lost. this was according to the author of too good to be true. the new bernie madoff book. the mets came out with a statement and said the speculation that the mets would be for sale is completely false and irresponsible. the mets all along despite how many times the owner of the mets appeared on the madoff victim's list suggesting the number of accounts he had with madoff and despite the speculation that he might have lost personally $5 to $700 million. he would have to sell is completely false and irresponsible. back to you. >> thank you very much. finally as we leave you, we will go over some of the e-mail