the upside by 112 points. that is off of the best levels of the afternoon. earlier, just a few minutes ago, well above 9600 on the dow. up 1% at the close, s&p 500 also holding on to a 15-point move up 1.5% on the session. and the nasdaq up 20 points, nearly 1%. money moving into technology as well, 2068 is where the nasdaq settles out. bob on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> we're off the highs, but the financials and dollar, big help to the overall stock market here. let's take a look at what happened today. number one story, yes, the dollar. i know you're tired of hearing about it, but the dollar moved stocks once again here today. number two story, financials, we had a big story from goldman sachs this morning, talking about big cap stocks. that moved the markets earlier on. take a look at commodities, folks. you want to see -- let me show you the dollar first. weakened all throughout the day. the g-7 did not come out with aggressively strong dollar comment over the weekend.

it hit the lows late in the day. stocks hit their highs. the big move is in the commodities. oil, copper and gold here, the dollar moving down. look what oil did here. nice move to the upside. and sideways. same situation with copper. copper also moved up throughout the day as the dollar was weaker. the same situation with gold, which, by the way, is not far from its highs just a month or so ago. over $1,000 today. what does it do to the stocks? big commodity games, alcoa, biggest percentage gainer in the dow jones industrial average. dropped most of the day. right near the high of the day. same thing with energy stocks as oil moved up, big oil names like murphy, also moved to the upside as well. they closed just off of the highs as you can see here as well. same situation with the gold stocks. newmont, all moving to the upside. doing pretty well. finally, the financial stocks, goldman made a big call on big cap bank stocks. arguing that they are going to

be outperforming on an earnings basis in the next several months. and that is not yet reflected in the price of their stocks. maria, they did upgrade wells fargo as well. >> bob, thanks very much. see you a little later. let's take a look at the other business headlines we're following tonight. a new survey, microsoft, finds the ip industry will create nearly 6 million jobs around the globe. and lead to the creation of more than 75,000 businesses over the next four years. total i.p. spending will rise to 2013, 13% -- or by 2013. the airline industry took off today. american airlines, us airways, all reporting improvement in traffic last month, along with the planes. the one carrier bucking the trend, southwest, which was down from january. because of what the firm called valuation. global hedge fund assets fell

8.5% from the first half of the year. that is down 38% from the peak of $2.# trillion hit during the first half of 2008. the firm also fears the trend is reversing during the third quarter, and expects the assets to ride 10% before the end of the year. i'm joined to discuss all of this with the bank of america securities at merrill lynch. and tony, with equity capital markets. let's talk a little bit about what's going on in that market, ethan. do you think that the fourth quarter is going to bring further gains for this market? up 50% from the lows in march. >> i think the market's still has a ways to go. we're still in the early stages of an economic recovery. i don't buy the double-dip notion that the economy is going to drop back into recession anytime soon. as the data continues to confirm, an ongoing recovery, people in the markets will get more confident and that should

maintain upward momentum in the stock market. >> tony, there's still money on the sidelines. >> there's a historically amount of money on the sidelines. most of the money that's come in has gone to the bond market. it's not just people sitting in cash, it's also people sitting in fixed income investments, where your yields are so low and it's coming down. i agree with ethan and what i would suggest is in the letter alphabet, i'm looking for a capital v for recovery, because anything time you've had as dramatic downturn in inventory, capacity of the expenditures, you picked the economic indicator. anytime you had a sharpen trerchment, you had the mirror image on the way back up. >> do you think that we're going to see then the evidence of an economic recovery start being clearer in the fourth quarter? >> i do, maria. i think what people are focusing on right now, i think, unfortunately, is the possibility for a correction in

equity prices and just a slowing of the improvement in the economy. and i, on the other hand, i think we're going to have the market go up to $12.60. the economy is going to keep going. the corporate credit market has been euphoric. it is unbelievable the amount of money that's been raised. next year we're going to have -- the government's going to spend on stimulus around a quarter of a trillion dollars. new issuance this year for corporates has been $1 trillion. that stimulus ends up in equity-friendly hands and that's why we're so optimistic and not worried about the possibility of what we just saw, which is a correction. >> ethan, we're talking about the possibility of a second stimulus, or maybe tax credit, whatever washington wants to call it, it's still a second stimulus basically. do you think we'll get it? i don't think we're going to get a capital v, i think a lower-case v. the economy still faces serious headwinds in the troubles in the financial sector and household sector. but i do think a recovery is

going to be well under way as we go into the new year. if things -- if the economy does stumble, yeah, we'll get further fiscal stimulus. we've already seen it. we've seen them extend unemployment benefits several times. we've seen them increase the size of the cash for clunkers program. i don't see any big stimulus package coming. but again, if the economy starts to falter, if it looks like the dreaded w is appearing, we think they'll come through with another package. >> we'll leave it there. thank you very much for your insights. we'll see you soon, gentlemen. here's a look at the other stories we're following. according to published reports, brocade put itself up for sale. hewlett-packard and oracle could be among the companies interested in acquiring brocade. brocade could decide to remain independent. the stock today, however, traded like this. up 18% on speculation of a deal. research in motion upgraded to a buy from a hold.

the target price of $85 a share. that's from needam. shares in the blackberry maker are down 20%. a disappointing third-quarter forecast. $65.40 tonight. general dynamics upgraded. $80 a share. that's for morgan stanley. the analyst talks about higher demand for the gulf stream business jets, especially in china. the general dynamic stocks up 2 2/3%. is there too much regulation put into effect over the global financial industry? but first, home depot founder will be with us when he thinks an economic recovery will be in full swing. where its investment bank is putting its money right now.

welcome back. as the economy begins to turn, unemployment weighing on consumer activity.

my next guest has a unique perspective on consumer spending and the economy. ken langone is chairman, president of inmed. wonderful to have you on the program. >> i didn't do it alone. >> well, you're a gentleman for saying that. >> i had partners. >> you knew the value of home depot a long time ago. and i knew the talent we had and these fellows we started with. >> how do you do that? how do you put your finger on an idea and say, this is going to be big? are this tell tale signs? because you invest in lots of small businesses. and have seen lots of success stories. what are your screens that you look at when you're investing? >> you look at the people. i'm a great believer that if you get to know somebody well, and you can see their sense of commitment, their reality of their thinking, you know, they think realistically, but all that said, if you've got about six months, i can tell you about all my failures, too.

nobody bats 1,000. but seriously, to me, it always gets down to the people. >> what are you looking at now? are you looking at strong leadership in any particular company that you can tell us about? where are you putting your bets these days? >> i've got a very exciting investment in a heart stent company run by a former executive of eli lilly, who's done of a hell of a job with it. we're about to do devices in demand in the next 12 months. we've got a wonderful endorsement, st. jude medical just put $15 million into the business. which is a real feather in our cap, because i think dan stark and his team at st. jude medical are about as good as they come. so we're looking at that. i'm looking in the biofuels now. i think more and more we're going to have to figure ways out to get off this drug called foreign oil. >> yeah.

>> especially as the dollar continues to erode in value. >> it's interesting, because if you wonder of that urgency to alternative to oil lessens as oil comes off of the highs. here we are at $70 a barrel. i guess that's a pretty high number anyway. so maybe the urgency doesn't stop. >> well, you know, we did a lot of this to ourselves. we should have an enormous commitment in the nuclear power. france gets 80% of its energy from nuclear power. we talk about terrorists. we talk about enemies. all those things would go away if we weren't fueling it with the enormous exporting of dollars to buy energy that we need to run our cars, heat our homes, and we've done this to ourselves. and i don't mean to take on the environmentalists, but i remember one anecdotal story. 1979, three mile island. worst nuclear accident we ever had. not one human hair was injured. not one. hair.

if anything proves the validity of the safety of nuclear power, that did. we're now in a position where we may have to ask ourselves the question, how do we live with the reality the world we're in. >> we're seeing growth in some of those areas that you mention, obviously alternative energy is one area that you are seeing money flow into. the health care is another. would you say that is where the growth is in this economy? how do you see things right now? obviously home depot was one of your greatest success stories. >> yes, it was. >> do you still see the housing market growing over time? where's the growth in the u.s. economy right now? >> we're going through a rough patch with housing. my guess is it will take us a couple of years, three years to work through the inventory. we did this to ourselves. we loaned people money that, number one, they couldn't afford to pay back. they bought homes for the wrong reasons. they bought homes because they thought i'll buy it today and sell it tomorrow for a higher price.

it was speculation much like we had in the stock market in the '60s, and in the late -- latter part of the last decade. so all these things lend themselves to excesses. i believe right now that home depot is well positioned, because at the end of the day, the american home is still the principal asset. and the asset portfolio of the american resident. >> it's the lodge term -- >> the other thing i'm excited about health care. we're living longer. we want better quality lives. we certainly -- one thing that concerns me about the noise of health care now, 85% of the american people like their health insurance. they like it better. but they're comfortable with it. what you're seeing in the pushback is people saying, hey, wait a minute, maybe it isn't exactly perfect, but it's pretty good. don't mess it up on me. >> and they don't want government running their health care. >> anytime government has

intertwined itself in anything, they haven't done well. >> speaking of, let's talk about financial services. what are your thoughts on ken lewis stepping down? >> i called ken lewis on friday. i'll tell you why i called him. because i wanted him to know how bad i felt. and i'm a stock hold eer of bank of america. i think he did a hell of a job for his shareholders, for the communities he worked in, for all of the stakeholders. i think what's happened to this man is an absolute travesty. i think he's got an enormous talent. i think these deals he made countrywide, merrill lynch, they're going to turn out to be bonanzas for his stockholders. i think when you get caught in a swirl with politicians, this is apt to happen. and this is what happened here. they basically pushed him to do the deal. >> of course they did. and why did they do it? because they were terrified of what the unknown was. i think bernanke says we didn't say he could lose his job. paulson said we did tell them

they could all -- so they were all in the room, who do you believe. hank admitted to him saying that, having said that, bernanke said no. i think lewis did the right thing. i think he had wise legal counsel. i think the deals were made. i think they're going to turn out to be extremely beneficial. you can always look back and say "what if," but over the long term, and that's how you want to build businesses -- >> great franchises. >> the strongest franchise in the financial services is merrill lynch. >> so you're still a holder of b of a. what are your thoughts on financial services in general? do you think we're going to see a different industry going forward? is it a smaller, less leveraged -- you don't think it changes much? >> we're living longer. we're going to accumulate assets for our retirement. i look at guys that have done a superb john like larry fink, with his company black rock. people are going to be reaching out for advice and counsel on financial services. that's going to be a good business. right now, we're going through a

very rough patch. how long we go through it, i don't -- i know this. i'm about as optimistic as i've ever been about america over the long term. over the short term, i'm very concerned that we're trying to force feed something that only time will correct. i'll give you a for instance. i was intrigued to see that the lead story in "the new york times" today was about a mattress company that was lbo'd six, seven times. in the upper right-hand page, front page of the "new york times," the highest real estate place in the newspaper business, and the story was about a mattress company. what does that tell you? you would expect to see that in the sunday "times." because the "times" has got their own issues and their own problems. but maria, i think if we can let the little guy do what he's good at doing, which is to take care of himself, we're going to be fine. >> what about the exchange business?

your old stomping ground, on the board of the nyse for so many years. does it feel different to you? >> yeah, it feels different. and it feels different in a sad way. i remember the hustle -- maybe this is progress, maybe this is technology. but whatever it is, i'm sort of a romanticist. i love steam engines. i used to love to run on a train pulled by a steamer. that's how old i am. but obviously you give way to technology. and that's probably what happened here. >> what about ge? you were on the board of ge for so long. do you think they should tell nbc universal? i'm sure this has come up many times in the board rooms, right? >> that was a long time ago. at the time i served on the ge board, and i'm proud of my service there, it was clearly a property they were going to keep. indeed, when they did the deal with avendee, the intention is they were going to have more of it, and they did. i think it's a fabulous property. again, technology and changing ways of delivering news and

media, cable versus network, these are all issues. but unfortunately ge has gone through a rough patch right now. but they've got great brands and great products. they've got a fabulous group of guys in the company. >> do they need to make ge capital smaller? >> i think ge capital is probably at the end of the day a growth engine. that said, the owners have to ask the question, are they willing to have that kind of exposure. my bet would be, yes. because ge with a market cap of $180 billion, i think that things are pretty well in form right now. you look at medical systems, aircraft engines, power systems -- those are the groeth businesses of the day. >> but they're also cyclical. this one, financial services and ge capital, i think it's a good business. i think they've done it well. i always marvelled at how ge capital was able to collect all

of its loans. >> final couple of questions here. you are the grand marshal for the columbus weekend. it's upcoming weekend. congratulations. >> thank you. i'm honored. i wish my grand parents and my parents, who sacrificed so much that i might have, look at this, here i am on the floor of the new york stock exchange. talking to a beautiful woman like you. you know, people, for whatever reason might be interested. only in america, maria. only in america. >> and you're going to be marching in the parade and honored at the gala dipper saturday night. >> and you're going to be there. >> yes. >> you're going to be the mysteries of ceremonies. >> yes, i am. >> thank you for doing that. all i want you to know is i'm thrilled and proud of my heritage. >> so am i. thank you very much. ken langone joining us here at the nyse. we'll take a short break and the supreme court beginning a new term today. up next from mutual fund shareholders to the new methods. the cases that the high court will be hearing.

welcome back. the supreme court kicking off its new term today. here with a look at some of the key business cases on the docket. hampton? >> reporter: hi, maria. well, as the supreme court begins this first monday in

october, if you will, we've got a business, heavy calendar and a new justice with lots of business case experience, justice seasonia sotomayor joining the high court for the first time. more than two dozen cases focus on things like executive pay, intellectual property. even opening the door to a partial repeal of sar vain's oxley. the top business case, can unique business cases be pattested. it's a case of a commodity hedging strategy, is that worthy of a patent. executive pay. and shareholder rights collide. the high court must decide whether mutual fund shareholders can sue advisers for charging excessive fees. >> the struggle for the court here is over what standards, if any, did they really want to write onto this statute, to govern the compensation. it's a huge case for the fund industry, obviously. and for investment advisers. it's a huge case for

shareholders, because it will govern how much these people can charge. >> reporter: another huge case, free interprize fund versus public company oversight board. an important line in the sand, as congress and the administration craft major regulatory reform. the supreme court earlier today issued two rulings of interest to wall street. the high court refusing to hear former ceo joe nacchio's overturn of his trading conviction, and will not have to pay the government nearly $20 billion in royalties for offshore oil leases. the high court agreeing with the lower court that the interior department couldn't collect royalties despite higher oil prices and profit. by the end of this term we should know a lot more about how this supreme court feels about regulating the business environment. >> that will be key. hampton, thanks so much. hampton pearson with the latest

at the supreme court. we're talking about the outlook for the global sector. based out of doha, qatar, where the company is finding the best opportunities around the world. welcome to the now network. population: 49 million. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. eight are wearing bathrobes. two... less. - 154 people are tracking shipments on a train. - ( train whistles ) 33 are im'ing on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email... - on a vacation. - hmm? ( groans ) that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

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welcome back. let's take a look at the business headlines we're covering tonight. a lot of news coming out of the auto industry tonight. a group former ford executives are in talks to acquire ford's volvo business after securing financing from private equity groups. it could challenge china's geely automotive. magma needs to reach a deal to save $400 million a year before

a deal can be struck. chrysler splitting its dodge unit into separate truck and car groups of the the move allows the automaker to put more emphasis on the ram brand which is one of chrysler's more valuable assets. two chrysler brand ceos are leaving as part of the reorganization. which is the biggest shakeup when fiat emerged from bankruptcy protection in june. the annual meeting of the international monetary fund and the world bank is taking place right now in istanbul, turkey. global regulation, transparency of the institution and u.s. dollar all topics of conversation. joining me from the annual meeting in istanbul is raghaven seetharaman, ceo of doha bank. good to see you again. welcome to the program. >> good evening, maria. pleasure. thank you. >> let's talk about coordination on regulation. obviously a major topic of discussion there at the imf world bank meetings. are you hearing that finance ministers and others are looking

to create an international standard? where are you on this important issue? >> absolutely. the global governance is a key. concept actually, the refinement has to focus on global governance, international stability. there has to be a unified approach to the whole frame. whether it is the supervisory framework, we need to articulate new world order. and we have to have new governance. that's the intention of the imf and the rest of the finance ministers and central bankers. what they need to achieve is how we're going to correct the imbalances, how the economies are going to be converted into the other economies. how the economies are going to get a stability as a good governance. we need to create consumer confidence. we need to establish global trust in real order to the global governance in the new world order. >> can you give us a sense of

what's happening in banking in the middle east? particularly in qatar, where your bank is based? we saw a real slowdown in activity as a result of the credit crisis around the world. how would you characterize the banking system today? >> well, the banking system has been stable compared to the rest of the world. they're stable and functional. they have a capital to start with the last october. again, when the investments, stock market was dominating in the first two months, they supported the investment bailout. real estate sector was a major concern in may this year. again, they took the stress test. it's a model, but clearly the governance was clearly adding to the capital for profitability. the region has been going through a bit of a turbulence. they have had to redefine their

framework. these are all based in asset based instead of asset backed. sharia backing the institutions. as a whole, the financial institutions have come to terms with the realignment with the rest of the world. in short, essentially we're stable and functional. liquidity is there. profitability is beginning to be visible. as a whole, it is going to be interesting. >> what are your thoughts on government ownership of the banking sector? as you probably saw over the weekend, prince aloueed in saudi arabia urging officials to sell citigroup. he said it's hindering the performance of bank stocks. do you agree with that in terms of the banking sector being really subject to more oversight given the government's ownership? do you think that government should be looking to exit at

some point soon? what are your thoughts on government oeng the banking sector? >> i think the financial institutions is a public property. clearly in addition to the money, we take customer deposits. concept actually, whether a private bank or local bank, it's a financial institution. concept actually the global imbalance was visible. the financial institutions are supported by the central banks. and capital guarantee, or again, when it comes to customer deposit protection, now we have clearly seen consistently across the board improving. this is a time perhaps we have to set a discipline when exactly the public/private partnership should detach from the overall

control. we need to wait for the overall equity in global terms. then again i think they can detach later. i think it's good to have separation and micromanagement is not dead. and control all our governance. financial stability is a key. that's what the regulators are doing. >> we will leave it there. mr. seetharaman, good to have you on the program tonight. thanks very much. jane wells now has breaking news. she is in california. >> hi, maria. as expected, mirage cutting prices at the project by 30%. according to "wall street journal." a ceo had told me last month they would be lowering prices because people put down deposits during the height of the boom. prices on vegas condos have plummeted by 50% to 70%. according to the journal, mgm is only lowering it 30% because it's not like other projects.

we're still waiting to find out if jim is going to come through the on another part of the promise that they will try to offer some sort of financing to the people buying condos, that closing the deals may be difficult in the las vegas market right now. the mirage is lowering the price on the condos 30%. >> we'll keep watching that story. thanks very much, jane. nintendo looking to put the fun in fitness once again. the president of nintendo of america talking about the new wii fit plus game. how it could boost the company's sales. and his take on the upcoming holiday shopping season as we continue on "closing bell."

welcome back. as the holiday shopping season looms, intense war is under way among the video consul makers. with a slate of new software titles this fall, nintendo hopes it's enough to get consumers spending money this holiday. joining me is the president and chief operating officer of nintendo of america, reggie fils-aime. so you cut prices just recently by $50 to $299. was that a correct response to competitors? >> not at all. it was about getting ourselves ready for the key holiday season. we have a new title that just

launched yesterday. we wanted to time it with the key product and give us momentum into the holiday season. >> tell us about the wii fit plus. >> what consumers told us is they wanted the ability with the original wii fit to customize their routines, some more exercises as well as more of the balance games. that's exactly what we've delivered for them in the wii fit plus. so far retailers are telling us consumers are very excited about the product. >> what's different about the wii fit plus? other than you're saying it conforms to people's specific exercise routines. >> you can choose what you want to do in terms of a series of exercises. you build your own program. it gives you more choices, both in terms of balance games and exercises with themselves. plus all of your history from the original wii fit transfers over into the new software. and if you already own the original wii fit, it's only $20 for the software. it really is a strong value. >> it really is customed to you.

>> exactly. >> what do you expect at the end of the holidays this year? people are waiting to see if there's a must-have product. we're worried about the slow spending season. what are your anticipations? >> what we've seen if you give the consumer great value in terms of what they get for what they pay, they're willing to spend. we say that based on the experience of launching the nintendo dsi this past april. we've already sold 2.2 million units. we're feeling very good about the holiday. we've got a great software lineup coming out. >> you've got the new game that you released yesterday. as one of the obviously the draws of the holiday. what else do you need to do to draw people in? do you think you'll have to cut prices again? absolutely not. what we have is great software. for the wii, we've got a new super mario brothers game that will launch on november 15th. for the ds we have a plethora of titles including a new game that will launch on december 7th. what we see, as long as we have this great drum beat of new software, we'll be able to

motivate the consumer. >> so people want value, and they are looking selectively today, given what we've just come through. >> absolutely. the way we define value, what you get for what you pay. and certainly with wii with the $50 price drop, you're getting a lot more value. and also with our hand-held products you're getting great value because there's over 600 software titles you can play. you have a great range of different experiences. let me ask you about what people are doing these days. a year ago, when you joined us, a lot of analysts and actually yourself as well, talked to me about people switching their sort of behavior. you were seeing fewer people go to the movies, and they're playing video games instead. are you still seeing that mentality shift? >> we are. what we're seeing is at least in the entertainment space, consumers want to have long experiences, experiences that they can relive over and over again. for the video game category, it really plays into that, as long as you have new product news. and so we feel with a great

lineup we have, we have the drum beat of new news. >> some critics will say nintendo has not really brought anything to the level of the innovation since you first came out with the wii. of course, you've got sony and microsoft nipping at your heels in terms of quality and in innovati innovation? >> two cameras, downloadable content, a great way to experience a hand-held console. so we are continuing to try to innovate and bring great new experiences. >> what's your biggest customer globally speaking? >> i would say walmart. on a retail basis, certainly from my region, which is canada, u.s., latin america, walmart is my biggest customer. >> when you look around the world, what can you tell as far as spending patterns in terms of consumers right now? >> it's similar to what we see in the u.s. consumers are very hesitant to spend. when they are spending, they're doing it thoughtfully and to get a lot for their well-earned money. that's why as consumer products

manufacturers, we have to step up and keep delivering great experiences. >> are you going to have enough in the stores? some people also worry that they're going to go out to buy it, and it's not going to be there because the replenishment hasn't happened. >> from our standpoint, we're prepared. we have a tremendous amount of product in inventory. we've been flowing product into retail. we do not expect to have shortages on our products. now, if we do experience them, i'd love to have that problem. but we're not seeing that happening this year. >> how tough was it for you to cut prices on the wii? you haven't done that since you came out with the product. >> we did not -- we last 34 months in the marketplace without having to cut the price. buff the reality is, we were able to reach over 20 million consumers here in the u.s. at $249. the next group of consumers we will get at the $199 price point. >> is that what it's going to take to motivate people? are there other things out there

that you can motivate people to get going and shopping on this kind of product? >> again, we keep coming back to this word of value. what you get for what you pay. so that means, great products, priced at the right place, delivering great new experiences. if you have that, we do see the consumer spending. >> what happens if we see a prolonged downturn in this economy? >> a prolonged downturn oef- >> what's plan b? >> we're an entertainment company. we're about bringing smiles to people's faces. for us, plan b is more new product innovation. we showed a little piece of that last year in june with the product called the wii vitality center. we'll continue to drive innovation. that's going to be our solution to the current economic environment. >> you've cut prices in u.s. and japan. so not everywhere. what happens in europe, europe is a very interesting market. a lot of different retailers, a lot of different regions, a lot of different taxes and things of that nature. it's a market-by-market solution. >> we hope you'll come back and give us an update over the

holidays and let us know how it's going. earning season kicks into full gear this week. up next, matt nesto takes over the expectations. the risks that lurk beneath better than expected earnings. back in a moment. time now for going global asia. >> we're just getting started here in asia, and here are the stories to watch. reserve bank of australia makes an interest rate decision later today. speculation swirling in sydney that the central bank could hike rates in more positive dollar and revival in demand for labor. for managers of the biggest hedge funds in asia are having a conference in hong kong. we'll get their perspective on markets going forward and where they're allocating their funds. managers are increasing their focus on asia and hong kong has emerged as the world's biggest hedge fund center. china's premier visits north korea. we'll keep an eye on talks that are expected to include top-level discussions about the north's nuclear weapons program. tune in to cnbc world and

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well, it's become a foregone conclusion that companies will routinely come in with better-than-expected earnings. but has that gone too far? cnbc's matt nesto with at least one wall street guru who says it has. >> you know, it's a game, maria. you put these expectations out here in quarter after quarter, no matter what the economic cycle is telling you, you're seeing typically 12/3 of the companies that report their earnings come in better than expected. the most recent quarter, the second quarter, a record with about 75% better than expected. so we go with the sonny and cher. the beat goes on. will it go on? tobias lefkowich, a very thoughtful gentlemanly man who's the head of the strategy team at citigroup investment research, is out saying maybe it won't because simple better-than-expected results might not be enough. he's saying you might have to

dramatically exceed results. and then not only that, people are getting tired of these cost cut-driven gains. i mean, they're wonderful, but at some point they're going to want to see some top line growth. we've talked about that a lot. the complacency risk, well, people just come to expect it. as we said. and then you have to wonder what's already priced in. and then also, it's going to be maybe confession season, forecast season, hunting season. whatever season. it's the first glimpse at what 2010 is probably going to look like. and chances are ceos aren't going to err on the aggressive side and underperform after overpromising. there's a comparison of the dollar index, you can see, which is down, which should be an interesting current, if you will in earnings season. maria, back to you. >> all right, matt, thanks. let's head to the nasdaq marketsite. melissa lee's there standing by with a preview of what's coming up on "fast money." >> nice rally on our hands and we'll talk about some of the big movers, including gold making a dramatic intraday move. we'll tell you whether or not it

is still a buy at this point. also we've got secret identity stocks. a special segment we are launching today. pete najarian will take a look at dupont. and peter schiff, the permabull, who has been right on the crisis, actually has a buy recommendation. we'll share that with you on "fast money," top of the hour. maria? >> all right, melissa, we'll see you in about five minutes. up ahead, what could move the markets when the opening bell sounds tomorrow. we'll get you set up for tomorrow's trading session. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. your typical. the reason lies six thousand miles away... in japan, where a producer of specialty eggs needed corn for feed... grown to precise standards. cargill identified the producer's needs, then introduced an illinois farmer to grow the exact corn needed... and developed a system to ship it separately, connecting the farmer with a japanese customer... who was very appreciative. this is how cargill works with customers. ♪ yes, you're lovely... ♪

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here's what to watch for tomorrow. >> i'm matt nesto. we have a little earnings central action tomorrow. pepsi bottling group before the open. they're of course being acquired by the mothership, pepsi. and after the close we'll hear from yum brands international. we'll see how the weak dollar has affected their sales as well as their foreign growth. >> rick santelli on the floor of the cme group. tune in tomorrow, 1:00 eastern for 39 billion three-year notes to be auctioned, and it will be particularly interesting considering that for fiscal 2010 starting october 1st the government's going to issue less t bills. might make the two to & three-year note auction az little messier. tune in tomorrow 1:00 eastern.

and tonight a special program on innovation. i'm hosting a special primetime series, "the business of innovation. the innovation series explores the changing dynamics of cities in the fafs unprecedented global urbanization. and i ask the premier of the western cape of south africa and former mayor of capetown about the challenges of urban safety. >> you turned a blighted area into a thriving city. what was your strategy? >> well, i certainly didn't do it alone, maria. it was a team effort. it was a result of partnerships across many sectors. and it was also a result of harnessing technology. but what we did was weigh partnered with the business community, with the local neighborhood watches, with the metropolitan police, with the south african police services, and we really brought invisible policing, cctv cameras, and constant vigilance on the streets, and violent contact crimes were brought down in the city center by 90% during that

period. >> increasingly, you are seeing an enormous amount of people move to cities, and the question is how can we innovate to prepare for this move? don't miss tonight's episode of "the business of innovation" at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnbc. before we go let's take a look at the day an wall street. and it was a pretty good day. the dow jones industrial average up to a rally, 112 points on the session, better than 1%. back at 9,599 at it was above 9,600 at its best today. nasdaq up 20 points, about 1% as well. and the s&p 500 ticking up 1 1/2%. have a great night. i'll see you tomorrow. "fast money's" up next. thanks for being with us. good night. >> announcer: this is cnbc.com "news now." mgm mirage slashing the price of condos by 30% at city center, its las vegas megaproject. existing buyers will get the price break at closing. citigroup shifting its financial advisers from a commission-based system to a fee-only model. and white house spokesman

robinson gibbs says the president has no plans for a second economic stimulus package. that's cnbc.com "news now." first in business worldwide. i'm bertha coombs. "fast money" with melissa lee starts right now. live from the nasdaq marketsite, this is "fast money." i'm melissa lee. stocks rebounding from their worst week since july. the bull is back on. these "fast money" guys have your ways to stay above the rebound tonight. we'll take on one of the biggest market bears out there, peter schiff, although he may actually surprise you with a bullish call on a certain sector. plus, pete's got a company that the rest of the market can't figure out. the pit boss will reveal its secret identity. but first, let's get to it. let's get to the word on the street today. great day for the market. how did it feel? >> i've got to tell you there were a couple of things. last week we said economic data was poor. right? we got ism, non-manufacturing. how was that? better. >> goldman came out in defense of the big banks.