amd, best performing stock on the s&p 500 today. up 12%. we mention it because it was cramer's pick in the chip stocks. keep in mind, best performing stock since lehman's collapse, invidia. cramer picked amd over micron. a programming note and very excited about this. we are going to be in washington and on thursday at 7:00 eastern i'm hosting a special cnbc town hall with treasury secretary tim geithner. what about taxes and banker bonuses. see you from washington. time for "the closing bell."

new york attorney general andrew cuomo wants more information before filing charges against bank of america. the economy is stabilizing though not enough to warrant rate hikes. that is according to newly released fed documents. airline on time is best in six years that is cnbc.com news now. i'm scott cohen. there is a live look at the stock exchange. the market shyer on wall street today for a third straight day. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo. big show for you today. we have a guest host for the entire hour t. chairman and ceo of legg mason mr. fedding will be joining me. we will talk to him about recent market activity.

money is moving into oil and other commodities and news on takeovers has this market higher. take a look where we stant the dow jones industrial average, up by 40 points. that is the best level of the afternoon. as you can see .5%. nasdaq up. technology, a handful of the drug companies as well. we have some laggards like aig in the financial services sector. s&p 500 is higher by seven points, the nasdaq on pace since 2003. gold, oil, commodities on the upside. matt nesto is sheer. >> three days up. i have been noticing this is a streakish market because in mid august we had the eight-day rally, remember that? we had four days down and three days back up again. certainly the market gets in these directional momentum things. one thing to remember unless the

dow gets above 9600 we are stuck in this trading range, 30 points, 40 points, the dow up 42, up 50 before i came back downstairs. consistently all day it has been the story of energy, materials and industrials. if you look within the dow, the big leader has been ge. great for people like us but the reality is it is not really an index mover in terms of the dow. that will move the s&p 500 but because of the low share price it can't push things. the best performers, alcoa, chevron and prokter & gambel. chevron, exxon, very, very powerful in the market. pivody, transocean. material names, pick your gold stock. a good price jump there. off of earlier highs, steel

stocks like allegheny, titanium, alcoa and industrials, names outside of the ge realm will include masco, they make building supplies, textron. a lot of this is linked to the dow. let's get to scott at the nasdaq. >> nasdaq is ahead by .5%. nasdaq in the late day has been range bound for the last several hours or so. most of these widely held big cap technology stocks are missed. dell is positive, google negative, yahoo! negative. hardware after morgan stanley uped the enterprise hardware space. they like altera, xilinx. pmc sierra.

altera is up 3.5%. they raised apple's price target. some of the larng cap technology shares have pulled back, not apple. up by better than 1%. apple is holding a big conference tomorrow. chip stocks helping to keep the nasdaq in positive territory. the semi-conductor index is positive, up 1.5%. some of the names, invidia, broadcom and sandisc. costco up 2% over at morgan stanley. let's go to the nye mechanics. >> i spent by day between the gold pits and fire pits. just under that level of $1,000. the highest level we have seen in the gold pit since march of last year, that 18-month high fuelled in large part of what we have seen with a lot of new

money in this market after the labor day holiday, not only in gold but oil and commodities across the board. the dollar index is playing an important role. did gold push the dollar lower or lower dollar push gold higher. the u.s. dollar may need to be reexamined as the world currency had to do with the dollar falling to its lowest levels since last september. in terms of crude prices, the three-dollar jump to $71 a barrel is significant looking ahead to the opec meeting tomorrow. they are expected to leave levels unchanged. there is a lot of talk about world energy demand picking up and the epeopec meeting tomorro. >> maybe some are wearing too rosey a pair of glasses.

we saw a number 5 1/2 minutes ago. consumer credit for july was expected to deteriorate by $4 billion. close. how about $21.6 billion. consumer credit is one of the black-and-white key issues about what the consumer is going to have to play with down the road. it isn't looking good. that isn't to say equities moved a lot lower on it. if you blinked you missed the quick downdraft in the s&p or dow or spike in interest rates. if you look at a two-day chart of the dollar, we are at the lowest levels in exactly a year. people are saying this is a terrific thing the dollar is so weak. you have to draw your own conclusions. how many stocks do you have that have an international complex? ten-year yields? they have moved a lot today. some of the lowest yields on the three-month chart you are going to see.

maria, back to you. >> rick santelli in chicago. on wall street we break down the market action. joining me is clark winter, chief investment officer at sk capital partners, howard ward at gamko, our guest host for the hour, mark feting, legg mason chairman. thank you for joining us for the entire hour. let me get a sense from you where we are in terms of volume and money flows. what are you seeing from the sentiment? >> i think investors are appreciative of the progress that has been made and are putting money to work in the institutional side and retail side. you see that on rfp activity. >> a lot of people question whether the economic recovery has real traction. do you think the markets have gotten ahead of themselves as we approach what is typically a tough month? >> i think recovery is underway.

it could be stronger outside the u.s. than inside the u.s. is the u.s. going act like japan? 26 years of endless government spending but no initiative in the private sector. on wednesday i would suggest obama make sure we understand is it worth it for individual small companies to borrow money and hire a few people or do they wait for the government to decide their fate? that would be japan. we would be the source of the carry trade rather than the destination. >> do you think wednesday will be a catalyst for the market? >> i think everybody around the world is looking at it for a sign. they have seen the deficit and the spending and they are buying non-dollars. oil, gas, currency. they have in common they are not in favor of the u.s. program and the u.s. deficits. >> howard, how are you investing right now? >> we are positioned in economically sensitive areas, materials, energy, technology,

that will have strong earnings growth in the next 12 months. in the fourth quarter strong, easy earnings comparisons for a lot of companies, not just the fourth quarter but into next year. global growth is for real. synchronized recovery has started. investors should position accordingly. >> we should look at the move in commodities that has been stable for some time. some indication of demand around the world. >> i see it two ways. the indication of demand around the world. this began in china, a stimulus package twice what the u.s. was, lots of spending on commodities and infrastructure. part is demand driven on commodities, the other is dollar down, commodities up. dollar goes down, commodities up. we are seeing that trend continue. this is what i'm talking about. investors positioning themselves to benefit from a weaker dollar because as clark said the policy

track we are in washington, monetary, fiscal, tax, regulatory, health care, they are weighing on the dollar. dollar down sharply today. >> for sure. clark, what about that? what kind of implication do you see from a weak dollar? >> look what happened at the brits and others woke up and found opportunity? people went back to work on their own initiative not on government stimulus. that is the big dilemma. are they going to give people a reason to go back to work or wait and hold something else. they can't lower rates. they can't lower taxes. they can't lower regulars.1p all we can do is hope on individual initiatives. >> a lot of people, the new worry is what is the exit strategy for the federal reserve? we have stimulus in the market but at some point the fed has to turn off the spigot. are you worried? >> our fixed income manager would say they expect sluggish growth from here on out, hence

plentdy of time for the fed to be proactive in keeping rates lower. not a concern around any immediate exit need. >> how do you continue to see asset growth at the company? give me your strategy in terms of building your own business? >> we are appreciative it is night and day from a year ago to 18 months ago. that improvement has investors coming back in. the comments earlier, there was a notion let's pause and reflect. now it is let's get positioned and act. we see that with the institutional consultants and plan sponsors and in the retail world through the asset allocation programs. >> you've got the money on the sidelines. you have to figure out where is the growth, how do i act? you are talking about commodities, materials. >> technology. infrastructure plays, industrial plays. all of these areas is where i think the money should be going. the more defensive areas don't

offer values. there are exceptions like cadbury. the positive economic growth is going to drive the cyclical side of the market. with health care you have a big question mark about reform. '92, '93, all the health care stocks went down. i would be cautious there. >> clark, real quick as far as international investing. do i want to be exposed all around the world or is there is a vulnerability that the economic recovery doesn't have traction? >> i think it has to be around the world. the miracle in the u.s. was the other great landmasses were poorly managed for 20 years. they are awake and functioning. they don't have income or debt problem ors deficits. the structural we form we have to live through they don't have to do. they are likely to grow a lot faster in the same scenario we

are. if obama does what reagan and clinton did, we are set for remarkable recovery. that is why the world is watching him so closely wednesday night. >> we are watching as well. clark, good to see you, howard good to have you on the program. mark will be with us the rest of the hour. viacom teams up with the bill and me linda gates foupgs to tackling challenges facing the public education system. we will talk to philippe dauman. join us for that after the bell, the democrats pushing that health care compromise. putting it on the table to try to win republican support. will it be enough to revive the health care debate? we will look ahead to the president's speech. here is the action on the street, the most heavily traded stocks on the nyse led by citigroup. i've been growing algae for 35 years.

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welcome back. earlier today president obama stressed the importance of education at an address at a

virginia high school. viacom will kick off its get schooled campaign. joining me to explain the effort is viacom ceo philippe dauman. welcome. >> great to be here, maria. >> can you tell us about the get schooled program, the campaign and what you are trying to achieve here? >> sure. well, we have a major problem in this country when you have 70% of kids nationwide who went to high school graduating, only about half of those in low-income communities. and we have one out of four of those who do graduate unprepared for college. viacom entered into a five-year partnership with the bill and me linda gates foundation to change that dynamic. we are launching it today with a roadblock 30-minute show across all our networks called get schooled. you have the right. it featured president obama,

lebron james, kelly clarkson, but it stars three young people who work with them and help them be successful. so we are trying to send a message in a sustained way, engaging our business partners, the entertainment community on the paramount lot. we will change the course of education. >> what is the best way to reach students today? do you think it is through entertainment? how do you get them to sit up and get interested? >> well, the entertainment industry has a powerful influence on our kids. we all know that. we have great influence in our society. we think that with the information and the data provided by the gates foundation, they know what's wrong with our school system. they know how to fix it. we know how to reach kids. we know how to engage them through our programs, through our movies. people look up to entertainers. we can have them be education

ambassadors around the country. we hope to engage kids, engage their families, politicians, school administrators to make schools more accountable to our kids and help our overall economy. we need to have college-educated kids to take our economy to the next level. >> philippe, this is mark fedding from legg mason. we are big supporters of education and children at risk. we are impressed with the quality of leadership, arnie duncan as the secretary of education, in baltimore we have a new superindent, teach for america, a wonderful program whose alumni have had critical impact. so how do you see the leadership? >> i think that is great leadership. i met with arne duncan in washington a few months ago talking about this program.

i think they are exciting initiatives at the national level, at the local level. what chancellor klein has done in new york and other major cities, very exciting. it will take a sustained effort and it will take education of the general population to make sure people understand they can affect change. take the money provided by the government and by the private sector, but also take a lot of engagement. we think we can play a role. secretary duncan said there is a lot of money available from pell grants to other programs that kids don't know about. so if we can have celebrities on our getschooled.com site talk at pell grants or scholarship possibilities in a way people can understand, they will tap into the money they need to complete their education. we hope to have a great impact

particularly by making a sustained effort with the bill and me linda gates foundation. >> what can sponsors do in terms of participate? >> we are pleased the show today is being sponsored by at&t, capital one and the new york stock exchange, where you are sitting. the ceo of the stock exchange is on the paramount lot today where we are bringing together educators, members of the corporate community and representatives from the entertainment entry, ben stiller, stephen colbert, j.j. abrams and many others. we will spend our time talking about how we can engage these constituencies together to make an impact. >> it sounds like you will make a big impact. that is terrific, philippe. let me move on to business and viacom. tomorrow the company will be releasing the beatles rock band video game.

very exciting. the first time the beatles have been incorporate sbood a video game, rock band is head to head with guitar hero. what are your expectations? why the beatles now? >> well, we're very excited. we have music part of our dna at viacom with mtv, b.e.t., vh-1. the "new york times" called it a cultural watershed. we don't think about the competition. we are proud to be associated with the beatles and this game. it is a beautiful game. it will be a lot of fun for kids, their parents, the world over. we are releasing it on all platforms around the world tomorrow this is a big week for us. >> yeah. sure. >> get schooled and have some fun after school. >> it is fun because the game will not just appeal to kids but

their parents even more so. >> it is a wonderful, wonderful game. it has beautiful art embedded in it. it is fun and easy to play and it has a lot of audio and video clips embedded in it from the abbey road studio back in the day, things people have not heard or seen before. >> philippe, what can you tell us about ad sales? how does the environment feel in this tough economy where we are all waiting to see real traction in the recovery? >> as i said, at the time of our second quarter earnings release we saw the advertising stabilize. we are in a stabilize environment. we went through the advertising up front and were pleased with the results from both a pricing and volume standpoint compared to what low expectations everyone had at the beginning of the year. so we are feeling more

optimistic heading into next year. we think there is a recovery afoot. no one knows how strong it will be. we start to be cautious but we are feeling relatively optimistic. >> philippe, real quick, it was less than a year ago your paramount studio reached a deal to distribute marvel's next five feature films. disney just reached an agreement with marvel. how does that impact your company? >> we will work hard to make the five movies we are distributing including "iron man 2" and "iron man 3." we will make a lot of money for marvel and disney. and we'll have a nice distribution fee. we do a great job marketing these movies. obviously, we did a great job with "iron man." we look forward to a great

relationship over the next several films. >> good to see you, philippe. up next, mark fedding tells us if he thinks the recent recovery we are seeing is sustainable. we will get into asset management and a lot more. do stay with us. um bill--

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welcome back. with the market up 54 points we are back with our guest host. our guest host manages $650 billion of assets. investors are getting into core fixed income and quality equities. we are back with mark fetting, chairman and ceo of legg mason. mark, how do you increase assets? how do you move the company to the next level as you are seeing a lot of competition circling around you? >> absolutely. the starting engine is performance, to deliver for your clients. some of our managers have had long-term numbers of excellence, short-term numbers are not that good. you are seeing clients respond to that in a way that flows following. that has been very beneficial to us. >> where are you seeing the most

successful sectors or funds that are under your umbrella right now? >> i think consistent with the basic investor whether it is institutional or retail they are more risk averse. they are comming back to the market with bond. our bonds area with core plus strategy we've seen some good movement there and also floebl tips is an example. we just raised over $1 billion in japan in investment grade product that has gone through the postal authorities. bonds number one and as you said earlier, quality equities in the small cap pace or larger cap manager like bill mueller's legg mason capital management. >> bill miller's resume is

stellar but he suffer some upsets in the recipient market dislocation. let's get your take on what is happening around you. competition is getting bigger. what do you make of the black rock deal to acquire i.-shares assets. >> i think it is a strategically a smart move. the one risk is burning that back for shareholders. strategically it makes a lot of sense. we have respect and competitive instincts for larry. >> as far as money moving into the market, people are risk averse yet there is all this money on the sidelines. what are you seeing in terms of the investor mentality? some people are wondering if this market has gotten away from itself given we are still waiting to see how strong the recovery will be. >> there is a footnote. if you look at emerging market equities, those economies and

markets came back strong and thv flows back into those funds have been profound. so investors are responding to areas that are showing improvement. i think that is a har binger of good things to come in that this won't be the '73, '74 period where it took eight years to see positive flows in the equity funds. >> ecs money. >> yes. >> this is not -- you are not into that in your business. is that a conscious decision or not seen an opportunity >> we sflot have not seen an opportunity. at the same time we do think it is an important category. from an investing standpoint how much of that return as you say is institutional timing as opposed to fundamental investors. that is the key thing. >> when you look at the evidents coming out of washington, the

obama administration seeing us through this crisis the question becomes what is the exit strategy. do you worry that the federal reserve could have trouble unwinding some programs that have been in place? >> first and foremost, i'm a big believer now is the time to support our leaders. if you think where we were a year to 18 months ago and where we are today, you have to give our leaderships, the fed, the administrations, plural, they have made mistakes but kept going on what is working. i'm less concerned about the exit strategy and appreciative of them continuing to do what needs to be done to get this back on track. we are not out of the woods yet. >> where would you see the most vulnerability now? >> in the fixed income markets a lot of trading is being done because of the fed and the treasury as opposed to fundamental investing. i think the guarantees that are supporting the real estate side is significant.

easing off of that guarantee and putting real money at risk will be the big transition. >> do you still worry about real estate in general, the commercial real estate market for one is an area people are wondering if we are going to see cracks in the system. what do you think? >> i think there is clearly going to be continued erosion in the business in terms of fundamental delinquencdelinquen foreclosures. that can't be stopped because of inventory. we are part of the ppip program. funds are being brought to the market as we speak with a good return for investors. that will be a bit of an i indicat indicator. >> you are offering investors a chance to invest the the business. tell me how this is done. >> we are scheduled to launch a fund that has been in filing

with the s.e.c. it is going to launch in the next couple of weeks. we have a strong leadership team and think we have some attractive distinctions amidst the other nine managers that make it a good look. >> reception from investors so far? >> so far it has been good. there is overhang of are you going to get the returns that make it justified to get that risk. both the institutional side and the retail side, i would say it is encouraging to very encouraging but not a done deal. >> it makes me think of what credit suisse did giving toxic assets to their employees. mark fetting is the chairman, ceo and president of legg mason. gold reaching $1,000, the highest level in a year and a half. we will talk about that. if the run-up is sustainable and if you are better off owning

gold or gold stocks. we are back in one minute.

welcome back. we are on the final stretch on wall street. the dow jones industrial average is high. we have a mixed market in terms of sectors here, mostly to the upside. we have strength in the oils, exxonmobil and chevron higher about 2%. bank doing well. ge was upgraded over j.p. morgan, parent of this company. ge shares are up. j.p. morgan, bank of america are higher as well. s&p 500 up nearly 1%. the standouts, walmart, cvs, ibm, weaker, google, ebay. we turn to the fast money final call. gold hitting its highest ever since last year. here is tim seymour.

>> hi marie. >> hi, tim, great to see you. talk to me about moving gold. do you want to put new money to work right here? >> you believe it because the reality is that we are actually seeing some price inflation coming through. people know about $2 trillion in monetary stimulus. why is this trade happening now when gold had been a laggard for the first part of this rally? you are getting extraordinary data from around the world. last week pmi numbers around the world. this morning, germany the largest export economy in the world, exports up for the third straight monte. if the world is not as bad as people think it has to tell you there is inflation in the pipeline and people are diversifying in gold. >> mark, what do you think? tell me how you see it. the inflation trade that tim is talking about. money moving into commodities is

substantial. >> we are on the other side of it. we see sluggish growth not rapid growth that would bring back inflation. we think there is more deflation fundamental concern than inflation one. hence, we see probably not on that as much as your guest. >> tim, what about that? >> first of all, two things are happening. people are grabbing risk in the form of assets that meaning selling the dollar. look where the dollar is trading down to new lows. that is part of this trade. if you look at, it is not just gold. look at the things that trade with gold. other precious metals, silver, platinum, palladium. they all look the same. i don't think the world goes back to robust growth immediately but the data is better. when you couple that with the amount of money in the system and layer in seasonally gold in a good place here and also look at what happened last week with

the chinese buying these sdr bonds from the imf, the first concrete sign people are diversifying away from the dollar. that helps gold. >> that is true. tim, as far as investing portfolio and a strategy, do i want to buy gold the raw commodity or through raw producers, the equities? >> i think you have two things playing here. first of all, underlying buying gold for the reasons we are talking about is a safe thing to do. i think it is a volatile asset but your long-term trade here is very much intact and part of an asset allocation and it is a very goody verse fication. the miners have had a better run than the underlying metal. that is a function of people grabbing the risk and grabbing higher returns. the gold miners are arguably in the best position they have been in in a long time because of the fact that a lot of their sales are at spot prices, not

long-term contracts. that historically is not the case. when you layer in countries like south africa where a lot of the world's gold comes from, it is a currency where their cost base has been devalued tremendously. they are never going to be more profitable than right now. you have seen the run in gfi and harmony, 20% over a week and that is why the miners make more sense. >> great point. >> our royce funds have been strategic investors in the gold companies for a long time and have done quite well. that one is a fundamental strong bet. >> as opposed to doing the raw commodity. great conversation. thanks, tim. see you tonight on "fast money." how should you play the health care names ahead of president obama's big primetime speech tomorrow night? the call of the day, the analyst who downgraded aig talks about why the stock has no meaningful

value. melissa and the traders on "fast money." the head of u.s. strategies at bank of america is calling for a 20% increase in the s&p 500 over the next year. find out which sector he thinks will lead the way when we come back. s&p 500 up eight points. back in a moment. in these turbulent times, you want a financial partner who promptly gets you... the information you need. at northern trust, our sophisticated technology... puts the most accurate information at your fingertips.

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welcome back. with the market up strongly from march, david bianco says it is time to get bullish right now. he is calling for a 20% rise in the s&p tp to 1,200, he is seeing opportunity in the financial services sector. he is head of u.s. strategy of bank of america merrill lynch he joins me in a cnbc exclusive along with mark fetting. >> hello. how are you. >> s&p 500 you think could rise 20% in the next 12 months. what is going to lead it? >> what is going to drive the market higher is earnings growth.

we are not expecting the market to drive on p/e expansion, driven by the u.s. recovery and declining credit costs and s&p exposure to healthy markets. >> what about the head winds? the international community is not necessarily seeing growth. some people are debating whether gdp positive showings in germany and france, we should read into them. what happens if we have a slow recovery and we bump along the bottom and don't see acceleration in earnings. >> i think we are seeing recoveries in mature economies. we believe that the u.s. economy's recovery will be slow and steady, but keep in mind that scenario is very good for the financial sector which i overweight. the reason why is a slow but steady economic recovery will

keep inflation benign in the fed on a long hold. that keeps deposit rates paid by the bank low and help them earn high precredit cost profits. >> david, our managers have been impressed with recovery in the emerging market area and expectation there is less voltyty on the upside and downside hence is a stronger piece. what is your thought on that? >> that is one of the most impressive parts of this entire cycle, emerging economies and dare i use the word decouple. china while the united states suffered its worst recession since the great depresentation. as the mature economies in the world begin to recover, the secular trend is one of global growth being led by these emerging economies. that trend is powerful for the s&p 500 because much more of the s&p's business comes from

business spending and commodity prices, exports, what we refer to as late-cycle elements of the economy. that is the part of the economy we expect to leave s&p earnings higher, not because we get our economic cycles backwards, but emerging economies more investment oriented, they are driving global growth that is good for industrials, materials, energy, it is also good for many technology companies that are well positioned to the growing i.t. infrastructure investment around the world. this is good for the s&p 500. many of its global cyclical sectors. finally for the first time in a long time we're comfortable with the financial sectors being attractive because slow but steady economic growth is one that keeps the fed on hold and the scenario that is best for bank. banks don't want a strong

economic rebound. that raises inflation risk and shortens the time period during which they benefit from these low deposits. >> that is a good point. david, we are watching congressional leaders, nancy pelosi and harry reid talk about health care reform right now, live in washington saying they will work for a public option or something like it on health care. any move or sort of catalyst for the markets if, in fact, we were to see a resolution on the health care debate? is that part of the portfolio you want to own, health care? i know you said financials. i guess my question on financials and technology is should i be worried about valuations? everything you are saying is understandable but this market is up pretty extraordinary since the lows. do i want to be committing new capital right now? >> right. i think you do want to commit capital right now. i think this rally has further the go, not just the next 12

months but to year end. the valuation is on a normalized earnings basis, financials and energy. if you look at the earnings we are expecting in 2010 and 2011, they are very attractive. the sectors are technology, energy, global growth, financials on domestic recovery and sectors like consumer staples often good value plays, lower risk dividend incomes. to the health care and other policy matters, this is what is very interesting, investors are beagaining to feel better about the cyclical risk and averting the worse. they are turning their attention to policy risks. policy risks are biggest for the defensive sectors, particularly health care. i'm underweight health care. underweight utilities and telecom and consumer discretionary part of the direct policy risks and regulatory

costs will be passed through to households and that limits their real spending power. that is why we are underweight consumer dig consumer discretionary. >> during the upset we saw people first worried about the stock market and their own money funds. paul volcker says they should be regulated like bank. >> we feel strongly in the industry, the small team i work with, the key to money funds is maintaining a stable nav, operating with the s.e.c. and we do not need bank-like regulation. if you look at the history of money funds, it is one of the great success stories dlrks 3 trillion in assets. two moments of down tick, one of which investors got 94 cents on the dollar and the most recent one 98 cents to 99 cents on the dollar. >> not bad.

it is great having you with us, mark fetting, chairman ceo and president of legg moose. >> david bianco, thank you. we are watching this market and many people hoping your bullish call on the money. find out why one wall street firm is bullish on retail. we are back in a moment on the rough good times and bad, including five previous recessions, re/max agents have provided the kind of experience america relies on to get the job done. today, in the worst housing market most of us have ever seen, that experience is more important than ever. find out what re/max can do for you. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 if i'm breathing, i'm thinking about trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i always have my eye out for a stock on the move. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 doesn't matter if a company sells computer chips tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 or, i don't know, fish and chips.

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welcome back. time for the research calls t. latest upgrades and downgrades. gap, upgrade by credit suisse, first boston because of accelerated trends. credit suisse upgrades gap. abercrombie and fitch from a sell to a hold at citi. cutting price target on the stock from 24, down from 33. concern about same-store sales deterioration. up next the countdown. after the bell, is long-term investing still the best strategy or is there a case to be made for thinking short term?

carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday,

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