reversal makes me think gold may reverse, as well. >> good point. >> have a great show. >> we'll do it again tomorrow. >> i'm looking forward to it. >> me, too. that does it for us. have a great afternoon. "street signs" begins right now. welcome to "street signs." is the middle class vanishing? a new survey says it is but maybe not all in a bad way. we'll dig in to the facts and maybe why all is not as bad as it seems. general "y" is here and taking over and they have unusual demands. is it good business to meet them or are they just a bunch of spoiled, rotten brats? one country in europe that may be a value that nobody's talking about and the ultimate luxury. what the rich are doing in singapore. >> has to be seen to believed. every dog has the day and every dow has the worst day today in a month. the dow lost all of this month's

gains except for just half of a percent. as for the s&p 500 down for the third time in the last 4 days but it's still has been managed to hold above the 1400 mark and risen over 12% since june to, of course, a four-year high this week and the nasdaq down third time in the last four days. tech's being dragged down. i have to show you gold. rising to a four-month high. bolstered by calls for a new round of stimulus and silver also rising sharply on supply concerns with labor unrest in south africa. let's get straight down to nyse and the floor with bob. i was looking at the stats here and looks like the dow and s&p on pace for their worst week in nearly three months. >> yeah. we have a little problem right now. i don't know if it's a long-term problem. i don't think so. we have a failure of leadership. so remember when's moved the market forward this month of august. it's been all of those risk-on trades. material stocks.

energy stocks. take a look. industrial stocks. all have been really in terrific shape today. look at the biggest downside movers. materials, energies and industrials so we have lost that end of the leadership. that's been the major leadership for the month. on top of that, remember a few weeks before that when dividend payers were doing really well? they missed it on a straight downhill move ever since then and look at, say, telecom and utility stocks. market leaders. one month, basically strait down with the group and utilities down 1% today. that's an unusual downside move. they don't usually have that much beta associated with them. finally, another group. no confirmation. tranports. this is a three-month chart. never rallied or did anything. so we don't have any leadership in the last few days. that's why we are getting the markets just drifting lower here, mandy. >> as you say, houston, we have a problem. meantime, let's get down to ricky. james bullard threw cold water on imminent qe3 and i want to

get your reaction to what he said. >> if we were to resume which i think we will, you know, 2% growth, maybe a bit stronger than that in the second half of the year, unemployment ticks down through the rest of the year, you know, that's not a great outcome but to me that's a good enough outcome the keep us on hold. >> so, ricky, i don't know if encouraging is the right word or encouraging for those wanting more stimulus yesterday and the fed minister just stale. what are investors to make of all of this? >> i think investors have a hard time because i think they're writing the script on the fly and let's take it a step further. what he is doing is if/then statement. i don't disagree. if growth is around 2%, unemployment eases back a bit, then probably don't see more accommodation. i don't have a problem with that. where i have is problem is whole thing doesn't make sense because i think the mission statement is

wrong. the assumption is that growth of employment affected by another round of accommodation and that's where i think it goes off the tracks. >> absolutely. more stimulus doesn't mean more jobs. rick, thank you very much. over to you. >> thank you. a new report of the pew research center is making a big splash all over america today. calling this a lost decade for the middle class. pew surveyed more than 1,200 members of the middle class and found that they think their class is shrinking in size, that they're falling back ward in income, also in wealth. you know, net worth and they're also, this may be the saddest part. shedding the faith in the future. but does that pew survey tell the entire story? let's bring in robert frank. robert, good to see you. >> good to be here. >> okay. listen. the report is interesting because there's no doubt people are suffering. people are falling behind. net worth is wiped out. >> yep. >> but there's also some people that have been able to move up. >> correct. one of the reasons that the

middle class is shrinking is that some of the middle class are becoming upper class. let's take a look at the chart over here. we have the middle class shrinking by 10 percentage points. four of those ten percentage points to the lower class. we know that story but six of those ten percentage points went to the upper class so we see middle class becoming upper class and not that the rich got richer all they did they became more numerous and look at where the upper class actually came from. 63% today's upper class actually came from the middle or lower class. so the rich is not a fixed group but a fluid group with many economic immigrants coming from the upper class. >> upward mobility exists? >> still exists. >> here's most troubling for me in the report. more percentage moved up than down but the percentage of income to the top grew dramatically. in other words, the poor are not only poorer from an income perspective but their net worth is tanking. >> right. but one of the reasons that the

wealth of this upper income group grew is that their size grew so it wasn't just a fixed group of guys getting richer. overall population of that group which saw the wealth grow at a multiple of the middle was because the population grew and more of a mixed story than we have heard. >> do people have faith in the american dream? >> they do. that was the surprise of the study. they talked to the middle class and still a majority have a hope of getting to the upper. >> and that stat shows that while it's harder and fewer -- unfortunately, fewer people believed according to the survey that hard work alone gets them there, right, a lot of people sarcastic about their prospects, this shows that it's hard and maybe harder but it's possible to move up. >> yeah. 63% of them did it. >> thank you very much. mandy? let's ask is a va taylor fagan, a former senior aide to president george w. bush and

gerald bernstein, former chief economist to vice president joe biden. both cnbc contributors. let's ask them what they make of the headline of the pew survey saying that the middle class in the u.s. shrunk over the past decade. sarah, first of all to you, ladies first here, come voting day, which candidate do you think will benefit most from this trend? >> well, i think that candidate that does the best job of arc c articulating the vision to move the middle class voters up the spectrum and create more wealth and more opportunities for them will do well. and do better and win the election and that's what you see happening on the air waves today with both candidates talking about their plans for the middle class. and it's a tough fight. and you see a lot of false statistics roaming around but at the end of the day the candidate that will create jobs is the one that's going to be best for the middle class and i believe that's romney. >> you believe that's romney but according to the pew research

report, it says here that in terms of which candidate is better for the middle class, 52% of people said president obama, 42% said governor romney. i'm guessing you are in the obama camp, gerald. >> i was going to raise that very statistic from the poll. we don't have to really kind of scratch our heads about this one. if you look next to the finding you mentioned and you ask people who's the candidate to be best for wealthy people, there the spread is something like 30%, people recognize that mr. romney is going to be more representative of wealth and the middle class or poor people. now, but basically, i think is a va has it essentially right in the framing until the partisan part at the end which is that it's very much the middle class is up for grabs and both candidates have to make that case. on the perspective of the numbers in this report and by the way i felt the intro of wealth story was probably a little bit too sunny if you actually look in to the weeds of this report.

what they point out is that this is the first decade on record going back to the post-war period that middle income families actually had less income at the end of the decade than the beginning and net worth you see just a terrible cliff dive there. >> yeah. listen. i agree with you, jared. something i'm talking about for a while and what i view as structural problems facing the economy. i don't think, unfortunately, that either president or administration is going to be able to fix it that much because we are a country that wants cheap goods and we want high wages and i'm struggling to find a historical precedent where that works and not willing to pay manufacturing workers a fair wage because in large part consumers aren't willing to pay up. but then they say they can't afford to pay up losing the manufacturing job. chicken and egg, right? how do we fix that? >> i think you are right. i think the key point is structural, not cyclical. we're focused on the great

recession but as i mentioned these problems evolved through the years of the 2000 us. one thing to take advantage of there is the shrinking cost differential between asia and the u.s. part of which has to do with the wage decline you just described. it actually is becoming a bit more profitable to in-source that kind of manufacturing work here and the more we do of that the better. >> what do you think can be done, sarah? >> brian, i think your point on this structural problem is correct but you have to look at a broader range of policy issues and education with a president who has been lock, stock and barrel with the teacher's unions and made it -- making it harder for people inner cities for the kind of education and the kind of skills that they need to ultimately be successful and the economy and the country in which we live. it's not just tax policy but education policy and immigration policy. >> i'm not saying it's those policies and like most of

america, my property taxes went up as the house value went down. i'm as frustrated as anyone. the point i'm making is we need a manufacturing base middle class making a fair wage and yet americans are so in to the culture of cheap that i worry that we're going to be unable to turn it around and statistics show that people laid off manufacturing jobs often did in to lower paid services jobs. maybe alliance person on the plant in ohio and lose their job. i have met the folks. racing in northeast ohio and working the overnight shift at a hotel making a third of what they made at the lawrence town assembly plant. >> it's a challenge. >> it is a real challenge. one thing to think about in this regard and i'm not trying to be sunny skies here either but it's the case that something like 450,000 of the 4 million new jobs since spring of 2010 have been in the manufacturing sector. one reason that's been the case is our currency exchange rates

have been a bit more favorable regarding trade with asia. so something to look at there, as well. >> that's good news, jared. but you know that the people starting -- there's a big difference of the autoworkers starting and there a while and making half in some cases. >> i think that's a reality of globalization. you won't have autoworkers making the same wages they did 20 years ago and having autoworkers is what's important there. >> well, but i think we also need to be thinking about how we train those folks, give them skills. >> true. >> maybe not everybody needs a four-year degree. maybe they need technical training that allows them to make a very comfortable living middle wage and our economy and our education system is not set up for that right now. >> jared, i want to ask you. is the american dream dead? i thought it was really interesting doing the wall piece there and faith in the future has declined and really made me feel there's a malaise settling

over the nation at the moment. i'm wondering whether the american dream is dead for real or we feel it's dead. >> i don't think it's dead. i don't even know that we feel that it's dead. if you actually look at some of those numbers there, there's still majorities who believe in that and smaller. i agree with that. and then the number that really struck me going more to your point and for the first time less than half of people think their kids will do better than they did. so the american dream is alive but it definitely needs help and the kind of spirit we are talking about. education, training. i think manufacturing policy as brian is suggesting is key. i don't think it's out of reach but with the dysfunctional congress, it's harder. >> i think the american dream on the sick bed at the moment. let's hope we nurse it back the help. thank you very much for joining us. interesting debate. >> thank you. our street poll today, are you making more now in income, not net worth but in income than three years ago? go to the show page.

streetsigns.cnbc.com and you can vote yes, no or basically the same and read some of your results later on in the show. on the campaign trail, president obama and mitt romney laying out their vision for getting america back on the path of prosperity and today larry kudlow spoke to romney. paul ryan about the fiscal cliff. >> the president has ducked the issue. the senate hasn't even taken it up. mitt romney is saying we'll deal with this right away, prevent the cliff, this massive tax increase, these devastating defense cuts. >> right away? right away? >> right away. right away to prevent this and telegraph that so the markets know that. >> before the other plans go in to place? the first thing, first order of business for romney/ryan is to deal with the tax cliff and the threat of recession? >> that's right. >> well, that's just a little taste. you can see the full interview tonight. do not miss it. larry also presses ryan on tax reform, the president's health care law and many more topics.

tonight 7:00 p.m. eastern time. all right. up next, two five-star money managers battle it out to go big, go small or maybe go home with your money. and later on, a spoiled brats invading your office space? you know the kids with the perks, want the raises an the promotions. only been working for about a minute, right? hear from one guy who's an aussie who says businesses should give them everything they want and more. announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

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welcome back. i'm courtney reagan. we're watching shares of debit card providers netspend and green dot. the delayed reaction of discover and ebay's paypal. the slide in green dot perhaps reversing the gains of yesterday after the announcement of partnering to put financial aid refunds on the prepaid debit cards. brian? >> thank you. coming to playing the market do you want to go big time, you know, big cap, big dividend stocks or small? two five-star fund managers battling it out. barry james and eric marshal. i know we'll get picks of you guys but first your case. barry, make the case right now why bigger is better. >> well, it has to do with the

market. when you get worried about the market, you should be more defensive and large caps are more defensive in the periods where we have had pullbacks this year, the large caps held up and better recently. dif depd-paying stocks better and that's a good place to be if you see a slowdown in the economy or see the market have a pullback. >> eric, the other side of that, is there a case good things come in small packages? >> well, we think so. the hodges funds, we're finding opportunities across different market cap areas and all five of our funds and we're especially finding unique opportunities and right now within the small cap space you can find pockets of growth where companies are doing very well despite the slower, stagnant economy we are seeing. >> i also noted in the notes, eric, you and barry have similar investment themes to go for stocks more domestic focused

with little or no exposure to international markets. is that right? >> well, i think that's -- >> that's as far as -- >> does isolate a lot of small cap companies from what's going on with spanish bond yields overnight and so forth but typically small caps also offer more simplified capital structures and they do tend to be less impacted by globalization. >> what about you, barry, on that front? >> well, we see a couple of trends. number one, the dollar and if the dollar strengthens then the revenues you produce overseas become less valuable to you so we believe that's one asuspect of it. and in addition, it makes it harder for exporters and we have been an export-driven economy and marketplace for a couple of years now so that's starting to dry up, as well. you see that in the urns are of importers versus exporters and trying to find companies with more of the revenues produced here in the united states or they're importing and then

import at the lower prices. >> let's talk about the names, eric. make the case for two small names here. one higher end, one sort of middle market. shoe carnival and michael kors. >> okay. sure. shoe carnival is kind of a unique growth story in the family shoe channel. a company's expanding the store base and doing it all through internal cash flow and earnings after the close here. this isn't especially an important quarter for them but we're buying on weakness and we also like michael kors in that it's really one of the hottest consumer brands out there right now. the stock does trade at a pretty rich multiple but we think it's very much warranted. >> barry, directv which is on your list of things you like. i guess it's very defensive, right? i mean, no matter how bad the economy is, no one wants to give up the directv. >> you've got it. and actually, the stock went up in 2008. that's -- >> one of the few.

>> yeah. and it's still trading pretty cheap. the earnings are very strong and looking for this this environment are companies buying back shares and bought back almost 15% of their shares in the last year so those are really good signs for the future of directv. >> and target corp. you have here, barry? >> yes. what was the name again? >> target. >> target. oh, yes. target. they get the advantage of importing at cheaper prices. i understand selling things cheaper than walmart right now. they have back to school going on and again it's cheap with good earnings and they're buying back shares. we like all of those aspects and pays a little bit of a dividend. a kick we are this. >> 100% of the revenue of united states. domestic stock if ever i saw one. thank you for joining us today. just ahead, one of the favorite disaster stocks, a bit of an oxymoron. it's having a moment in the sun.

plus, the west nile threat, the drought triggering a major outbreak. the company that is are on the front lines. and up in smoke. banks are cutting off legit pot shops from credit. how come? and did you know the federal government could save as much as $13.7 billion annually if pot was legalized? comes from not having to enforce laws and potential new tax revenue. the government could gain from marijuana sales. more on pot and money after the break. here's one you may not have thought of -- fidelity. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank, like no-fee atms, all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture. free online bill payments. a highly acclaimed credit card with 2% cash back into your fidelity account. open a fidelity cash management account today and discover another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity.

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all right. disaster du jour. navistar. new news on the name? >> the story is worse and worse. beat out today by aim, general and oshkosh of a contract. just back in june on the second conference call said this is the big one. as brian gives me credit in a note, today she says, you know, that doesn't seem likely and been a big bear on the stock and she thinks it's potentially worse financially on the stock. several big investors including carl icahn own a significant amount of the stock and there

seems to be a battle a-brewing. i don't know which way and for whom. >> must be opposite day because nokia is having a rare moment in the sun up about 8% on a report they might announce two new phones with microsoft. that's something to keep out on. pot shops are hitting the wall with banking. even though it's legal in 17 states and district of columbia, federal laws make it nearly impossible for stores to maintain bank accounts. our brian shactman is live in colorado with the interesting story. hey, brian. >> reporter: hi, mandy. if you're federally insured and aiding these companies could be a felony and why take the risk? some have gone risk only is in 2012 no way to do business. >> what can i do? >> reporter: in colorado, medical marijuana is legal but according to the federal government it's not.

>> sold. >> reporter: the nuance created a nightmare of licensed shops and dispensaries. >> impossible to be able to service the 700 or so dispensaries in colorado. >> reporter: wanda james owns simply pure and recently shut down because wells fargo pulled her bank account. >> it is impossible for entrepreneurs or business people to run an effective, real business without the ability of a bank. >> reporter: wells fargo tells cnbc in view of the complex, inconsistent legal environment relating to marijuana dispensaries wells fargo has opted not to bank these businesses. while legal in some states they're still illegal under federal law. a congressman is hoping to change this through legislation. >> but the bill basically provides legal assurances so banks wouldn't face liability by offering some services, banking services to businesses that are

legal under state law that are acting on medical marijuana industry. >> reporter: despite support of him and others, businesses in colorado are not waiting for washington. without traditional banking, and even credit cards can be a problem, they get creative using payment technologies like square, cashless atms or the greenback. even still, it's far from a level playing field. >> you have to be able to have some types of business things that other businesses get. it's unbelievable what you can't get in this industry. >> reporter: simple things of paying taxes, doing payroll, so difficult to do in this environment and you can make the jokes. i'm sitting in a roomful of pot. they're legitimate businesses trying to make money and held back and we'll see what happens with legislation but right now not going anywhere. back to you. >> quick question there, cheech. what's it like being in the hot house all day? >> reporter: well, it's 77 degrees.

>> he's laughing. he's laughing he was going to taco bell later. >> the smell is strong and can't say it hasn't affected me. but i have to not inhale and would pass the test. >> breathing it in. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> i'll take the six taco platter please. >> not inhaling, not inhaling. >> thank you very much. well, from pot to the dirty game of corporate espionage, it costs billions every year. see how it works with a low-level employee of coca-cola threatens to sabotage the company selling the top soda secrets to pepsi. >> joa williams is an administrative assistant to a coke executive. >> she has access and sees the information of the other executive assistant that is are there. >> reporter: she's been with the company less than two years and unhappy. >> she believes that coca-cola

not treated her correctly, didn't appreciate her good work. >> reporter: according to the fbi, disgruntled employees can be more dangerous than companies realize. >> so just how dangerous can it be? well, tune in to "crime inc." tonight to find out. next on "street signs," it is "street talk" time. we'll be talking spam and opposite of spam. and the age of entitlement. younger workers demanding better pay and more perks for less pay. how does that sound? we have a guy saying companies should do more to keep these kids around. naturally, herb is not happy about it. we'll debate it. speaking of pay and perks, go vote in the street poll. are you making more now than you were three years ago? yes, no or really no different? cast your vote. at optionsxpress we're all about options trading.

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let's get to the "street talk" time. we'll start with hp following in dell's footsteps today. down over 8% and reports of an

$8.9 billion quarterly loss. >> cutting the earnings outlook for the year. raising the same earns of the rival dell. a host of brokerages. reported a write-down. the buyout of eds. what can you say of hp? earnings up a little bit. look at the top line, sales, they were down. very, very difficult for computer companies right now if your name is not apple. >> acer is doing well and can they operate in the low margin world. let's look at big lots, biggest percentage loser here at 22% on the nyse. >> missed analyst estimates. eps missed by a nickel and cut the full-year forecast for the second time and expecting further weakness in discretionary products. lowest point of the year. a couple of years ago big lots the single best performer for

the year and i think 2006, 2007. whatever it was for the year. they have fallen a long ways since then. >> next question is who doesn't like spam? >> i know who does. shactman likes spam right now. >> eating a lot of spam. on the way to get a big spam burger. hormel foods makes spam. an increase in sales. thanks to spam. but what else is going on with that stock? >> wasn't just spam. >> lots of other things. >> right? grocery product segment increased by 32%, led by spam sales. third quarter eps, revenue and maybe more importantly they stood by their full-year earnings outlook despite pressure from higher grain costs. all these commodities prices. they said sticking by the forecast and the stock up about 2%. >> they said it's because they have a really balanced business model and ride through those higher costs.

82% spike in fourth quarter profit. a lot of tea drunk with 82% pop. >> that's fair, true, buying britain's food line of jams, jellies and chocolates to expand more in to the uk and growing. several analysts raising their price target on hain celestial and watch "mad money" at 6:00 p.m. because jim cramer has an exclusive interview with president and ceo of hain celestial. it's a huge "mad money" show tonight. you have the cloud, cell phones and you have got teas and organic foods? >> organic food. steve weiss who often comes on on cnbc, he says the valuation is a big rich for hain and would be a buyer on dips. finally a look the a chinese stock. basically, chinese version of google if you like. the shares are hit today on a downgrade from deutsche banc. >> yeah. you know, a company in china.

they came out with a search product a few weeks ago and gaining market chair of baidu. the thesis is for baidu to lose market share to 15% or 16% so less revenue and cutting the price target to $137 from $186 and still above where baidu is right now but a $50 hair cut to the price target. maybe late deutsche banc on baidu and fear. >> qs are ch in chinese. who would have thunk? who would have thunk? >> never thunk that. >> is that seven years of college done for you? >> down the drain. >> down the drain. throughout the day talking about investment opportunities abroad and here we're going to be putting south korea under the microscope. could the emerging economy be the next global hot spot?

well joining us is pat atwood manager of huntington and two of the funds top five holdings are south korean companies. great to have you with us today, sir. it is kind of sad whenever we see headlines in the united states about korea it's normally north korea and the shenanigans going on there. tell us about south korea and investment proposition. >> well, you know, one of the things we look at in the huntington global select fund is long term and looking at secular trends. with that said, we have a little bit of a concern shorter term in south korea. there are opportunities there for investment. but the economy is so export driven, particularly to china, with the slowdown of china. europe with the obvious problems in europe and potential slowdown coming in 2013 for the u.s. that we are a little bit cautious on korea short term. obviously for the long term is still one of our favorites. >> does that mean you avoid it or ways to play south korea

through specific stocks that can avoid those, for example, export risks? >> yeah. what we have been doing this year is we have underweighted it relative to the benchmark. we have been a little bit cautious, playing it defensively. we have been buying stocks like hyundai motor which, for instance, is you would consider to be exposed to the economy. really, it's actually a market share gain play versus a lot of japanese manufacturers so those are what we're taking in korea this year. >> it's really gaining market share these days and growth here in the market in the u.s. market, that is. lg household and health care and korea reinsurance company as two other picks to play south korea. >> that's right. lg household, basically this is not really a cheap stock. it's trading at around 25, 26 times earnings. but the growth rates are also in the low 20% range and difficult

to find a company in the global environment that we're in with consistent earnings and foothold in the cosmetic market in south korea. they just moved in to the japanese market. top line growth in close to 20%. i think probably good 20% upside in lg here. korea reinsurance is different. much more of a value play. they got exposed to the thailand floods from 2011 and took a big bite out of their equity. the stock is overdone to the downside here and value play and reinsurance processing cycle picking up coming in to this year, i think you have a good shot there. >> got it. paul, thank you very much. >> thank you, mandy. lots more great stories of areas of different countries on the website. right now live, europe's

fastest-growing economy an how to make money there. that's all investingin.cnbc.com. >> who made that up? how many dots do you need in one website? up next, when's behind the outbreak of west nile virus in summer and the companies that help protect against it. plus, storm damage at the site of the republican national convention and isaac isn't even there yet. we'll check in with the weather channel on the storm's path coming up. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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coming up at the top of the hour on "closing bell," get ready for doom and groom. marc faber explaining why he thinks there's a 100% chance heading for a global recession. plus, you think you're paying too much in taxes? well, we have a guest who says you're wrong and that you and every other american are undertaxed. and then bond king bill gross says an 80% chance the fed taking steps to stimulate the economy but will the fed act right before the presidential election? well, bill will join us to defend that bold call. we'll get to see you at the top of the hour on "closing bell" but first "street signs," mandy.

it is your turn. isaac could become a hurricane by friday tracking towards florida and that could cause problems for the republican national convention in tampa next week. the ninth named storm of this year's hurricane season and todd santos of the weather channel is following isaac for us. todd? >> mandy, thanks so much. yeah, this system barely holding on to tropical storm strength but agreeing to come to cuba in the weekend and then in to start of next week and those, of course, why we are seeing the questions with the convention is concerned. the latest stats. 40 miles per hour with the sustained winds are concerned. you can see part of the center of circulation there and little bit disorganized at least in the short term here. still plenty of time to see strengthening. there's the look at the expected track so far through friday evening taking it just off the western side of haiti and miss many of the highest mountains available for that system and then getting in past cuba to the gulf by monday and tuesday as a

high end category 1 storm so a lot more to keep a close eye on. >> thank you for doing it. todd? amazon, throwing the script away. sending out invites to a big press conference holding in santa monica, california, september 6th. no details of what it is but -- as herb says, but it is an airplane hangar. i think the spaceship of bezos. i'm only half kidding. >> it could be a phone and talking to people over the past few days and thoughts of a phone. i don't know their phones necessarily -- they have an idea and the tablet. jeff bezos with a mind-set an your prediction of mr. sullivan, kidding and -- >> half kidding. >> the spaceship is a separate entity of amazon. >> it's an investment. >> you need a little bit of what shactman's got. i wasn't kidding. >> i'll take some of that. >> the uncontrollable giggles.

>> on september 5th, microsoft is having a press conference. >> there you go. >> with nokia. >> there you go. >> microsoft, nokia in new york on september 5th. they don't know what they'll say. amazon on -- suddenly the first week of september has gotten really interesting. >> but -- we were looking at nokia a moment ago. the stock popping. rare day in the sun for nokia. we have to wait an see. i think the most active stock on the market here. whatever happened to paying your dues? before you get all the perks. >> up next, a self-appointed spokesperson for young workers. fortune 500 companies are listening. but should they be really needing an foosball table in the cafeteria? ut there, how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past.

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. is america headed towards offices full of spoiled brats? many employers are gaving to demands like unlimited paid have indication, 2:00 p.m. dismissal, and the flexibility to work at places like starbucks.

are we catering to them too much? peter, great to have you with us today. you're saying you should throw all of these perks at them. that sounds like the worst idea in the world. >> i don't think you should throw all of the perks out, but companies should be changing to meet the cultures of this generation. you're talking 25% of the work force. 40% by the end of the decade. in the absence of real culture change, we're seeing companies use perks as a band-aid solution. >> isn't that pandering, it's saying you don't have to earn it, work hard, you think you need it so we'll give it to you. >> let's look at two angles, when the company wants something, and the talent values

it, it's a negotiation. if it's a negotiation about international opportunities, great. companies would not be giving this group their needs, expectations, and perks if they didn't feel a genuine desire to attract and engage this group. >> come on, peter. every generation, mine included, we always thought we were smarter and should get more of this, that, and the other thing. even in the '90s where companies were doing it, it didn't mean every company needed that mentality to get ahead. why must they do it. if you don't want to work at a company that offers that, go somewhere else. good companies should listen to everybody, but it doesn't mean you should let them just have like unlimited vacation, what's that all about. >> paid vacation what's more. >> do you judge a financial men

day tor by the number of comments or the quality of their judgment. who says we have to measure inputs like hours in the office or weeks at work to determine the value someone brings. if you can give unlimited vacation and still extract the talent of what you need, who cares if they triple their vacation time. it's not a debate about inputs or how it was in the 1990s or the 1960s. it's what a company needs to compete. why wouldn't you just evolve? >> let me read something to you. a 2010 peer research study asked boomers and millenniums to rank their strength. the mi millneials.

>> it's a big difference. >> every generation thinks they're smarter. >> i think i'm smarting to everybody even though i'm not, but you have to know your weaknesses. does this group feel like it has any weaknesses, better? >> now we're getting to one of the significant problems that companies face. when you get a ribbon and they're told they can do and achieve anything they want, and then it came time for 360 feedback, that is an issue. that is a cultural challenge. it doesn't change the fact that companies may need to evolve their feed back mechanisms to give that constructive negative feed back, call it that if you wish, in order to get the behavior change they're looking for. >> everyone thinks they're

special, don't they. >> by the way, we can't end the segment without this, i'm sure twitter will light up. everybody was young once -- >> i didn't think herb was. >> do we have it? >> yes he was -- look at that. >> he was not just young, he was spunky, look at that. >> that was '78 or '79. i think i was on a lake in minnesota. >> is that so? bring it up again for the viewers benefit. let's have a look. >> i was working at the st. paul press, and i thought i was smarter than everyone else. >> we found a parking garage that is literally sky high. at optionsxpress we're all about options trading.

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