ibm. >> jb? >> chevron cbx. >> that does it for us. follow me on twitter. "power lunch" begins right now. "lace 'em up! "halftime" is over. the second half of the trading day starts now. >> i thought john was going to do ymca there with the stuff. the s&p up 8.5% in 3 months. look at that. 1415.42. some on wall street are change lifting the year end call. are they leading or following? there are reports although not confirmed that president obama is considering tapping in to the so-called strategic petroleum reserve. generally, it's only for emergencies. supply disruptions. wait until you see what the department of energy has to say about it. and, sex and the ceo.

another high profile corporate leader steps down reportedly because of his relationship with a 26-year-old woman at the company. we have a great panel lined up to talk about it all from the woman's point of view. we start with sue at the nyse. sue? >> hi. you said it. the markets are in rally mode and jp morgan with a note saying, quote, we are raising our short-term target for the s&p 500 to 1475 maintaining a 1430 by year's end. basically we believe the beta chase under we and will be su stanned. we see the high being established before election day. any further gains from that point would be contingent on a romney victory. now, they're upping their target? after a huge gain for the s&p 500 already this year? well, the etf tracking the s&p up 8.5% in 3 months. the nasdaq's big etf up 10% in 3 months and the etf tracking the

dow up more than 6% and already, ty, seen quite a move. >> all right. let's turn to killer kilburg. how do you follow the analysts and do you think their calls are often too late? >> well, ty, as trader haves to chuckle here. the analysts, we talked on tuesday. the groupon, you know, analyst downgraded after down 26%. hey guys. step outside the box. go out on the limb and make a call earlier because at the end of the day they're losing credibility. there's job security and undercurrents and we want sub stapt shl statements. not rear-view mirror camera. >> all right. thank you very much as we look at groupon. a troubling update now on a story that was just developing on our air yesterday. a mass shooting deadly at a platinum mine in south africa. the police ministry there says at least 30 people were killed whether officers opened fire on striking workers at a mine just northwest of johannesburg.

an internal investigation is under way. the shooting came amid a protest and strike that started roughly a week ago. samantha loring is with cnbc south africa and i warn there's a bit of a delay because of the satellite. samantha, what has the national reaction been to this mass shooting? >> certainly, one of sadness and somber mood here in south africa today. the south african national psyche one would say is rocked and head leans talking about the massacre. the death toll, now, in fact, at 44. ten people killed during riots on tuesday. two policemen and yesterday as you said 34 people killed, 78 injured. police are opening fire on 3,000 striking rock drill operators and of course that is, of course, has become a key issue.

the conditions and wages under which rock drill operators work. and of course, this is at the mine that's 100 kilometers northwest of johannesburg. the police chief commissioner who, in fact, in the job since june, coming out today saying the police acted in self defense. as you say, a huge ongoing investigation as to why the police were firstly firing live rounds. what the whole tactic was as to deal with the striking workers. and why they opened fire on perhaps unarmed workers and some are saying there were guns so a lot of question marks right now as to why the brutality with dealing with the strike. >> samantha, let me ask you a question that really pales by comparison to the human tragedy here. obviously, south africans supply of these minerals, palladium, platinum and gold very critical in to the world markets. is this likely to affect the supply and hence the price of

those minerals? >> well, certainly at this point in time analysts, platinum analysts saying the fact we have the platinum price stronger today. last time i checked up by 1.6%, outperforming gold, something we haven't seen for soim time and partly reflected of this. this is the third largest platinum producer. yesterday it said it lost as a result of the week long strike. it has a full year production target of many saying they won't meet the target. that puts it in context. other analysts, of course, saying they will be able to make up the lost production. but then, of course, you have to put it in the context that this is a company that recently reported a sharp drop in earnings with other miners, in fact, in a loss-making position as a result of the -- where the platinum price is recently and

debt governance checked in september. we know that those, of course, have production targets and cost-cutting targets attached to them and one might question also another critical issue right now is at a time sector's under such strain, we know that they have indicated they need to embark on cost cutting with this situation. barely likely to cut any jobs, of course. >> samantha, thank you very much. sue? ty, a debate heating up over reports of president obama considering releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. is now the right time to do it? the spr was originally put in place in case of serious supply disruptions caused by a natural disaster or war. this is what the department of energy's website says about the spr. the u.s. strategic petroleum reserve is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil established in the aftermath of the oil embargo. it provides the president with a

powerful response option should disruption threaten the u.s. supplies and it provides a national defense fuel reserve. at a briefing at the white house, said tapping the spr is an option that remains on the table. alan harry, alan, head of the iaea out a few moments ago saying he doesn't agree with a move to tap the spr, that there are no disruptions in the oil markets so far. so we have two sides to this potential story. how do you feel about it? is this politics or is there a need to tap the spr from you view? >> i think this is politics. past decade we have not used the spr for anything but emergencies. clear-cut emergencies. right new, i don't see it. i don't see there being a clear-cut emergency. crude oil, yeah, on the high side but not as high as it was in the past, $150 we saw several years ago. that's a time where i could see

it saying, hey, quhaunlg? we have to do something and control the prices. right now, it's been sitting around the $95 level for a while. >> we have seen that before, several times. we have seen that level before several times. we have seen prices significantly higher and previous to the last six weeks where we did see a spike in gasoline prices in six weeks, prices were actually going down, were they not? >> yes. to me this is a political move. i do not see the emergency justification for it at the moment. >> where do you see oil itself going from here? >> i do think it has a little bit more upside potential. any time above the 95 level i think we open up to 98 to 101. >> all right. now, a lot of people are citing the tensions between iran and israel. iran and the rest of the world and they say that perhaps this is a preeffortive move by the obama administration in anticipation of a continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon by iran. would that justify a release of

the spr in your book? >> it would. but it's not happened. we haven't gone and taken action yet so until we do i don't see a need to say we're going to release it until something like this, an emergency situation arises. >> all right. alan, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> ty, back to you. an iowa money manager accused in what may be a $200 million investment scheme says he is scent. the ceo of perregrine pleaded not guilty. scott cohen is following this case since the beginning. scott? >> reporter: prosecutors say wasendorf confessed but in court today he pleaded not guilty to 31 counts of lying to regulators. the case is set for trial on october 15th. that could change, of course. there are a number of signs that wasendorf trying to cut a deal but the feds are not going for it. $200 million in customer funds are missing from the group which went bankrupt last month after

regulators found the bank statements were fabricated. wasendorf tried to kill himself and allegedly claimed he acted alone which the authorities are 23409 b not buying. regulators have decided they should do a better job of tracking the customer funds. you think? the national futures association which had oversight of pfg approved a new rule of direct internet access. in the case of pfg, they were getting the information by writing to a post office box that they thought was owned we the bank but really belonged to russell wasendorf. lessons learned. sue? >> scott, thank you very much, indeed. new numbers today on unemployment showed how far the economy has to go in recovery. in a breakdown, all but three states saw the unemployment rate tick higher or stay the same in july. jane wells is live in glendale,

california, with more on the states under the most unemployment pressure. jane? >> reporter: hi, sue. i'm at a jobs center and some of the states with the biggest swings with swing states. look at the largest overall change of unemployment over a year. four of the five states with the biggest drops in one year are swing states including nevada. july, rate down 3% from a year ago and the highest in the nation at 12%. the states with the lowest improvement is two swing states. new york is the only state to have a higher jobless rate in july than a year ago. the empire state ranks 34th overall in the 2012 top states for business. california, largest state in job creation and adding a thousand jobs a day. 365,000 in a year. ohio added 100,000 in large part to the natural gas industry. states with the smallest job growth, rhode island, only state with fewer jobs than a year ago.

what do people looking for work think about the economy and the election? we asked a few of them here in glendale. >> we're looking kind of ragged. this is a shame. you know? >> i know i sound negative but the older you are the harder it is to get a jb. >> four years hasn't been too much of a change in four years. just my opinion. >> if you haven't given president obama a chance to clean up the mess that's been going on for let's just say many, many, many, years. >> reporter: a difference of opinion. even at the job center and by the way we talked about year over year numbers. 44 states have higher rates month over month including the highest jumps in alabama and alaska. this even as cnbc's 2012 top states for business ranked their economies sixth and fourth best overall in the nation. sue? >> jane, thank you. now to jackie deangelis with a market flash. >> hi, sue. it's a tale of two sporting

goods retailers today. we are watching foot locker shares moving higher. results topping the street's view. but hibbett starts slipping. weaker than expected and annual itselves worried about softer same store sales trends. numbers down by nearly 4% and up nearly 2% on foot locker. tyler? >> thanks. next, sex and the ceo. is it so unacceptable to meet someone at work? they had a sex shake-up at the top. we have a great discussion on this coming up as the ladies will weigh in. before the break, five big friday movers. we are back in two minutes. ♪ [ male announcer ] to hold a patent

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♪ furniture hardware restoration making headlines today. andrew ross sorkin and "the new york times" reporting that former ceo freedman stepped down after they found he had a quote inappropriate relationship with a female employee.

that employee now left the company. she reportedly told investigators the relationship was consensual. neither friedman or the employee are married. leadership change comes at a critical time for restoration as it prepares for its ipo. the company has no comment on the story. sue? all right. ty, go get a cup of coffee gauze it's time for the ladies in the group to talk about this particular story. joining me to do that is my colleague kayla tausche and let's set it up for us. neither of these two individuals are married and in addition to that, the person who brought this to the board's attention was the woman's ex-boyfriend who has a criminal record. kayla, what do you make of this? >> i think the board did the right thing, sue. they're faced with a tough decision. the fact that the boyfriend was willing to take it outside meant that the potential press damage ahead of an ipo could have been

huge. that being said, i don't think there's cause to worry for potential shareholders because of the smell test. we remember the former ceo of hp, two big factors against him. the challenge was that there were allegations of sexual harassment and the relationship was consensual and it was an affair. he was married. if it's consensual and single, let two people have their fun. >> stacy, do you agree? i mean, there's no indication she was a direct report to him and in addition to that, we're all working so much more than we ever before and neither one of them was married at the time. >> i would agree, sue. i mean, this is a totally different situation than recently with best buy brian dunn. the two of them are not married. they're single. it's consensual. you know, clearly, we spend 12 to 14 hours a day in the office now so that's as you just said

where you tend to meet the people you date and marry. but i think boards are under a lot of pressure. you know, we just saw the best buy example. but i think the example is a bit different. with best buy, brian dunn was asking vendors for free tickets, with hp it was expense report issues. so this is a different situation. >> you know, ashley, though, the company gave us a no comment but they're still privately technically hold and did they make a right move do you think? we should note they brought in someone to do an investigation because they were worried about the ex-boyfriend's criminal record and what his motives were. >> well, this is actually -- >> right, so -- >> can i get ashley on that? >> yeah, this is actually a huge loss to restoration hardware. you know, gary friedman came in and essentially took the company from bankruptcy to a $1 billion ipo. it seems very extreme.

sure, it doesn't look good on first glance but looking at it he is divorced. she's since left the company and so there's questions of it was worth doing this before ipo and seeing zero tolerance from boards with this behavior. >> it's interesting they're letting him be so involved on a day-to-day basis in the company and a board's willingness to say, hey, we know that the optics of this isn't good and acting but it's so important that he stay involved and have a hand in the creative directorship of the company and running the company to run alongside restoration hardware and one of the biggest shareholders and means a lot to them. >> you read your mind. i was going to say he's not technically completely leaving the company. he is consulting and they couldn't leave him on the board. stacy, there's a key point. the optics of this before an ipo. does this tarnish the ipo? does it enhance the ipo because

they took decisive action? >> you know, i think it does. i think the board did the right thing. something brought to the attention that might be inappropriate and asked what should we do? we want to handle this right. we want to send a correct message to shareholders that that they're responsible and employees and no favoritism in the company and a right way to handle it. again, there will still be a relationship with the former ceo. he's the face of the company. remains in the catalog and still a relationship there and i think from a pr standpoint they had no other choice. >> yeah. kay kayla, do you think it affects the pricing on the ipo or not? >> i don't think. i think they'll get a better price on the ipo because investors asanassauged that gar will be there. >> ashley, would it have made a difference if it's a female ceo and a male worker or not?

>> you know, i don't think so. i think that, you know, boards have zero tolerance for this these days and i don't think it makes a difference. >> a cautionary tale then for ceos and co-workers alike. correct? >> definitely. >> all right. ladies, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> ty, safe to come back in to the water. come on. >> thank you very much. later on, we'll take a peek in to what this year's wall street bonuses might look like but what analysts are watching. big calls on walgreen, molycorp. and vivus. let's look at the big movers. p&g up today. mcdonald's ditto. walmart is down and j&j by a little. you the big picture on how different asset classes are performing, and it lets you go in for a closer look at areas within a class or sector that may be bucking a larger trend. i'm stephen hett of fidelity investments.

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yep. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? so testing is one less thing i have to worry about today. great. call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. analyze this with jeff kilburg. equal weight from underweight noting the express scripts dissput over for walgreens. over a year, shares for walgreens pretty much flat. equal weight is a kind of tepid call, do you agree with it or not? >> i do. analysts said it cost $4 billion. express scripts situation. they got it behind them now and move forward. they have 7,900 stores with 6 million people a day through the stores and couple wit a new loyalty program. dewayne reid here in new york, they had that loyalty card

program installed and traction here. >> interesting. downgrading molycorp. downgrading it. noting concerns involving the mountain pass project, adding the size of the capital offering raises questions whether this project will be completed on time. shares all-time lows. down goes molycorp. >> i got to disagree here. chuckle a little bit. we talked about how analysts are late to the party. this analyst really liked buying this for a long time and now the all-time lows and selling. back in the pits in chicago, one guy to fade from the contrarian play. to get out here at the all-time lows. you have to buy and take a shot. >> interesting contrarian view there. jeffries downgrading vivus to underperform from hold noting, quote, we are concerned of generic competition. up more than 100% year to date. i didn't think they had a drug, the fat drug, right? obesity drug. a drug on the market yet. >> no. there's a potential concern of a

generic. with obama care, possibly in repeal and the situation in washington, i think you can get in here at a lower price because physicians, i don't think you're comfortable prescribing that generic versus the drug they make. >> all right. jeff, thank you very much. the metals market about to close shop for the day and out to the nymex after the break. coming up, after the break. >> show me the money! >> you better yell. >> show me the money! >> what big execs are likely to make this year. who's going to get shown the money? brand new numbers are out and we'll show you the money when we return. er benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha!

gold market is closing right now an they've been keeping their eye on the currency market today and the situation in south africa, as well. bertha coombs is tracking the action at the nymex for us today. hi, bertha. >> hi, sue. the situation in south africa the impetus of the move in platin platinum. it's driven palladium prices higher, as well. they're both coming out of mines there. and they're used for catalytic converters in cars. also hydrocrackers at refineries. platinum up 5% in the 7 days of

violence in south africa. rbc says while some analysts say there's a lot in storage in terms of platinum, we don't know how long the strike lasts. earlier this year it lasted six weeks. gold prices today down a little bit as the dollar is a touch stronger. euro coming off after that angela merkle surge earlier today. last week, the close of gold $1,617.15. just shy of that. back to you. >> thank you. jackie deangelis now with a market flash. >> i'm keeping an eye on mckeszon. it's a biggest decliner on the s&p 500, as a matter of fact. down 2.73%. morgan stanley downgrading it saying that upside in the stock is limited and ms pulling the price target on the stock, as

well. they're expecting flattish earnings before taxes next year. not pretty. sue? >> not pretty at all. thank you very much. let's get courtney reagan. noisy down here today. the natives are restless here and the market's not reflecting that too much. >> not at all. the s&p 500 trading in a five-point range today. so we're six points away from the closing high. they're too busy partying over here. volatility at a five-year low. but the vix futures, holding higher. september contract still over 18. january over 25. the consumer discretionary sector one of the leaders today. consumer sentiment reading better than expected and the strong retails reports we have gotten throughout the week and today. gap beating on the bottom line. improved guidance and below street expectations. that stock trading at a 12-year high. tjx trading at all-time highs

and smuckers. trading at all-time highs. but then aeropostale shares lower. rlx up 3% for the week. may not feel it, housing stocks some of the better performers here today and across the week looking at some of those numbers, sue. so we could be in a bit of a housing recovery at least with the stocks. >> stellar performers. who would have thought it? thank you very much. let's take a look at the treasury market. and see how they're faring right now. it's been an interesting week. we have had a back up in yields as you know in the 10-year and my colleague rick santelli off today is watching the 30-year on the trading session. we have the yield on the 10-year at 1.81%. keep in mind, remember, not too long ago looking at record lows in the 10-year and 30-year almost at 3% and something to keep an eye on and certainly what the stock market is watching in today's trading

session. shares of apple hitting an all-time high today and offering a very rare admission of a mistake. right now, the stock is up 1.3%. jon fortt live in san jose with the details. hi, jon. >> reporter: hey, sue. these whoops moments are getting more common for apple. last month apple backed out of the green certification for the products and reversed itself. this time, the mistake is retail and the potential to become a real headache for the company. basically, apple's new retail chief joining in april started to cut back on staffing. apple first new hires cut the hours of part timers and new employees were being cut. this is happening ahead of what's likely to be the bigst launch season in apple's history and i don't say that lightly. next month, xegting a new iphone and ipods and constitute the biggest launch with them together and we also might gate mini ipad so what does it mean for apple? that they're reversing this.

it could mean new retail chief is on thinner ice than he was. especially since some observers worry of the pedigree of big box and customer service at apple or it would mean apple is getting better at apologizing. maybe that's tim cook's style, guys. back to you. >> thank you very much. airlines pushing fliers to book now for the winter. airfare fight is on and phil lebeau has the details in chicago. >> reporter: hey, tyler. the fall fare sales usually hit the end of august. earlier in year and more aggressive. across the board, and it varies airline to airline. most of the fare sales involve tuesday, wednesday or saturday and about 10% to 20% than the peak summer fares. comparing the fare specials to last year, down 3% to 4%. air tran airways running a fare sale on trips through february. offering one-way fares as low as

$59. that's the lowest. some higher than that. but like all airlines, when you look at the fares, keep a couple of things in mind. first of all, they include holiday blackout dates and not giving away the most profitable dates and fare compare says seat availability is limited. we are talking about fewer than 10% of the seats available on these planes. they're gog up for sale as you take a look at the airline index. nice move it's had year to date. keep in mind, however, one reason that these airline stocks are higher, sue, all in anticipation of consolidation with american airlines later this year. looking to book a fare, this is the time to do it. >> there you go. i'll put in for the vacation days. thanks very much. as phil was mentioning, we have seen big moves in the stocks. in the last three months, southwest airlines up 10%. what ryan airlines, alaskan airlines is flat and u.s. airways down 10% and delta down

some 20% and there's moving pieces as he mentioned with consolidati consolidation. we're finding out today that an air france plane heading for beirut has to change plans because of a wave of violence in lebanon. the pilot tried to make it to ammann, jordan but had to land in damascus. the ground crew in syria refused to fill up the plane unless they were paid in cash. the pilot had to ask the passengers the pony up. the air france crew found another way to pay for the fuel. we're not clear what that way was but we'll keep you posted, ty, when we do find out. >> boy, a place you don't want to land these days is syria. next guest king fisher, third largest such chain in the world with nearly $13 billion in annual sales, 80,000 employees and a thousand stars across 8 countries. here to talk about the european economy, the health of the consumer there, the weather and much, much more is king fisher

group's ceo, he joins us from richmond, virginia. good to have you with us. >> thank you. great to be here. >> tell us about business across europe these days. how does it compare with a year ago, two years ago, five years ago? >> well, i think we are seeing two things this year which are one short term, one much more long term. short term unlike the states with a heat wave and droughts, we have pretty biblical levels of rain and pretty wiped out the seasonal stocks and the very short term it's been a much tougher year this year for those outdoor retailing products. longer term question is what happens with the euro and that's become more critical clearly as we've seen the pressure mount and the difficult thing for consumers is they see this uncertainty coming and as a result there's speculation saying, well, you know, maybe i should defer a project, not do things right now. so people are very uncertain and waiting for the politicians to come up with an answer which is

never a comfortable place to be. >> we talk a lot here about business people feeling they're locked in place because of uncertainty. you are going through it, obviously, in a personal way with your company. how do you manage and plan with all of the uncertainties that you confront? what do you do? >> well, the great thing is i think if you assume things are going to be difficult and bad you can only probably be slightly pleasantly surprised. we have been through a four-year program of self-help, really through working on the inside of the business and announced a next phase of that and with tough markets we think we can bring our businesses together more closely and run them as a global integrated retailer and unlock benefit even if the markets aren't giving us help. >> you reference that program that's gone over for the past several years and doubled proftds, your return on capital is way up. basically has doubled there if a

variety of other metrics, the company's goidoing very well. what's the heart of that program to create the results in what anyone would say has been a very challenging economy in europe? >> i think we have really pulled on two main levers, tyler. one which is the quality of the teams inside the business. by getting them focused on the key metrics. we have really focused as you said return on capital and cash is really king. for the next phase, we need to move much on to sales growth and carry the margin in costs and great teams, well focused on the key metrics. other thing is we have had historically a diverse business, historically conglomerate and increasingly buying products and buying terms as a result of that. and that's really where four or five years drive us. >> as you look across the various countries where you do business today, what is the notable standout on the positive side and what is the notable

laggard and how do you expect that to move forward? >> right. well, our standout market and may mott be the obvious one is actually rush why at the moment seeing double digit consumer growth, the oil prices is keeping customers pretty positive there and i think we're seeing a big opportunity because the market's very under penetrated. not much retail western style and big opportunity. probably still the toughest market one of our smallest ones is still ireland where the work out of the deficit is still tough, the consumer's really struggling and that's really the question for us is, you know, will the rest of the eurozone look like an irish outcome even though we're seeing positive signs and the key we have concluded is we have to keep gaining share because the top flat markets mean number one and two tend to do better and we need to make sure that happens but there's pretty wide variation across the markets right now. >> thank you very much for being with us, group ceo of

kingfisher, largest home improvement retailer in europe. sue? three young russian women in a band sentenced to two years in prison. their crime? singing a song that president putin didn't like. they were arrested after a performance in moscow's main cathedral calling for the virgin mary to protect russia from putin. today, russian authorities launched a broad sweep arresting people that they considered to be against putin including a famous chess player. coming up, as we continue on "power lunch," live to pebble beach. beautiful part of the world and looking at the world's rarest cars up for auction. how much would you dish out for that alternative investment? sure is a beauty. but first, a quick look at the energy complex right now. kind of a mixed bag. west texas intermediate up half a%. nat gas is up a tenth of a percent. we're back in a minute.

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24 hours. zero heartburn. coming up on "street signs" our tortoise market is back. slow and steady. the way to profits this summer. we'll take a look at the stealth rally and whether you can still get in on it. is it time to dump your dividend stocks? it's a crowded trade out there. any other areas to explore? chilling the fate in silicon valley? the chef eating hoodie nation. lots of things coming up. back to you. >> all right. mandy, we'll be watching. we are searching for other ways to invest beyond stocks, bonds, real estate. we are talking collectible cars. generating big returns. robert frank is live in pebble beach, california. robert? >> reporter: thanks, tyler. well, just for perspective, four years ago the top selling car at

this auction went for around $11 million. this year it's expected to be more like $16 million. could be the most expensive car every sold. they'll sell $200 million worth of cars over the next weekend. why are the wealthy putting so much money in the car? millionaires and billionaires love the old cars. beautiful. not hard to see why. but cars have also done fairly well against stocks over the past five years. what's more is that when you look at the math of today's low return environment, cars can actually put a little power in your portfolio. >> when you're faced with putting a million dollars in a two-year cd and getting a 1.1% return, there can be a much larger upside in classic cars if you buy right, if know the market and have done your research. there's a really good chance your return will be somewhere along the traditional lines, 5% or 10% or 15% return in some

cases. >> reporter: now, word of caution. what goes up can come down. we remember the ferrari bubble when the prices fell by more than two thirds. not happening right now, however, ferraris at the auction, ten of them, expected to sell for more than a million dollars. price is strong there. when's more important is that investors say whatever happens with prices at least you can touch and enjoy these investments. >> if i put this car in the garage at night, there's not going to be a puddle of oil there in the morning so i feel really good about that. it's something that's a fixed asset, a hard asset. something that's usable and enjoyable. sure, that's an important part of it. >> reporter: and as another owner told me yesterday, you can't take your stock portfolio for a drive along the beach with the top down. which is what a lot of those folks are doing here this weekend. back to you, sue. >> gosh. it's such a beautiful place to do that and i think you would

look so darn handsome in that yellow rolls royce behind you, robert. feel free to put it on the corporate credit card. >> reporter: will do. i think you would look great in that, as well. i'll bring it back. >> you got it. thanks, robert. well, from whales to libor, banks had a cruel summer as you might know. how might it affect employees' pay? kayla? >> reporter: sue, wall street compensation topped one of the most popular parlor games but advisers at johnson associates say on the whole finance pay is on the pace to go up this year. according to the latest report, the firm says pay for senior bank management see pay go up as much as 10% this year and same figure true for hedge funds and inflows strong and firms have had mixed trading records this year. in fixed income, even with scant profits in a low interest rate world, fixed income pay will

rise the most johnson associates say. it's been a year on wall street marred by uncertainty and much to the benefit of safe haven investments. flip side of pay is investment banking. once a cash cow, the bankers could see pay contract 10% on dismal deal volumes. though not falling as much as i-banking revenue and fell 21% in the first half of the year and second half surprisingly busy and may rise up to 5%. though high finance braces for a new normal in compensation, deutsche banc appears to be the only firm talking about it outloud ushering in quote cultural change by slashing pay. since the recession, financials underperforming the s&p by 30 percentage points. since the boom of 2007, the financials down 56%. tyler? >> kayla, thank you very much. coming up, we return to

restoration hardware and co-chief executive gary friedman stepping down after an inquiry in to a relationship with a younger employee. should executives be fired, let go, moved out for romantic relationships with subordinates? there's the poll. we'll give you the results when we return. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today

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our yahoo! finance poll. should executives be fired for having with a subordinate? 43% said yes. but 57% of you said, no. ty? all right. the ladies had at it earlier. now the guyings. time for the "power rundown." john carny and jeff kilburg. first topic, the question of the poll, is a relationship with an employee for a ceo a fire-ible offense? john, yes or no? >> i don't think it should be. i think if there's -- as lawyers, purely consensual and there's no sort of the boss pushing somebody to do something they didn't want to, i don't think it's a fire-ible offense. this is how people meet each other all the time. very busy people. married couples come out of

workplaces all the time. >> killer? >> i don't think viewers know that gary friedman is 54. she's 26. shouldn't he have gotten a high five instead of demoted from ceo? >> you will get tweeted on that one, baby. i think it depends on the context in these cases and what's the surrounding context involved here? >> you have to wonder if there's something more we don't know yet. i don't see firing the ceo just for, you know, dating the younger woman. >> i think conducts. the new environment and world lived in. code of conducts. >> the board saw it as a risk reputationally and so they moved him out. though he'll continue in a major role with that company as a consultant. that's the gap. gary friedman's former employer, ironically enough, second quarter raising higher than expected. can you believe in the turnaround? >> gap is cool again. i know you rocked the multi-colored jeans. i may have to get them at gap

myself. >> yeah. the bright colors. >> i find these companies terrifying altogether because one month they're up, next month they're down. how do you project future revenues of a company that depends on what color jeans teenagers wear? >> all of their divisions of old navy to banana to gap, we'll call you john "skinny jeans" carny now. bill gates turning to the loo. the foundation putting money out saying four out of ten people worldwide don't have, yes, he says a safe way to poop. and it's searching for a better toilet, better suited to developing countries. what should -- i mean, this sounds like a noble thing. anything else that gates should be doing here, john? >> i think we need to reinvent the toothbrush, too. basically the same equipment of our grandparents. come on, bill. >> easy for us to sort of make light of this but for many people in the world that don't have access to sanitation or even running water, this is a

serious issue. >> statistically speaking and bill gates said poop, i can say it. everybody poops and 40% of the people not a safe environment and number one of kirn in the world is connotation with diseases. kudos to bill gates. >> thank you. we have gone from the board room pi pickadellos to poop. sue, take us out of here. >> i'm trying. i'm trying. in the next hour, that's 2:00 p.m. eastern time, lightning the tortoise is back. they're going to help us crawl our way to 4 1/2-year highs. there he goes. two top money managers with the best stock picks at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. "power lunch" is back in a minute. [ male announcer ] aggressive styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior.

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and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day, block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announr ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. okay. here's a check of wall street right now. we're in the green. not by much but we'll take it if you're a bull up 7 points on the dow jones industrial average. s&p above the 1400 level at 1415. on track for its sixth consecutive weekly gain. the nasdaq is higher, as well. ty? >> all right. jeff, thanks for being with us this week. final thought on oil? >>