2:00 on the floor of the new york stock exchange where again we are seeing people sell into the earlier rally on stocks. confusion surrounding the sinking of a ship owned by the south korean navy off the border with north korea. certainly not helping sentiment. anger from some on main street. hope for others as the obama administration offered banks federal subsidies up to 21 cents on the dollar to write down the prin principal on homes underwater. it's 2:00 in michigan where we are live to assess what policies are working to best keep

manufacturing jobs in america. afternoon and welcome to "street sign signs". i'm simon hobbs in for erin burnett. now to matt. >> we had a federal filing from at & t. they will take a $1 billion noncash charge to cover health care reform costs in the first quarter. that's a $1 billion charge by at & t. if you look at the share price there is little change. this is the third company in as many days to put out a health care charge warning to investors. of course, it follows caterpillar and john deere. this charge ten-fold the size. of course at&t in terms of market cap north of $150 billion right now. so clearly a much larger company with more employees. but to see a $1 billion health care related charge crossing the tape, simon at a time when the

health care legislation ink is still drying will catch the eyes of investors. back to you. >> absolutely. with the ink barely dry the commerce secretary was on "squawk box" saying how on earth can the companies be so detailed in the charjs and announcements they're making? it's a mystery. no? >> you have to leave it up to the accountants. they know what their costs are. they know what they have to set aside and there are certain parts of the bill they know better than other people thanks to lobbyists that tried to get certain things changed or not. so i don't want to say it's inside information but they had a tracking on legislation in process that was unique to their specific situation. >> all right, matt. thank you very much for that. let's get down to the trading floors to see what the information is. rick santelli and brian

shactman. >> on this whole john deere and caterpillar thing, the market caps are different. deere has one-sixth the market kaptzation at&t. they have a higher cost associated with health care reform. let's talk about the markets. simon's right. you can blame the south korean incident -- and we still don't know exactly what happened. you can blame the drop on that, but the fact is our markets held up well going into it. there's the south korean exchange-traded fund which started dropping when we got news of that. 10:30 eastern time, it began dropping all the way into the 12:00, 1:00 eastern time hour. the s&p 500 really didn't drop until an hour and a half later. it's a delayed action. bottom line is this -- we have been overbought for a while. traders are nervous because of the drop yesterday. they are quicker to pull the trigger. we have very low volume, thin markets. so a little bit of selling creates a lot of point pressure.

finally we're going into the end of the cold warrer. that creates a dynamic that's difficult to sort out. there are a lot of things floating around that ha v to do with the overbought market. the ipo market had a great week, one of the best in ages. there is a big one next week. remember primerica spinning off from citigroup? everything that's out there, you can imagine they sell. 18 million shares between $12 and $14. guess who's doing the deal? citigroup. first interstate, first bank deal n. all trading above initial prices. we'll see what happens. tradertalk.cnbc.com. we saw the 30-year fixed rate mortgage for the bank rate go up 11 basis points in two days. that got traders' attention. >> absolutely. all rates are important in how they move up.

let's not lose sight of one important fact. they haven't broken out of the range, especially when you look at the range over the last 10, 11 months with respect to the ten-year and 4%. i like looking at 30s minus 10s. last week it was close to 100 basis points. it seized up and on the week hasn't done much. if you look at the normal 2s and 10s, what jumps out is the curve steepening? 2s yields are up six. the clear winner ef down over a third of a cent on the week is the dollar index. best close since may of 2009. as for the at&t story, i have to tell you, they attacked me when it hit five minutes ago. everybody handed this to me and their question was exactly the opposite of yours. they said they find it a shame that these companies didn't talk before the vote, that they felt intimidated was the impression

on the floor to speak up because they probably had all the same information they had today before the vote. i know for a fact that's true with caterpillar because i read that a full week before the vote on sunday. now to shac. >> it really reflects the patterns of the markets. we're down, but i want to look at the chips starting with intel. if you look at an intraday of intel you see when things started to sell off. things sold off more precipitously when it came to the chips. if you believe south korea was moving markets the chips are related to what's going on in asia. if you look at the chip names, the sem constructor index is under performing. broadcom, qualcomm giving back gains. that sector is broad-based sell-off now. on the flip side we have positive stories here at the nasdaq. analysts really bullish about research in motion now, leading

into next week's earnings. three big shops with positive comments including an upgrade from j.p. morgan. of course apple credits slapping a $300 price target there. it seems like people are looking for excuses to sell. look at oracle. they had a nice run-up but they are selling off strongly today. but the report was good. yes, the guidance may not have been as much as people wanted, but it was good profit numbers, simon. it's selling off 2.3%. maybe people need an excuse to sell. >> thank you very much for that, brian. brian shactman from the nasdaq market site. huge controversy after the obama administration announced new help for millions of troubled homeowners. the center piece is the fha and a $14 billion backstop. essentially there will be federal subsidies on the door if

banks forgive some of the underwater principle on homes. diana olick has been following the story. just cut to the nub of it, diana diana. what does it mean? >> reporter: officials say the $75 billion mortgage bailout is not doing enough. it doesn't focus on the three biggest issues in the mortgage market. number one, unemployed borrowers. number two, underwater borrowers. and, three, second liens. that changes today. take a look. a new announcement that the administration is revamping h.a.m.p., the mortgage modification program. it's requiring servicers to consider principal write-down earned over three years in return for cash incentives -- that's right -- from the government. it would also address unemployed borrowers from starting a three-month forebearance program

where they could get down on the mortgage even if just by using unemployment benefits and servicers could go to six months if they wish. the big part is the fha's refinance program. we saw a refi program under the bush administration which offered incentives for lenders and investors to write down the principal value in return for fha-backed loans. this is bigger. there are bigger incentives involved and second lien incentives. second liens have been the biggest barrier to mortgage modifications. so the question is -- also, in addition to that there will be increased incentives to short sales to servicers and borrowers and increased incentives to write down the second liens. are they going for it? that's the question. >> those borrowers who may have had payment income reductions are at risk of default. they can't afford the mortgage today. the home is underwater. they have no way out. for the investor it's cheaper to

write down a portion and get them into an affordable loan than to hold it on the balance sheet and risk the default of the mortgage. >> reporter: i want to touch on one more topic. yesterday, before the house oversight committee and government reform, herb allison, assistant treasury secretary, formerly of fannie mae was asked about it and he said his big concerns were the cost and the moral hazards involved in principal write-downs. barely 12 hours later i asked him about it during a press briefing and he said, moral hazard aspects are mitigated by the structure of the program. i'm not sure what that means. but on the blogs today, realitycheck.com there is big outrage over the moral hazard. >> across the internet today. so lenders received 10 to 21 cents on the dollar as a federal subsidy. is there actually a violation of contract law? i see there is an incentive, but

is the government actually forcing lenders -- >> no, absolutely not. this is fully voluntary and in the home modification program and the fha refinance program. they are incentives, but they are not forcing anyone to do it. that's why the question is investors hadn't done it before. will the incentive be enough? is the second lien incentive going to be enough? administration officials believe the second lien part of it will force investors to do it. whether they do it in the modification process, well, investors are seeing big losses in the hardest hit states. if they can keep borrowers in the homes when prices are going down, they will benefit from this. no, they are not being forced. they are given incentives. >> with the mid-terms approaching. diana olick in washington. will the new plan be an economic fix for the housing market or is it a klassen rcolossal waste of?

we have ron kristy here, the founder and ceo of christie strategies and a former assistant to george w. bush and vice president cheney. david, from a grassroots view, what do you think of the plan. >> i think it's ooh helpful step forward. in the coming year, over five million americans as a result of no fault of their own, were set up for failure with option a.r.m. loans that are adjusting or struggling because of high unemployment rates. the obama administration is trying to use the fha loan program which was set up during the great depression to motivate investors and others to give consumers an opportunity to refinance or to stay in their homes in the hope that the market would change. it's not enough though. more needs to be done. this program certainly is not going to reach all of the americans who are in trouble. >> ron christie?

>> i'm sympathetic to the intent of the administration, but i think it's terrible public policy. first of all, you're talking $14 billion they seek to use from the t.a.r.p. program. the last time i checked, the t.a.r.p. program was not to be a slush fund for the administration. i think the funds are improperly used here. and i tire when i hear officials say people, through no fault of their own, the fact is it is a risk to take out a loan. it is a privilege to own a home, not a right. it shouldn't be one that the government comes in and says, we're going to pick winners and losers. ultimately i don't think this will stimulate investors. i think this will be $14 billion waste bid a government trying to do too much with taxpayer dollars. >> he raises important issues, does he not? >> moral hazard exists with wall street. moral hazard exists with lenders who originated the loans. everyone will have to have a part in the solution. until we address the issue, we won't have an economic recovery. there is a reason we're looking

at regulatory reform and a consumer financial protection agency. safety and soundness, the government's role, the lenders' and wall street role has to be acknowledged. we have to find common ground to get out of the mess. >> mr. christie, is it such an outrage in economic theory? if the banks foreclosure, force people out of their homes and then sell them into a market that presumably would continue to fall with such a big dynamic doesn't that mean there would be a massive destruction in value? the loans would be nonperforming, tax depuductibleo the banks and federal government would lose. aren't you in a sense reducing the destruction of value and giving some of it back to the homeowners -- be it right or wrong? >> i'm all in favor of that. the government shouldn't p be picking winners and losers. if lenders want to renegotiate

mortgages with lenders that's something they are within their rights to do. my concern is using taxpayer dollars where the government determines who the winners and losers are when people should have taken the risk mitigation before they had taken the home. i'm sympathetic to that. one of my closest friends is upside down in his home, but he's not looking for a bailout from the government. >> do you understand the indignation? >> i understand it. but i'm frustrated and i think america is frustrated and angry at the mess the financial system created for taxpayers across the country. the government has the authority. during the great depression they used the homeowner loan corporation and t.a.r.p., we're looking at troubled assets that the industry itself created. we've got to find a solution and america is looking for it. it has not been delivered yet. this is a small step forward from fma. these homeowners are innocent. it's not their fault. the system failed them. >> okay.

we have to unfortunately leave the debate there. it will continue throughout america over the weekend. before you go, can i ask about the comments from jack welsh on tuesday on the network warning republicans that if they are expecting big gains in the mid-term elections they will get a shock because as the economy improves, they will probably find that the democrats are not wiped out. would you have sympathy with the former ceo of general electric? >> i don't. i think americans are very concerned. i think republicans are poised to do well this fall. the economy has been the forefront issue for all americans. the administration and congress has been obsessed with, of course, health care. they have been obsessed with cap and trade. it's a larger philosophical questions that the americans are saying the government is trying to do too much too soon and they will pay for it. >> have a good weekend. up next on "street signs," the americans job machines. 23 states saw job gains last

month, but are they moving fast enough to stop lay-offs? we'll show you what one state is doing to stop the bleeding right now. plus, health savings accounts. eight million people have one. hard linen knows what they are for. could the hidden investment vehicle be a better bet than an ira on the noneven stocks? stay with us. natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel, yet a lot of natural gas has impurities like co2 in it. controlled freeze zone is a new technology... being developed by exxonmobil... to remove the co2 from the natural gas... so we can safely store it... where it won't get into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is spending more than 100 million dollars... to build a plant that will demonstrate this process. i'm very optimistic about it... because this technology could be used... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. ♪

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cnbc's special look at manufacturing today takes us towards michigan where the state has been hard hit by a 14% unemployment rate and is using incentives and tax breaks to lure businesses back to that area. bertha coombs joins us from auburn hills, michigan. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, simon. the bureau of labor statistics said more than half of the state's 27 lost jobs last month, michigan, one of the biggest manufacturing states in the country was one of them. 16% of the economy here is tied to manufacturing and they are trying hard for every new manufacturing job they can produce. it's an uphill battle. the unemployment rate edged down to over 14% last month at the loss of another 16,000 jobs. a big chunk of losses in

manufacturing. 5,000 new lay-offs in february. more than 1,000 in the auto sector which had seen gains in four of the last eight months. with many manufacturers still cautious in the economy, officials here say most are adding shifts rather than jobs. >> i don't think most of my members are comfortable hiring new workers at this point. they aren't sure this is real. they may be replacing inventories that have gone out the door. >> so when auto seat maker ricaro which makes seats for the cadillac, porsches and big companies are looking to keep their production here. they say it's poised to grow the high end child car seat business ten-fold over the next four or five years to $50 million in sales. they explored production on the west coast, but michigan offered

credits to foot the bill for expansion if they grow jobs here. >> the state of michigan definitely fought, worked was. surrounding states had interest as well. michigan came to the forefront. they have done what they can to save the position we're in now. >> reporter: in this case, michigan's gain was the loss of california, but the state also giving out grants to some dozen companies that they think will be able to create about 7,200 jobs over the next few years, simon and create 750 million in economic activity as a result. we're seeing this in every state. most are using these programs aggressively to try to create new jobs. >> bertha, thank you very much for the report there in auburn hills, michigan. let's move to smaller and medium-sized businesses talking specifically about backshoring where companies are able to

attract production back from overseas into the united states. over 30% of north american manufacturers, of course, have experienced serious supply chain disruptions and therefore, there is an argument that you can use to attempt to get the work back. a.j. sweat works for mfg.com, a director of that organization. this is in a sense a social networking style approach to matching buyers and sellers. yeah? >> that's correct. >> talk me through how it works. >> mfg.com is a global manufacturing marketplace that connects buyers with suppliers that can build or provide services for them. all over the world, we are global, transparent and open. we allow buyers to collaborate with the suppliers through the design and production chain. >> it sowns like a complicated network to try to establish so people can find their way

through. how does it work in broad terms? >> we enable buyers to seek out through due diligence to find the suppliers with the right capacity and expertise and other quality that is the buying organization is looking for. we connect them with the right suppliers and allow them to collaborate with each other to do business at the moment and in the future. >> yeah. the wage differential, of course, is huge. the department of labor statistics came out with a figure that the cost of a worker in the east -- the far east is less than one-fifth that of an american worker. is the bulk of what you are seeing matching people into china, south korea? >> we actually see an interesting balance. we don't control it. we are merely a mirror for the activity. we have seen reports and in our own marketplace that the east in asia labor rates are rising.

tax breaks for manufacturers there are being pulled. so we are seeing equilibrium in those costs. also, there are examples -- real examples of companies in the u.s. repat ree yating work back into our shores which is encouraging. it is not a trend yet, but we accept and really like that activity. >> briefly, what is your sense of what could be done to accelerate that so it does become a major trend? what could be the key tipping point? >> there is a lot of activity out there. buying organizations are reassessing the supply chains. small and mid-sized manufacturers could do well to enunciate the value proposition out to their former customers and prospects. that's really effective to get in their grills, if you will, and let them know that they are here and they can perform for them. it's incumbent upon all of us, including the government to establish a comprehensive manufacturing policy. i have heard calls for it

recently. we need action. >> okay. >> that's the answer. >> good to hear from you, sir. good luck. thank you, mr. a.j. sweatt. ahead, the latest on the developing situation. a south korean naval ship sinking off the coast of north korea. the market has questions as to what's going on. we'll update you from the pentagon. "street signs" will be back after the break.

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closing in on half past the hour, let's look at what else is in the news this friday afternoon. filtration system maker donaldson says the board has approve add buy back of up to eight million of its shares. the company getting a lift. bob pisani mentioned the ipo earlier and the strong debut we have had for the chinese hotel chain china lodging. the company priced its 9 million share at $12.25. we are currently trading at $14. so a good gain for those who

managed to get in at the beginning. and the south korean naval vessel we were talking about earlier, i am now told has sunk in the yellow sea. nbc's jim miklaszewski joins us with more. good afternoon. >> reporter: you know, simon,itis not clear yet exactly what did happen to this south korean patrol boat. but it appears unlikely now that it involved any hostile action. south korean officials say it's very highly unlikely that north korea was involved and u.s. officials here at the pentagon are telling us that there is no indication whatsoever that north korea was involved in any way. what we do know is that this south korean patrol boat operating off the west coast of north korea near the northern limit line which is essentially an internationally recognized extension of north korea's territory yal waters there, suffered an on-board explosion below the water line that caused

the ship which was carrying some 104 sailors on board to sink. south korea conducting search and rescue operations have, in fact, rescued some 58 south korean sailors, a number of bodies were retrieved. don't know what the number is, but search and rescue operations still continue for any possible survivo survivors. the big question is what did happen? was it an accident or could it have been some on board mishap or something untoward by a member of the south korean's own navy? that's unclear, but i have to stress that at this point nobody believes this was the result of north korea hostile action. simon? >> jim, could it be that south korea is underplaying this? >> reporter: well, they are definitely trying to play down the incident for now, because it's believed that north korea wasn't involved. if they were attempting to cover up any kind of north korean involvement, there would be a huge backlash against the south

korean government politically and they could probably write themselves off. they would be thrown out of office in no time. >> thank you very much for that. jim miklaszewski there at the pentagon. >> you bet. >> let's check on the effect the story has had, particularly on the commodities market. gold being the most obvious. let's go to the nymex where sharon epperson is watching the trade. >> around 11:25 we didn't know it wasn't a hostile action. there was concern that it could have been a hostile action from north korea which sent gold prices to the highs of the session above $1,100 an ounce. that's where gold settled. we had already seen a lot of fund buying in the gold market ahead of this. the fact that there does seem to be an imf/eu plan to aid greece, that gave a relief rally and fund buying after that. we saw gold prices and gold etfs rallying as a result. keep in mind when you look at the continued uncertainty about the euro zone and the fact that

there may be centralbacks that fear the dollar and the euro, gold may be seen as a replacement currency. we are also seeing rallying. some traders say on that score. in terms of the oil market, not much action at all related to south korea. it looks like oil prices may be poised to close below $80 for the week. back to you. >> thank you very much for that. up next on "street signs," a prescription for profits, how to make the money you're saving for health care work for you now. "street signs" will be back in a moment.

as more and more companies are switching to higher deductible health insurance plans, health savings accounts, as a result, are growing in popularity. hsa is, of course, similar to an ira, but what you may not know is you get a triple benefit by investing in them. here with more is eleanor

blaine, a consumer advocate for the financial planning board. good afternoon. just explain to people who have not come across an hsa what it is, if you would. >> absolutely. an hsa is a savings account that you establish in conjunction with a high deductible insurance policy. so you have to have that insurance plan with a high deductible. the idea is that the premium dollars that you save biceping a higher deductible are now available for going into the health savings plan. that could be funded by your employee or as a self-employed person you can fund it yourself. >> this is basically tax-free money or money that goes in without being taxed to the limit of -- >> it's $3,000 per individual. a little bit more for older people, for people over 50 and for a family it's about $6,150. >> why do you say there is a

triple benefit on them? >> well, we love the roth ira. it grows tax free and can be taken out tax-free. this is a super charged roth. you're not taxed on the dollars that go on. you're not taxed on the earnings within the account. when you take the money out to spend on qualified expenses, there is no taxes on the withdrawals. >> are you going one stage further and telling me that i can use the money to invest in the stock market? >> yes. the beauty of the plan is that you have investment control over the account and so we can make that triple play into a grand slam by using it to hedge against what we know are going to be rising health care costs, health reform notwithstanding. >> explain to me how that would work then in practice? >> well, in practice, you're putting aside a certain amount every year. obviously in the beginning you will have a fairly small amount. we talked about the $3,000 number. over time, as you accumulate

money, remember, you're going to be using this account for health care costs in the future. so you want to make sure your dollars keep up with the health care costs. >> sure. >> well, what better way than to invest in the health care industry. >> potentially there is a limit on what you can invest? >> no. you can, in fact, set up a brokerage account that holds your health savings dollars. >> oh, interesting. >> yes. >> thank you very much, have a good weekend. >> thank you. >> up next on "street signs," more fuel capping off on already heated week between the united states and china. who is mad cow at china now? another sector is ready to battle it out.

a flash from reuters to tell you about news that the head of the abu dhabi investment authority which is abu dhabi's

sovereign wealth fund and the largest such fund in the world by some measures has perished apparently in the crash of a glider plane. this from reuters, the only source citing the state news agency of morocco where it took place. al-nahayan was the managing director of the abu dhabi investment authority. news is that he is missing in a plane crash involving a glider. back to you. >> tyler, thank you very much for that. u.s. lawmakers are pressing the president to request immediate negotiations on a long list of trade disputes with china, the e.u. and other countries. more u.s. companies are complaining about china, this time it's the big credit card issuers. mary thompson has more on that. >> simon, speaking in brussels, today, ron kirk said his office is considering filing a

complaint with the wto on behalf of the companies but he hasn't decided yet. his office declined comment. it's another sign of rising tensions between the u.s. and china. complaints reportedly made by u.s.-based payment processing firms including visa, mastercard and discover. visa and discover declined comment. mastercard didn't return calls. the beef, when it joined the wto china ignored a deadline to provide foreign firms access to the credit and debit payment processing market. as a result, the u.s. companies still can't issue yen dominated cards or build networks for them unless partnering with a chinese firm. even then, the sole payment partner handles all payments made with the cards. peter morici from the international trade commission said they should get tough and file a complaint because the company's complaints are legitima

legitimate. >> chinese payment companies are allowed to do business around the world without cobranding with foreign banks. this is another example of china practicing what's mine is mine and what's yours is up for grabs. >> in this dispute up for grabs is the china market. last year it doubled to over a trillion dollars. a number mercator advisory group sees doubling by 2013. the preferred approach toending the dispute is through negotiation. filing a complaint wouldn't end up with a speedy resolution. it could take two years before a ruling. simon, back to you. >> thank you very much. let's stay with the financial industry. while the crisis brought many western banks to their knees some used it as an opportunity to grow clearly in emerging markets in particular. joseph joputo from the global finance magazine just came out with the 17th analyst of the world's best emerging market

banks. good afternoon to you. thanks for joining us. what are the top three and how have they got there? >> good afternoon. thank few for having me. this year we picked top banks in five region and 101 countries. the five regions were asia where hsbc was the winner, latin america where santander was the winner, in the middle east, kuwa kuwaiti national bank was the winner. in central and eastern europe it was raiffeisen bank. >> obviously you have tracked this for 17 years. you're not a stock picker. we should make it clear, but as an investor, i would be interested in how you see the dynamics changing. what are the major things that investors should be aware of? obviously we have written large

the gains we have had while others like the kuwaiti bank aren't listed. >> well, if one wanted to look at emerging market banking as an investment opportunity, i think you want to look at the international banks that have a wide range of investments in emerging markets. you mentioned standard chartered. they get 90% of profits from emerging profits. hsbc, a global bank, is a power in emerging markets and it's made a significant commitment to emerging markets. it just recently moved the ceo michael gaigen from london to hang congress. the spanish bank, santandair which is a factor in the uk market has expanded significantly in latin america. we picked them as the best in latin america. there are a lot of ways to participate in the markets. one of the best ways is to look at the international banks. >> briefly, i see citi didn't make the list.

that's big, citigroup in emerging markets. >> citi is and has been for decades the one institution with the widest-ranging footprint in emerging markets. citi didn't win any of the region awards but if we were to come up with a global winner, they were a contender in every one of the regions. if they were to have a global winner, citi would be a strong candidate for the position. >> an interesting week for that stock. thank you, joseph. up next on "street signs," we'll trade the news. stay with us. i've been growing algae for 35 years.

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new power chair or scooter free. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. call the number on your screen for free information. so, what are the best plays of today's headlines? it is time for "street signs" pick and play. we pick three headlines and two traders to give us the bets off of the back of it. from jefferies craig packham, and brent willsee.

oracle reported last night, would you be a buyer? >> no, at first i looked at them and looked good, but remember when they bought sun systems? that has given them a hard time on the balance sheet. they are at 9.4, and the debt to equity is 54%. you rewrite off of the tangible assets, and this company will have troubles. i would pick checkpoint with a 4.4 pfp and a tangible book of 4.9 and much better pick than oracle. >> we showed radio shack and slightly ahead of ourselves. craig, would you be a buyer of oracle? >> yeah, we like it. we think that the numbers point to continuing i.t. spending, and they were in the neighborhood of 2% growth rate of software and the numbers came in 5%. there san interesting play away from oracle and that is sap. we think that sets them up well

for sap and it reports next month. >> so you favor that above oracle over in germany? >> well, at this point, that is where the bigger opportunity lies. >> okay. let's talk about the employment report, jobs, jobs, jobs next week and obviously the weekly jobs report, the adp and the monthly one next friday. brent, how would you play that? >> well, what is interesting is that you would see that the adp number will set in motion a directional uplift in estimates. we have seen the estimates of job numbers improving into next friday and this is possibly the biggest month for job creation since the first quarter of 2007 and with that better consumer confidence and better attitude of the consumer. and we like the consumer spending and visa and mastercard large purchases went well. >> and how about you? >> well, i think this is fully valued now. what i would be looking at now is utility companies, because as

more people go back to work, turning on more lights and using more machinery and so i think they will benefit here. i like duke energy which has an equity of 17.2. and their current pe is nearly going to pay a 0.06 dividend. that is what i would play there. >> and what about radio shack which we saw earlier reports to explore share buybacks or a possible sale of the company to connect $3 billion or thereabouts. craig, let me come to you on radio shack? >> well, with the takeover and the sfek ypeculation is a tough. we would rather play the gamer or marketplace which is one of our favorites best buy. if you look at the numbers yesterday, there was a 260-basis point improvement in market share buried in the earnings report. we think that best buy is one of the long-term winners in terms

of the consolidation of the consumer electronics vertical. >> brent, you agree? >> no, i disagree. two years ago i talked about i liked radio shack and it had a wild ride. i bought more at that point in time. right now that company has a current pe of 4.6, and their sales are up 10% year over year and nice debt to equity of 63%. this is a company that you can buy and if they are not taken over, which would give you a quick boost, you have a good company to hold in the portfolio for the longer term. i like radio shack whether they are brought or not, and still a good company. >> are you a general fan of the market, brent? >> no, i am not. i spent a lot of time looking for companies that are looking good, but there are a lot of companies overbought, and you have to be careful if you buy in the market, because if you buy the wrong ones, you won't have much growth in the portfolio. >> craig, is the market sound at these levels? >> well, we are constructive at the market in current levels and one of the things that we think will ultimate i will take us

higher with the path to least resistant to the upside are the corporate profits. we think it is continuing to be a surprise to the upside. we will see the earnings season right around the corner and some of the favorite sectors are consumer discretionary which is a group that people love the hate. >> well, craig, i see that the fun and games have started on your trading floor, so i will let you get off to the weekend and brent, good to see you as well. thank you very much for joining us. a brief break, but first, your trend of the day. the cnbc trend tracker live data board is brought to you by cme group.