piper overweights it. (unintelligible) -- jpmorgan chase. there we go. we got all five to go with ten seconds to spare. see what the strawberry syrup does? huh? don't do it at home, kids. thank you for watching. have a great day. "closing bell" is next. hi, and welcome to the "closing bell." i'm michelle cabrera at the new york stock exchange. maria bartiromo is back tomorrow. >> and, michelle, tyler mathisen at cnbc global headquarters. bill griffeth also will be back in the chair at this hour tomorrow. we've got a busy show for you these next two hours. wall street and much of the investing world awaiting apple's earnings. those due out after the bell. and the stock continues to languish. down about 20% so far this year. the overall stock market is up by roughly that much. and we have one analyst here who predicts apple will deliver

startlingly bad news. meanwhile, the market marching to new highs even with apple's problems. the dow needs to gain just three points for another record. any positive close for the s&p is a record. right now, we're up .011, as more and more worry is getting into this market that it may be frothy amid a mixed earnings season so far. is that a reason to think it can keep going, michelle? >> also, hotter than the stock market, the housing market. in fact, it's so hot, the first-time home buyers are being priced out. and that's a big worry for some in the real estate business. we'll have diana here to explain why. >> let's take you through the markets now. it's been a bumpy day, i guess i would call it, with the industrials hanging on to a very nice gain, on track for yet another record, up 48.30 at 15,983. moving on to the nasdaq, it is down about 10 points, almost 11, at 3,589.58 ahead of the apple report after the bell that we're

all watching, and we'll cover it so closely in the next hour. the s&p 500, basically flat on the day. up 0.11 points, .11, michelle. >> ooh, so close. let's talk to bob about that. more records on the line, bob. >> s&p, we could do four days in a row, new high, historic high every single day. the dow, not far from the highs of the day. united technologies, frankly, is half of the gains, but we'll take that. a good report for united technologies. we are economically sensitive stocks, freeport, it hasn't been great in copper all year, but freeport had a decent report coming off the lows of a few weeks ago. dupont, also sort of good enough, not great report overall. you see them all to the upside. we may even be in for more good news in the third quarter, because so far, let's take a, the companies are not dropping the stills for the third quarter. s&p 500 in the third quarter, up

5.6%. that's the earnings estimate so far. on july 1st, it was up 6%. it's a small decline considering it drops more than that. my point, ceos are promising that things will be better in the second half of the year. dupont came out and said that today. united technologies, illinois tool works, that's a major reason the market's holding up so well. another major reason is there's a lot of money on the sidelines. take a look at what happened to bond outflows in june. $60 billion in outflows in bonds, and only $7 billion in inflows into stocks. where's all the money? what happened to it all? it's sitting in money market funds and it's sitting in deposits in banks. that money, of course, michelle, sitting on the sidelines could potentially be drawn into the market if we continue to hit new highs. that's some of the comments from a lot of the people down here, who are modestly bullish. i'm quite surprised considering the valuations are a bit on the stretched side. >> i've wondered that, when the cash comes back, does it go to stocks or bonds? after the big rally we saw, who knows? bob, thank you so much. >> okay. >> we have an hour from the

close. the dow and s&p 500, as we've been saying, trying to close at new record high again today. joining us now in our "closing bell" exchange, quincy crosby from prudential, kate from edward jones, and our own rick santelli. kate, i'm going to start with you. earnings season, we're going to get growth, but it's a slowdown in the pace of growth, for sure, and the fed's telling us that at some point they're taking their foot off the brake. can we continue to hit new highs in the face of that? >> yes, i think we absolutely can. >> why? >> i think now expectations are very low. it's sort of like, if your kid says they may fail the exam, but they come in with a "c," it may not be good, but it's good enough to keep the stock market moving forward. the fundamentals are solid, but not great. and i think it's that solid but not great that keeps leading to this grinding market that moves higher, but not lower. sort of bouncy, but higher. >> quincy, do you agree, solid not great good enough to keep going from here, and if so, how far? >> as long as the fed remains accommodative.

as long as they believe it will be slow and steady tapering. i can tell you tapering means a pullback in liquidity. even if it's small, we'll have discovery in the market. we saw what happened june 19th. >> what does that mean, discovery in the market? >> we'll find out what assets are worth, as the fed starts to scale back, even if it's tapering. tapering is scaling back, it is less liquidity. >> you know, i sense that you're a little more skeptical than our first two guests there. i wonder, what you think the tenor of the market's going to be if, and when, the federal reserve begins to pull its cash out of the system, and then we don't have that sort of sterile i'd in the cocktail? >> well, i think if you look over the last year, almost 80% of the market appreciation came from multiple valuation, multiple expansion. i think that source of gains is largely behind us, especially to the extent the fed starts to taper, we will probably see more of a headwind than tailwind, and it will depend very much more on earnings growth to get us

higher. given the profit margin are at record high, you could get mid-single digit earnings growth, but it will be hard to get higher depreciation. >> and what will push the market higher? >> i think it's exactly that. single digit earnings growth and the market moves up about mid single digits. i would agree we don't see a lot of valuation expansion. but people get overoptimistic -- >> what are you buying because you expect that? >> we want to see companies that continue to deliver on the earnings growth and have been paying dividends and are showing dividend growth. what you're looking for is where is the growth and where is the track record that shows they can keep delivering it in the future? we don't think it's the high yielders. we think it's the lower-paying -- dividend paying stocks that have shunned the record of paying dividends. >> rick, let me ask you whether the you think the big part of the summertime spike of interest rates is behind us? >> you know, i'm not sure that i can answer that with a yes.

i would probably say no, but we have reverted into a summer range. but the range is definitely higher than the range we had prior to may 1st sell-off. you know, here we are in a very quiet treasury session, holding at 2.5% level. it wasn't that long ago that we were questioning whether we'd get above 2%. if you look at the euro and the dollar index, which are just mirror images of each other, we're hovering at four-week extremes. 4 1/2-week low on the dollar index, and as far as what traders on the floor that trade the s&p and the dow futures, they've been passing out estimates on earnings charts for the last couple of months. and i'll give you what they're looking at in a nutshell. apple. the whisper numbers, about 780. most are looking for around 7 1/2. where was it in april? 9 1/4. at&t, supposed to be out today. they're looking for roughly, what, 68 cents? in april, they were looking for

71.50. so on this trading floor, the whole managed earnings scenario is really starting to be something traders are paying very close attention to. >> which is the original point i brought up at the beginning, quincy, right, about the fact that earnings growth, there will be teenie -- it will be pretty flat. given what rick said, when we don't know what will happen with interest rates, where are you putting money to work in light of that? >> we're going into -- at this point, because things have stabilized a bit -- >> and we can manage 2.5%. [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- if the liquidation is over. that's what it was. right now, you know, bernanke has done a great job -- the whisper of the stock market. so you want to be in the higher beta stocks. he's the ultima. he's the consummate -- >> are you calling him the stock market whisperer. like the horse whisperer. >> i don't know, he's great at it. he's great at it. you see the industrials have started to pick up. that is good news. you've seen the financials doing well. we like those right now. we like consumer discretionary

right now. but i am telling you, first of all, the market is getting close to overbought. you'll see a pullback. >> okay. >> but when you start seeing the fed move, history dictates it is traumatic for markets. >> no matter how much he whispers there, tyler. >> no, that's right. vadima, if you had to pick one sector between now and the year end that you think will deliver the best returns from your view, best risk reward profile, what would it be. >> i'll be the ultimate contrarian, either metals and mining or china, highly correlated. >> why do you say that? >> it's interesting, it's not so much fundamentally driven, but whenever you have a short horizon, the technicals matter more. and what i'm looking forward to is the optics start to improve starting in third quarter. companies start to face much easier compares given that you've started -- that you've seen significant deceleration start last year. so there'll be an appearance of improvement, and you've now had significant, dramatic, almost

unprecedented underperformance in the sectors over the last three years, and i think that you will see some reversal. >> all right. that is contrarian. ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we have breaking news on detroit's bankruptcy right now. scott cohn joins us on the phone. scott? >> reporter: court of appeals has struck down a lower court -- effectively struck down a lower court ruling saying the bankruptcy filing by the city of detroit was unconstitutional based on michigan law. that would -- that would effectively put the entire case as expected in federal bankruptcy court, which is what the pro-bankruptcy forces wanted. this is a victory for them, and a defeat to some degree for the unions who've been fighting this bankruptcy, because of what it would do potentially to retirees and union members' pension benefits. so there is an important hearing -- all the more important now -- in federal bankruptcy court tomorrow in which the unions will once again try to derail this. but right now, the bankruptcy is

full steam ahead for the city of detroit. >> all right, scott. >> reporter: back to you. >> scott cohn, thank you very much. scott cohn reporting from detroit. the recent rallies in oil and gold continuing today. sharon epperson following all of the imex and has the details. >> reporter: hi, tyler. looking at a nice bounce in gold in the last half hour, 45 minutes. gold prices had been steady throughout the session, and not seeing the same momentum we saw after yesterday's $45 run up in gold prices. but today, we're looking at this afternoon a little bit more momentum here in the gold price as traders say the next key level to watch will be $1,350 an ounce. keep your eye on the oil market because brent crude has a premium over wti. let's see how long that lasts. we'll get the report from the industry trade group, the american petroleum institute, on weekly oil supplies coming out shortly this afternoon, and then, of course, tomorrow morning traders will be watching very closely what the energy department has to say and whether we'll see a fourth week of declines in crude supplies. back to you.

>> all right. thank you so much, sharon. we have about 48, 49 minutes before the closing bowel. the dow jones industrials average is higher by 49 points and the s&p is higher by just barely, a fraction, tyler. >> what a busy afternoon ahead for all of us. we're watching apple, of course, even more so maybe than usual, because the company reports its earnings after the bell. it is a critical quarter. remember the shares already down more than 20% so far this year. and today's results matter a lot. and then, right after the bell, right after the break, we'll be joined by a former nfl great and a current nfl great, both are blazing trails in a field other than football. coming up next, former green bay packer tony joining us and tony gonzalez is here at the nyse, plus we'll get their take on steroids in professional reports in light of the high-profile suspensions in major league baseball. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] the mercedes-benz summer event is here.

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a quarter past the hour. the dow needs a small gain to close at a new record high. josh lipton, so what is driving

the blue chips into this new territory, sir? >> reporter: hey there, tyler. let's do a quick review of big movers in today's session. peabody moving sharply higher today. second quarter profit drop. but btu did report a surprise profit, boosted by a tax bene t benefit. other coal companies also higher, such as alpha natural resources and arch coal. texas instruments, another gainer, reports and pleases street. txn now concentrating on ships using cars and televisions, so a better mix. stock moves higher. in the red, some of the cigarette stocks like altrea, and lorillard. it impacted revenue, a drop in sales. and headlines from the fda saying menthol cigarettes likely represent more of a health risk than regular cigarettes. fda reports it's considering regulatory action. finally, dupont, second quarter inings fell, lower sales in the performance chemicals arm. the ceo on cnbc this morning talking about that segment.

take a listen. >> its volumes were up, both sequentially and year over year, but the prices are well off last year's mark. it's a cyclical and volatile segment for us, and it's about gdp growth overall. that's a segment undergoing strategic review of strategic alternatives. >> dupont edging higher right now, up about .4%. michelle, back to you. >> thank you, josh. life in the nfl is hard. there's even a show called "hard knocks," life after the nfl -- often even much tougher. former players can struggle to adjust and make a living, and that's why a handful of current and former players are looking beyond the bright lights and stardom to real business opportunities in the digital world. >> current atlanta falcons tight end and sure hall of famer tony glds is part of a new company called fit star, which has just released an app that creates a customized workout routine and former indianapolis colt and green bay packer tony mandarich is helping customers get the most from web searches and

advertising as the owner of mandarich media group. tony, both tonys, welcome to you. tony gonzalez, you're getting ready now for your 17th year in the nfl, maybe your last one. you're already on the way to a new career in digital apps. what was behind this, and why did you choose this business as opposed to, say, ones that a lot of former ballplayers go into, like the restaurant business? >> well, first of all, our restaurant business is a recipe for disaster. but, no, i always have been in health and wellness, and this was just kind of a passion of mine. i wanted to combine that with the digital world, and when they approached me with the idea, i was blown away with the technology behind it. it's called fit star. it's an amazing way for people to get in shape, the convenience of it, and obviously, like i said the -- >> go ahead. if i use this app, do i get to work out with you? >> yes, you do. >> that would be great. >> well, that was the beauty of it. i'm your personal trainer. it's real simple. you fill out a questionnaire, whether you're a beginner or an

expert. it customizes a workout for you and evolves with you. >> and how will you make money? >> we charge people to use it. that's how you make money off of it. there's different levels you can -- you can start out -- first of all, it's preliminary, free, and then step it up if you like it, and if you really like it, get the bigger program. >> tony mandarich, tell us about your business, sort of a web marketing company. how did you get started? why did you end up there? i gather you had some other starts in business, including at morgan stanley, and your family business, and you decided they weren't for you. why this? >> well, i figured i want to do something i have a passion for, and i've always been a geek at heart, and i think, you know, we started a photography company that morphed into a photography and video, and then it morphed into internet marketing eight years ago. and at the end of, you know, a year, we realized 75% of our revenue was coming from the internet marketing company because of the recurring monthly fees for sco or for paid search, or whatever the case could be for the client. so we just got, you know, more and more involved, and, you

know, the big thing in our industry is you have to roll with the changes. you have to constantly keep up to date. it seems like the longer we're getting, you know, into the internet and more people are getting active to the internet, the faster things are changing, especially with google and the algorithms, and you have to stay on top of it. you know, six, seven years ago, social media carried very little value. where today it carries a ton of value with sco, and, you know, a ton of value with traction and conversion. >> you know, let me jump in and make a jumpball for either one of the tonys, and transition to some of the issues that are facing the nfl today. tony gonzalez, there are concerns about drug use, and particularly in light of the ryan braun situation, where he was suspended in baseball yesterday. and concerns about concussions. what kinds of threats are these to the business of football? >> well, okay, concussions, certainly, of this addressed it, actually, the commissioner's done a great job of making sure

the game has become a safer place to go out there and play, because the history of it, alzheimer's dementia, when players get done playing, it's not good. it's not good at all. i don't think it will hurt the product, with the new rules situations, it's keeping guys safe. and with the steroid controversy going on, it's not that prevalent in the nfl, because we get random tested. you never know when it's coming. in the nfl, in my opinion, they dot best job of that. >> so this requirement to provide blood samples during training camps won't be problematic? >> i don't think so. it levels the playing field. why wouldn't you like something like that? we have to give blood anyway, so test it for hdh. >> tony mandarich, what do you think about that, and about testing for hgh, the prevalence of steroids in the game, you've been very transparent about use of steroids. >> yeah, and i think what tony gonzalez said hit the nail on the head. if you have a problem giving blood, you're trying to hide something. and that's the kind of the key. i mean, i had a problem with it, you know, when they were trying to test me or test me too many

times when i was in the league or in college. you know, if you have a problem with it, you're trying to usually hide something. it's not an issue of, i don't want to give blood. i think the steroid issue, the nfl has addressed it extremely well, even -- i've been retired 14 years now, and it was random testing 12 months a year. they put the onus on the player that, you know, if it was offseason, they contacted you, you had 24 hours to get back to the team and take a blood test, and it didn't have to be where the team's facility was, but somewhere in a doctor's office. so they really put the responsibility on you, and even with supplements, because there were some supplements that would test dirty you could get at your local, you know, health food store. >> mr. gonzalez, you know, i see these kids in college, they play in college, and then they end up in the major -- in the nfl a year later. they've gotten so much bigger. i mean, to me, i look at the field, and i say, all of these guys are on steroids. is it prevalent in the nfl, or not? >> no, not at all. i don't think so. now, hdh, you might have a point

there, because you cannot test for it right now. it's only urine samples in the nfl. they don't do the blood test for hdh yet. i'm big on that. i'm a proponent of that. >> a blood sample, taking the next step. >> absolutely. like tony said. >> what happens when they take the blood samples, what do you think you'll find in. >> you'll find people out there using it. i don't know anybody that's done it. but i think maybe it is out there. because sometimes these guys are -- we're getting bigger, faster, stronger, and that's just evolution, hopefully i'm not offending people by saying that word. >> tony mandarich, how prevalent do you think steroid use is in the nfl? i think you said relatively low, because of the testing. how prevalent on hgh? and my final question for you is, you once had rough days if your life, post-nfl, why is it that so many nfl players seem to have trouble after the game is done? >> well, to start with your first question, i think steroids are really a nonissue in the nfl right now. and for years, they've been a nonissue, because they've done a good job of testing for it. the next issue is the growth

hormone. you know, from what i know and the research i've done, you can't test for growth hormone. what you test is something called lgh, or lgf-1 trigger for the hormone. that's what they'll look at. you know be i'm all for it. the thing is that growth hormone makes a player heal quicker if they have an injury. so i think what the player's trying to do is get back on the field faster because that's the product everybody wants to see. it's an interesting way to look at it. and, yeah, i mean, i had -- you know, when i left green bay, i had a disaster. i mean, i was a disaster, and then i was lucky enough to get sober, come back, play with indy. when i left indy, it was a smooth transition, because i had surrounded myself by a foundation of people that were solid. and i think that's such a big thing is who you surround yourself with, who you walk around with, who you go out to dinner with. those people, if they're quality people that aren't running and gunning and, you know, they're not kind of, you know, shady or sketchy, it's such an important

factor, and i think a lot of the players have a hard time when they lose that celebrity, and some players -- >> mr. gonzalez, i want to go to you, i'm calling mr. gonzalez, because you're both named tony. you are here to talk about the new digital platform. what else will you do? is this your last year? besides this app forfeitness, what are you going to do? >> i am 100% year this is my last year of playing football. but as far as going forward, yeah, it's not just fit start i'm doing. you have to go out there. you have to do other stuff to be passionate about, you can do every single day. one thing i love is football. i've been doing it my whole life. i can transition and sit at the desk, talk about the game i love. i've been playing it the last 17 years after next year. that's the next step. hopefully some network out there wants to hire me. >> tyler, am i really obvious, when i say he's obviously handsome enough to be a tv commentator about football. >> i would say absolutely. >> thank you, tyler. you're the best. >> anytime tony -- either tony, you want to come in at cnbc and talk business or football, we'd

be delighted to have you. it's great to have you both with us. thank you for your time. and two guys who made their names on the field and now making their names again in business. thanks, guys. >> thank you. >> thanks for having us. >> i want to work out with tony, michelle. >> i look forward to that. >> yeah. we've got about 35 minutes, 34 minutes before the closing bell. there you see the dow, record territory up 43, 15,588. the nasdaq down 13, and the s&p just flat as they come right now. >> and you haven't heard of carlos danger, right? >> no. >> okay. all right. the bell is tolling for taco bell's kids' meals. they are being discontinued. the fast-food chain serving up the shocking news as it refocuses on its core twentysomething fanbase. find out if that will make shares of yum more appetizing. and while taco bell is axing kids' meals, washington is taking steps to cut two things

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taco bell about to become a little less kid friendly. courtney reagan explains. courtney? >> reporter: michelle, that's right. the fast-food chain says it's the first in the industry to do it. taco bell getting rid of kids' meals and toys. yum brand taco bell franchises will begin phasing out the kids'

meals and toys this month and will be done with the menu items by january. it might be disappointing to some kids, but not so much for investors. taco bell hasn't spent dollars on the marketing in years. they say it accounts for less than 1% of the total sales, equating to less than $70 million a year. much smaller than the competitor mcdonald's, estimated to rake in about 10% of total sales, or $2.7 billion. the mexican food themed restaurant will be focused on grabbing more dollars from the target consumer, males in their 20s and 30s, pushing meal extensions like happier hours, the late, late hours, early hours, and the products like l doritos tacos. 75 million of those tacos sold in one year. tyler? >> all right. thank you very much. despite today's drop, yum shares are up around 6% so far this year. that's the parent company of taco bell, and kfc had more room to run, and is now a good time to buy?

let's talk numbers. on the technical side is richard ross, and mark leichtenfield is associate director at the oxford club. let's go with the fundamentals, mr. leichtenful. take us away. what do you think? >> this is a company that i'd rather eat their food than own their stock. i'm not fan of their food. they've got big problems in china. china's just been a disaster for the company. and it's a critical part of the growth strategy. the china same-store sales were down 20% last quarter, and there's so much risk with china right now, whether it's bird flu or tainted food supplies and now a situation where a chinese television network broke a story over the weekend that ice from a kfc in china was shown to be 13 times dirtier than toilet water. now, if you're an executive of a restaurant, you never want to see the words toilet water mentioned in a headline with your company. free advice there. never is -- it never works out. >> you're talking fundamentals there, mark. that would be a fundamental.

rich, what do you say here? take us through some of the charts. >> sure, tyler. when it comes to the technicals, you know what i like about taco bell? everything. let's start with the weekly chart. i'll show you what i mean. since breaking above the 200-week moving average in 2009, the stock has moved higher in textbook stairstep fashion. whereby we've advanced, settled into a multimonth trading range and advanced again. that's exactly where we are today, in a multimonth trading range with critical resistance around 74. in a shorter-term chart, you'll see why i think we'll break to the upside. you can see this beautiful rounded base of support. it reinforces the support of the resistance up around 74. i think we take it out and we get another leg higher in the stock. >> all right, gentlemen, you made -- >> i don't think -- >> go ahead. >> i don't think the market is pricing in how big of a problem china is right now. you know, we know it was a problem the last quarter. it will get worse. in the united states, the same-store sales was an anemic 1% growth. right now, if i own the stock, i

would be a seller here, and thank my lucky chalupas that someone is willing to give me 23 times projected earnings. >> the last word. thank you very much, mark. richard, we appreciate it. michelle? >> all right. the dow now is in positive territory by 45 points. the s&p 500 is just gone negative a little bit. we've got about 27 minutes before the closing bell, tyler. >> of course, housing has been red hot over the past year, so how hot? well, not so hot now that a foundation of the real estate market may be getting priced out. can the recovery in housing continue without first-time buyers? that's next. plus, buckle your seat belt, tyler, because after the bell, an earnings extravaganza featuring at&t and apple. full-team coverage of all of the results which could move the market tomorrow. i've been doing a few things for a while that i really love-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

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first-time home buyers trying to find a home, the rates

are tight, few homes being listed, and they're facing competition from investors who want to rent the homes out. >> mm-hmm. with us now is cnbc's resident housing expert diana olick, and also mike aubrey, a realtor in the washington, d.c., area, and host of the new "hgtv show debuting today called "power broker." jared jones is in las vegas. diana, to you, what's going on, and is this a problem for the housing market? >> the first-time home buyer has always been the foundation of the housing market. they usually make up 40% and 45% of all home buyers, but in june, they made up just 29%, according to the realtors. why? because they're in competition with investors. they're usually looking on the lower end of the market. and while investors are usually all cash, the first-time home buyer needs a mortgage, and that is more difficult. and so, they end up in this competition where cash is king, and they're losing out. >> mike, what are you seeing with respect to first-time buyers in the d.c. area? a lot of pressure on them? >> absolutely.

the market is absolutely blistering right now in d.c. and i think diana hit it exactly right on the nose. the problem is that underwriting standards are still so amazingly tenuous, to get loans right now, the first-time home buyer has been pushed out of the market. >> jared, you're on both sides of the coin. you work with first-time home buyers as a realtor and you've also invested in investment properties. are there any benefits to the market from investors scooping up the properties and shutting out the first-time home buyers? >> there's no question we all get excited when we have equity in a market where we've generally been on the bottom side of the coin for so long. but as the former guest pointed out, obviously cash trumps financing in a tough market. sellers want a sure thing, and they want top dollar, and that's what investors do. but i think there is a little bit more of a sunny side in the future. in the next year, i think buyers may get a baton passed from investors. buyers that have been sitting on the sidelines that have been getting beat out, i believe are going to be in markets where investors are going to not be

interested in the high prices any longer, and pricing that earlier this year that was extremely low -- or the actual supply levels that were extremely low earlier this year are changing in many of the nation's hottest market, which means investors are being less interested in these markets, and buyers can get back in. >> i have to think, diana, that the first-time buyers are very price sensitive. they would buy the payment, not necessarily the price of the house. and that is very related to what the interest rates are on loans. i was doing research yesterday, $400,000 loan at 3.6% was, like, $1,800 a month at 4.6%, 4.7%, it's $2,100. that's $300 a month. >> that's a lot. and that's why they're getting priced out. and because home prices are rising at the same time interest rates are rising, it's a double whammy against the first-time home buyer. it's so interesting what he was saying, the investor is almost pricing themselves out of the market. we're hearing investors are leaving the market, which could be good news for the first-timers, but again, with

rising interest rates -- >> right. [ overlapping speakers ] -- stuck paying more. they're paying a higher interest rate. >> yeah. >> you remember, though, there's -- if i interject, a returning first-time home buyer. a buyer bought eight years with a subprime loan that is not short selling the home, back in the market. and even though interest rates are at 4%, they're buying the homes -- >> did you call -- >> like a -- >> what? >> it's a returning first-time home buyer. >> returning -- >> you guys know the definition of a first-time home buyer is one that's not owned a home in three years. you will see those people that were foreclosed on during the crash who are phasing out of foreclosure, getting their credit repaired again and coming back to the market. again, they're not going to get that great rate, because of their credit history. they might have to go fha. they might have a smaller down payment. so again, it's going to be a rough road back for them. they are coming out, which is the good side of all of this. >> jared, mike said the d.c. market is very hot. how about las vegas? >> las vegas has still on the

average around 6 out of 10 home buyers that are buying homes that are all cash. whereas fha, which is the model buyer -- the model loan, if you will, for a first-time home buyer is 1 in 10 now. we are seeing inventory inching up slightly, which is -- vegas is an epicenter market. when we start moving in one direction or the other, we do it to the extreme. if we're inching up in inventory, i think that's an indicator -- >> the problem with that, jared, is investors are buying in cash, they're not going to live in those houses, and what you end up with is a synthetically overinflated market where a bunch of people are renting right now and if those first-time, or return first-time home buyers come back to the market, then doesn't that make the market in las vegas go back down again? >> here's the thing -- >> thank you. we have to go. sorry. >> thank you. that's all right. >> all right, guys. we'll think about that answer and come back to it later. there's about 19 minutes left before the closing bell. the s&p basically flat. the dow, as you see there, up 32 points on record pace. at 15,577. nasdaq down about 16.

so two things you probably use and love, they're on the chopping block in washington. coming up next, we'll tell you what they are, and why they could soon be eliminated. here's a hint. you might not need a mailbox anymore. and it has been a year to forget for apple. the stock down 20% in 2013. can the company's latest earnings turn the stock around or will it send it spiraling even lower? we'll have instant analysis, and investor reaction to the apple profit numbers later on the "closing bell." e worried about e fires? stop smoking. manage your wires. watch out for space heaters. clean the chimney. get one of these. cool the romance. and of course, talk to farmers. hi. ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪ [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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two things you probably use almost every day could be on the chopping block if some lawmakers in washington get their way. it's all part of the budget crunch. ayman describes what's going on. >> reporter: you teased before the break that one of them could be your mailbox at your house. the other one is this guy, the good old-fashioned american buck, the dollar bill, might also be on the chopping block. a couple of proposals here in washington to save money, kicking around in these days of sequester. starting with the post office and put up this full screen. you can see some of the details here, included in this proposal that would eliminate some home mailboxes, particularly, the

post office says, in high-growth communities where they're building a lot of houses. they would have the customers pick up mail in a centralized location. you wouldn't get it delivered to the door. instead, you'd go down to central area, pick up the bills and junk mail that we all love to get in the mail. what they're say something that delivering the mail to the door, that's one of the postal services biggest costs, and giving all of the problems they're having with financing in the postal service right now, they say this might be one of the key solutions here. another one is the good old-fashioned american dollar bill. yes, a couple of people have been proposing this for a long time. it's getting renewed attention now. getting rid of the bill and replacing it with a coin. now, here's the argument for it. advocates say eliminating the dollar bill would save $13.8 billion over 30 years. that's prbecause bills last fou years, coins can last about 30 years. therefore, a lot of savings to be had there. other countries have done this. other countries have had success. i can tell you, guys, this is

one of the longest running proposals here in washington, and it never seems to make it over the finish line. it's a sentimental favorite of mine, because when i moved here to washington in 1994 as a young reporter, the dollar coin story was one of the very first stories i wrote as a reporter here in washington, and we are still covering it. so that tells you how much enthusiasm there's been on capitol hill for this. but maybe now with the budget crunch and sequester, we might be getting close to getting rid of these guys. you'll have to find something else to put in your vending machines. >> that is great insight. really appreciate it. 1994. the biggest issue is the -- the slides in the cash register, right? retailers complain about it, they have to create another spot in the drawer. >> yeah, absolutely. and the other thing is people generally doesn't like to carry change in their pockets and dollar coins would be heavy and would require you carry more change. it's annoying, rattles around. >> it's how it is in europe. >> a lot of resistance to that. on the other hand, the cost savings could make it worth while. and what they say is to make it work, you have to eliminate the

dollar bill in order to get people to change over to the coin. >> thank you, ayman. >> you bet. about 13 minutes before the closing bell. the dow is higher by 25. losing steam here from the highs. and the s&p is now lower by about 3 points, tyler. >> stocks struggling to close at record highs. it's a magic number for the s&p 500 that everybody is watching. the number is 1,700. we're a few points shy now. up next, two top money managers tell us why that is such a crucial milestone. netflix unable to lure in as many subscribers as wall street was expecting. find out if the company hopes to become the next hbo are in danger, and we don't mean carlos danger. later on the "closing bell." [ moritz ] today's high school students will soon be responsible for paying bills, managing credit-card spending, and applying for loans... but most of them don't have the financial skills to handle it. pwc is doing something about that. i'm bob moritz, u.s. chairman of pwc. pwc's earn your future

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so we have about 10 minutes to go in the trading day. while the s&p is slightly lower, it's a few points shy of the 1,700 level, and that's a closely watched level by traders. >> with us is joel quinlan from u.s. trust and jordan waxman from hightower. joe, let me start with you. the 1,700 has the round-number psychological significance, but

could it be significant as the barrier the s&p couldn't break or maybe the level at which the s&p peaks for the year? >> it could be, tyler. some people will say 1,700 means the market's come too far, too fast. on the other hand, 1,700 could galvanize the people sitting on the sidelines to come over into equities, come from cash and fixed income. it could help drive us higher as we go deeper into the year and into 2014. >> do you want to take a stand, jordan? what do you think? >> i agree with joe. there's no cosmic confluence to a number like 1,700. it perhaps has a technical significance. when you're building diversified portfolios and you're looking ahead five years, where are you going to put your money, equities still look reasonably valued, reasonably long profit expansion, and low interest rates, and low inflation -- >> so why are we falling apart here at the end of the day? we're look at the intraday chart, it just flies away here. we can't go up every day, or what? >> it's summertime. volumes are light. people are taking vacations. there's not a lot of positive --

>> it's the weather, like pepsi? >> well, you have to have a positive catalyst to move the market forward. earnings season has been mixed at best. and, you know, you have to let the rest of the companies go through the profit reports and you look forward, another year, and look at what the valuations on the market are. >> joe, what are you doing with your money these days? >> tyler, we're putting more money to work in the global cyclical sectors -- materials, industrials. i still like i.t., and i know it's been beaten up badly here. i think the global economy has bottomed out here. you're going to see more activity out of europe, the emerging markets. so we like the big multinationals in the u.s. and europe that are going to leverage the global growth. i think it's early -- it's early, but they're going to do well in the 2014. >> and what do you stay away from? >> stay away from telecom, some of the utilities, more of the defensive sectors right now. we're also looking, you know, being very cautious in the emerging markets. we like mexico, south korea, poland. but in general, the asset class, it's still struggling and it

will struggle in the near term. >> jordan, is the s&p higher at the end of the year, lower, roughly the year? >> i think it's higher by a few percentage points. there's little equities supply and plenty of demand. >> wow, all right. ending it there on a positive note, tyler? >> why not? >> i'm long in my mutual funds, so i like it. >> yeah. you want to get back and work out with tony gonzalez. let's face it, michelle. >> he already tweeted me back on twitter, tyler. >> oh, he did? all right. gentlemen, thank you very much. >> but i digress. >> i digress. see you again soon. up next, we're coming back with the "closing countdown" with about five and a half minutes to go. the dow in record territory. s&p 500 struggling as we close in on the finish line. and then, after the bell, you have to get ready for not one but two huge earnings reports. at&t and apple set to report any minute now. we're going to pull coverage of the potentially market-moving results. you are watching cnbc, why? because we are first in business worldwide. weekdays are for rising to the challenge.

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countdown." back with us on the floor is ben willis from the albert freed company. ben, what are you seeing today that gives you either comfort or discomfort? >> i am seeing nothing, quite frankly. so i guess that's probably quite comforting. this is a market of stocks, not a stock market. the indices you quoted are a good indication of that. so unless what you have in order in united technologies or travelers, some of the big names moving on the individual stories, there's not a whole lot going on. some of the beneficiaries are the chinese news coming in where the basic materials group, they saw a bit of a lift with peabody. but unless you're in one of those stocks, most of the other stocks are seeing very little action. >> there was a time when a report after the bell like apple is going to happen today where it really would have moved the overall market. we've shifted away from that, right? apple doesn't dominate as much. and yet, it's still so important, isn't it? >> it is very important. particularly if you consider just from the consumer side of it, and the consumers had been part of the safe haven stocks

driving this market. and like apple, most of those stocks seem to have come into a stalling pattern. >> if apple moved to the upside, a surprise to the upside, could that lift the overall markets since it's been down so much? >> i think it can. but the broad market, as i said, you're trading a market of stocks. the broader market feels very tired, and again, we have another sell indication on the tom demark models on the s&p futures. but technical trading with those tools have been very dangerous and not, quite frankly, haven't worked very well over the last several months. professional traders keep looking for that correction that never comes. the bull market continues to n run. so even a stock like apple may report, but we may see a little bit of a bid stay in the market, but we're seeing a very tired market here. the chinese news, not only a benchmark where they'll hold the line at 7% gdp, but we saw an 11% increase in the oil import, biggest number since 2011, and it was yawns all the way. >> beyond apple, any keys for

the rest of the week? >> keep an eye on whatever comes out of china, the ecb, and the fed. everybody wants to know about tapers. >> thanks, ben. [ bell ringing ] >> thanks very much. there you see the closing bell being rung down on wall street. at the new york stock exchange and uptown at nasdaq. michelle? ♪ 4:00 p.m. on wall street, and welcome to the "closing bell," i'm michelle cabrera. maria is back tomorrow. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. bill griffeth is off today. he will also be back tomorrow. the dow closing once again -- this is getting a little repetitive -- at an all-time high, up 23.8 points now as it settles. 15,569 and change. here's how we finished the day on wall street. the aforementioned dow at 15,569. nasdaq down 21 points at 3,579. the s&p 500 making