struggling out here too many people in poverty. here in america we've never guaranteed success. that's not what we do. more than some other countries we expect people to be self-relia self-reliant. nobody is going to do something for you. we've tolerated a little more inequality for the sake of a more dynamic, more adaptable economy. that's all for the good. but that idea has always been combined with a commitment to upward mobility, the idea that no matter how poor you started, if you're willing to work hard and discipline yourself and defer gratification you can make it, too. that's the american idea.

unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in america have gotten harder to find over the past 30 years. and that's a betrayal of the american idea. that's why we have to do a lot more and give every american a chance to work their way into the middle class. the best defense against all of these forces, global competition, economic polarization is the strength of the community so we need to -- we need a new push to rebuild rundown neighborhoods. we need new partnerships. we need new partnerships with some of the hardest hit towns in america to get them back on their feet, and because no one who works full-time in america have should have to live in poverty, i'm going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage because it's lower right now than it was when ronald reagan took office. it's time for the minimum wage to go up.

we're not a people who allow chance of birth to decide life's biggest winner or losers, and after years in which we've seen how easy it can be for any of us to fall on hard times, folks here, folks in the quad cities, you know there are good people who work hard and sometimes they get a bad break. plant leaves. somebody gets sick, somebody loses a home. we've seen it in our family and our friends and our neighbors. we've seen it happened, and that means we cannot turn our backs when bad breaks hit any of our fellow citizens. so good jobs, a better bargain

for the middle class and the folks who are working to get in the middle class, an economy that grows from the middle out, not the top down. that's where i will focus my energies. that's where i'll focus my energies, not just for the next few months but for the remainder of my presidency. these are the plans that i'll lay out across this country, and i won't be able to do it alone so i'll be calling on all of us to take up this cause. we'll need our businesses, some of the best in the world, to pressure congress to invest in our future, and i'll be asking our businesses to set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees, and i'm going to highlight the ones that do just that. yeah, there are companies like

costco which pays good wages and offers good benefits, companies like -- there are companies like the container store that prides itself on training its employees and on employee satisfaction because these companies prove that it's not just good for the employees, it's good for their businesses to treat workers well. it's good for america. >> going to highlight his plan to stimulate the economy. the president laying out what he calls his five cornerstones of the middle class. they include increased access to better child care, education, health care as well and infrastructure, investments, again, he's going to be in jacksonville, florida, and in court tomorrow to discuss what he calls what we do best which is building things all related to a major economic push certainly this week by the

president of the united states and also to discuss secure retirement as well as homeownership. thank you very much for joining us here on "street signs," everybody. a very, very busy day. we'll begin the show with likely breaking news out of detroit because we're showing you a live look at the michigan courthouse where key rules are expected to be handed down any moment in the detroits bankruptcy and any time now the bankruptcy court of michigan is likely to assure and issue rules on whether the detroit bankruptcy can proceed. at issue, three lawsuits filed by creditors such as the pension plans to halt or delay the city's bankruptcy filing, and if the city wins the case it means the bankruptcy is more likely to go ahead. >> any lawsuit is complicated. this one perhaps more complicated than most. so let's bring in bankruptcy attorney mike sweet. in detroit we've got steven crieserberg of the american federation of county and state employees, one of the major

creditors of the bankruptcy and here with us on set, steve rattner, former u.s. treasury auto individualser. michael, first to you, and, please, in layman's terms, because it is quite complicated, what is at stake with today's likely decision from the judge in michigan? >> sure, to set the framework, whenever somebody files bankruptcy, united airlines, city of detroit or an individual there's an automatic stay preventing any litigation against that debtor, and the reason for that is to stop any state court collection proceeding and let the bankruptcy proceeding commence, let the judge and parties get themselves oriented around the case and then move that case forward. this is a fundamental part of the u.s. bankruptcy law. what we're seeing right now is the first scuffle in this case, and it's come about because five minutes before a state court judge in lansing was to take the bench and issue an injunction against the city of detroit

filing bankruptcy, the city filed for bankruptcy. there are several -- there are several different actions pending through which parties are proceeding against the city in state court with the hope of delaying the bankruptcy or pursuing separate claims, either directly against the city or indirectly through the governor or the emergency manager. now, in detroit the city couldn't file bankruptcy until the governor okayed that decision by the emergency manager. what is happening here is that there is a very, very specific argument being made about whether or not the emergency manager and then the governor should be granted the same protections of that automatic stay that would extend to the city of detroit, and what the city is asking the court to do is to confirm that none of the litigation, be it against the city or the city's officers or against the governor, anything that would prevent the bankruptcy from going forward or

somehow interfere with the city's movement through the bankruptcy proceeding, the city says to the bankruptcy judge, judge, you've got to stop this. you've got to make sure everyone knows that the automatic stay has to apply, not just to the city but to the individuals involved. >> michael, what do you believe will be the outcome here? >> i think based on what the judge said this morning before he took his lunch break, i think that we will see a clear extension by the judge that the automatic stay does say and the action against the manager and others shouldn't proceed for the time being. >> you expect basically, in very layman's terms, a win for the city of detroit in its push to continue the bankruptcy filing. >> certainly, that's right. however, nothing the judge says could prevent anyone who is litigating with the state or with the governor to come into the bankruptcy court and bring the same action. all this says is you can't do it in state court right now. >> michael, thank you very much. do appreciate your insight.

turned a complicated issue into something you understand. >> my pleasure. let's bring in steve criesberg, one of the largest creditors of the city of detroit. you obviously hope the decision goes the other way. either way, what do you plan to do, however the ruling goes down? >> well, however the ruling goes down we intend to do whatever we can to protect the pensions of our membership. our workers right now have average pensions of $18 to $19 a year after a career of service. not a lot of money. the legal action is really about the fact that the michigan state constitution guarantees the payment of those pensions so our allegation is that the governor is not authorized under the state's constitution to seek any kind of bankruptcy that would impair the pension obligations so what we're looking for from a court decision today is the ability to keep that claim alive, to be able to say that

the michigan state constitution matters and that federal bankruptcy does not trump the will of the people of michigan. >> yet, the first judge that heard that agreed with you and this case is going to put down the ruling of the initial ruling last week which was a county judge agreeing with you saying that the cuts to the pensions violated the state constitution, but if this judge rules against you what other outlets and avenues do you have? >> if he rules against us today, there's still opportunity to make further arguments down the road within the bankruptcy proceeding. our status as a creditor is preferred over other unsecured creditors based on the fact that the pensions are guaranteed by the constitution and we believe the judge will recognize that. we're getting into some complicated areas of whether or not our claims should be in state court or federal court. we believe it's properly in state court since it's a state constitutional question. i don't think for most public it

really matters. what matters is we have a just outcome and the just outcome is really indeed keeping our members' pensions as their property, not the property of the creditors. >> and the emergency manager and the city of detroit have essentially said that there's no money to pay all of what the pensions are owed. do you believe that? >> no, i don't believe that. don't believe it at all. >> there are sufficient funds in the pension funds themselves to pay the pensions. the actual cost last year for our members in the city of detroit was just 4% of detroit's revenues. arguing over 4%. under the city managers eown proposal they would continue to provide retirement benefits at some cost. the issues here are negligible. we believe that our pensions are being put on the table merely to satisfy the appetites of wall street creditors and left to our own devices we could work out an agreement and arrangement to

protect pensions and protect them going forward and protect really the retirement security of attorneys of thousands of workers. >> the security of families is on the line. appreciate you joining us. >> steven rattner, and i got in my ear the judge has taken his seat on the bench. may not be a clean headline, folks, as any legal decision goes to be multi-facetted and we'll try to give you the most clear answer that we can once it comes out. steven rattner, thanks for joining us on short notice. >> my pleasure. >> you wrote today we have to come to detroit's aid? >> all this legal wrangling is important. you've had intelligent expositions of what's at stake and what the possible outcomes are but it doesn't change a fundamental thing which is that detroit is bankrupt, whether it's in state court, federal court or stayed or not stayed, detroit simply does not have the assets or the revenues to deal with their liabilities. they have something like $18 billion of lights, $5.5 billion

are water and sewer bonds that every bankruptcy lawyer i've spoken to agrees really can't be touched as a matter of law so you'll end up looking at the $9 billion owed to the detroit workers and their retirees and a relatively small amount of unsecured debt. the reason i wrote what i wrote is because i do not believe these workers should take it completely on the chin and where mr. kriesberg is wrong, the pension fund is vastly underfunded, the city doesn't have the money to make it up and if matters are allowed to drift and take their course eventually these workers will not get their full pension sgluz highlight, steven, as usual the key issue here and this is -- this is where the conflict is going to come, and i think it's going to be very terrific, and i don't mean that in a good way conflict. you've got the creditor structure, without getting too wonky, you've got the creditor structure that puts the bondholders above the pensions and the bondholders may be german banks. how do you, if you're a judge, even though you've got law to

follow, go to a family in detroit and say sorry, you'll get half what you're owed but a german bank will get all or most of what they are owed? >> the law is the law, unfortunately, and it gets even more complicated than that because some of the bonds are insured so the actual bond holder may get all their money no matter what happens. >> 75 cents to the dollar on the bond and insurance kicks in the 25. they are made whole while a family already struggling doesn't get anything. >> it's a tragedy and may seem unfair, may fall in the life is unfair category and the reason detroit was able to borrow all that money because they gave those creditors a secured position and so far the municipal market has taken this reasonably well, all things considered. again, i'm on the side of the workers here. i don't believe they should be treated this way, but i think we have to be a little careful what we do to the municipal bond market because there's trillions and trillions at stake there. >> you brought up an excellent point and i'm pushing back on other side, despite some recent

events, pushing back is what an interview is supposed to be. here's the thing. in 2008 and 2010 and 2012 detroit borrowed money so you're saying that if the bond structure was not complete and the creditors were not secured, that money could never have been borrowed so we likely would have gone bankrupt probably even earlier. >> yes. i think that's one way to look at it, and i don't think it's an unfair way to look at it. detroit wanted to get the lowest rates possible so they got the lowest rates possible by pledging these revenues against the loans they were taking out, and you can't just walk away from a contract. forget about who is on the other side of the contract, whether it's the german banks or someone else, i'm more worried about the integrity of our financial system, and we need to operate by the rule of law. >> because other cities need money. all the time municipal bonds are issued and when there's a city on the edge, so a three-notch downgrade to chicago, again, not picking on chicago, but if you -- if you work over the creditors here in the bond market, if you give the bonds a major haircut, are you putting

the municipal finances of other cities, especially like chicago where their credit is not so hot, are you putting them at risk? >> i think potentially you are, and, remember, again, not to get too wonky, you've got the $5.5 billion that are very secured. within the 2 to 3 billion that kevyn orr wants to cut, there are some bonds, some revenue bonds that people believe are also secure and are going to be litigated as part of this. we'll have mass amount of litigations, but the fundamental point is detroit doesn't have the money to satisfy all the creditors on its own? >> i want to remind our viewers a couple of things. you're looking at a live protest in detroit outside of a municipal building and, number two, expecting a ruling from the judge in michigan regarding what we just talked about at the top of the show. essentially without getting too legalese own whether or not this case is allowed to proceed, whether or not you'll see the challenges against the bankruptcy hold water and maybe delay or stop that bankruptcy

filing, that's what we're waiting on. let's go back to steven rat next. again, you make excellent points, and we say there's no money for pensions, right? when i was there in detroit, i talked to people all over the city and they kind of echoed steven -- okay. just getting into my ear. the judge has halted the state lawsuits. won headline here so i want to make sure i get it right, but if the judge has halted the state lawsuits, that would mean, that is the correct head line, that's what i'm getting in my ear, that means the bankruptcy filing would be allowed to proceed. that period of time where no challenges could go against the bankruptcy filing would be upheld. basically what they call it is a breathing room clause in a bankruptcy, and i'm trying to go back to ten years ago from law school, got a b-minus in bankruptcy law, a breathing room -- we still have michael sweet, an actual attorney rather than a tv anchor who went to law school. thanks for staying on the line

for us. is that how you would understand that ruling, this is a win for the city of detroit? >> so, what the judge has said is he very briefly said that he will overrule both objections, and now he's going through his reasoning for doing so, but, yes, it does sound like what he's going to do is he is going to confirm that the stay applies, that it extends to the other officers and that nothing is going to be slowed down in his court by what would have been happening in state court. >> okay. so what then would be the next process here? now the city has what they call the breathing room provision. they have time to operate without the challenges from the pension funds and some of the other creditors, so what do they do? >> well, assuming that there aren't any appeals or someone couldn't come up with another argument or way to approach this, the next step in a chapter nine case would be the process of getting to a hearing on eligibility which is essentially what the judge started to hear today and said, no, wait a minute, we're not there yet.

there are several very specific requirements that the city has to meet in order to show that it's eligible. is it insolvent? i don't think anyone would disagree with that, but the other eligibility requirement that we'll see a lot of discussion about, did the city or in this case the emergency manager might in good faith with his creditors, and that's are the discussion is going to go there. will likely be a hearing, not tomorrow or the next day. in fact, in the city of stockton which is in bankruptcy now in california, the hearing on eligibility was a three-day trial that took place nine months after the case was filed. san bernardino pending in california as well, the eligibility hearing hasn't even happened yet. the judge set the date for late august which was then months after the case was filed so this is not something we'll get an answer to in any of the next two days and i would say there's very skilled attorneys, some very interesting constitutional arguments. these are all issues of first impression here, and so i suspect that we will continue to see skirmishes. we will continue to see new

arguments raised, and i think a lot will happen before we get toll jiblt. >> on the challenges, like we heard from mr. kriesberg, the city police, the city fire fighters, are the challenges permanently off the table, or will they have another chance to challenge this, not the plan but the bankruptcy because we do not know what the plan is. we don't know how much the city of detroit is going to try to cut those pensions. >> sure. so the way a bankruptcy case and a chapter 9 would usually could you have the eligibility hearing first and after that you have your plan confirmation process, and the question you're asking is can there be more challenges, even before the eligibility hearing, can there be other things, other arguments raised? all we're hearing today is that the state court proceedings can't go forward. what could happen is the same people who filed lawsuits in state court could come to the bankruptcy court and do one of two things, ask for permission

to proceed in state court and they could make similar arguments to the court today about the constitutionality of the conduct given that the state protects the penses or bring an action directly in bankruptcy court and have a decision there on constitutionality. the discussion isn't over, but what the judge is saying i, bankruptcy judge, will be making these determinations, not the state court judge. of course, that all could be pushed aside if there's an appeal and that's endurely a different kettle of fish. >> and there will more than likely be an appeal. michael sweet, thanks so much for your analysis on the fly. let's go back now to steven rattner. there's the news, folks, and i'll reiterate it. going into the legal weeds, essentially if you're on the side of detroit filing for bankruptcy, if you're michigan, if you're kevyn orr, it's certainly a win for you. can't say it's a win for detroit even though they are the ones filing for bankruptcy because there's likely to be no winner

here. it's going to be dark time on both sides, right, steven? >> there is no winner. detroit is insolvent. it is in bankruptcy and will stay in bankruptcy, in my opinion. i think that it was all unimaginable to me that detroit wouldn't go into bankruptcy because based on our experience with the auto companies you have too many players involved, too many bondholders and too many retirees and interest groups to ever work anything out out of court so i'm sure we'll go through the process of eligibility and everything else you've just heard described but at the end of the day there has to be a massive restructuring of the debts and other obligations of its function and then the question how do you willed detroit and make it a place that can actually grow again had. >> if you're a family and you say you make $100 a year, right, and you spend 110, can you figure that out. you can potentially work out that 10 bucks.

detroit's gaps are so large, steven, that you wonder how they can close those gaps. the bankruptcy is not going to be slight cuts, right? it is going to be major, major haircuts. >> but we know a lot of this, even though mr. orr has not presented a formal plan in bankruptcy because he just went into bankruptcy, his june proposal to the creditors does lay out what the picture looks like, and what the picture looks like is a 90% cut in cities -- in all the obligations the city can cut his the unsecured debt and he's also proposing to invest $1ment 25 billion over the next five years. the. >> 9% of crime is solved, 58-minute average response time by the police. national average is 11 minutes.

>> so you can see the outlines of almost a best case plan which are the massive haircuts for the workers and for the unsecured debt holders and then a relatively small amount of money available to actually invest and try to rebuild the city. i don't believe, having been in business for a reasonable long time and done some construction work. i don't believe it helps whether there's the state, the federal government, the two, combinations just don't work. >> this is the filing that went through with the judge. on the second time they made it very clear. lay out challenges declining population, city's income, redukes and state revenue sharing and lack of improvement in the city infrastructure. the city is designed for 2 million, 700,000 people. some blocks completely empty.

no property tax revenue. how do you fix that? >> the problem is that if only it were some blocks were completely empty because then you could turn them into parks and so. >> they have one home. >> don't want to use eminent domain who has lived there for 60 years and raised her family there. >> when people talk about shrinking the city, they mean reducing its services and downsiding and that's very hard to point out that you do of something this side. i'm not without hope. pittsburgh lost its major industrial source of jobs is doing quite well, by all accounts. this is possible, and it's starting late. can't be self-help. detroit doesn't have the ability to do that. >> the city of detroit was founded 312 years ago today.

steven rattner, thanks so much. apple bouncing back a bit. iphone still a star, for now, but some say there may be worry and we'll tell you why. this is the best zap 500 stock this week. who is it? tweet me @sullycnbc. sully, apple, much more coming up. we've completely integrated every step of the process, making it easier to try filters and strategies... to get a list of equity options... evaluate them with our p&l calculator... and execute faster with our more intuitive trade ticket. i'm greg stevens, and i helped create fidelity's options platform. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. golden opportunity sales event and choose from one of five lexus hybrids that's right for you, including the lexus es and ct hybrids.

♪ this is the pursuit of perfon.

announcer: through sunday at sleep train, save hundreds on beautyrest and posturepedic. choose $300 in free gifts with tempur-pedic. even choose 48 months interest-free financing on the new tempur-choice. the triple choice sale ends sunday at sleep train. the dow is actually having

its worst day this -- i mean, listen. it's down 0.3% which is 46 points, but believe it or not, july 24th, that is the worst day this month from the dow. bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. bob, once again, apple not able to drag the market up with it, but hard to believe that less than half a point drop is our worst day this month. >> yeah, it's been straight up. let's take a look. i want to point out. we dropped more when the new home sales data came out and that's a little odd and good news on new home sales. now people think the fed tapering is going to get a little more aggressive potentially. haven't been upside since early on. the ten-year yield was a problem. been moving up all day and had a crummy five-year auction about 1:00. >> utilities and reits, for example, china's pmi data was terrible this morning and had all sorts of problems with

materials and energy names and coal stocks and steel stocks all on the week side as well and finally the bright spot on techs. not only apple but juniper, emc, all had great earnings overall. you can see that's moving things up. that will be good news for the nasdaq 100. big underperformer there. brian, back to you. >> thank you very much. shares of apple getting a little sweeter after reporting their result, cold comfort for those who bought the stock at 100, 500, 700 bucks in the fall of last year. can apple get its mojo and stock price back? let us ask colin gillis who has a buy rating on the stock and a target price of 500. one of your competitors called it respectable but no one is trumpeting these numbers. >> flat revenue and earnings are down. we were actually negative with the stock the that level. upgraded them below 400 so we like to finally see apple outperforming the major indexes

but caution investors with our $500 price target we're saying that apple won't get back to the levels that was out before and the biggest reason for this is declining pricing for smartphones. >> yeah, and they highlighted something to the effect of preference for older lower margin products which means like it sound to me that people are buying the 4 and 4s instead of going up to the 5 because of the student connector they have and nobody wants to buy a couple for their houses. what are they buying at apple? what's asking. >> if you buy the new iphone 5, that's costing $560, very expensive for a lot of people on an unsubsidized model. can you get a decent smartphone for $100 to $99. google will come out with aggressive price when they roll out of the motorola x phone so the average selling prices are declining, dropped from $450 down to 375. apple remains a premium price

brand. they need to come out with a mid-priced offering. i think we'll see that this fall. >> why would they want to do that? won't that crush the margins that are already going down? >> well, because -- >> why would i pay the money for an iphone if i can buy an iphone minus 30%? >> the market is demanding it. they are buying the 4 and 4s already. that's why the 5% sequential drop. why not give people the option to get in with a newer phone that's priced more marginally. they can make plenty of profit on a $400 phone. >> thanks so much for joining us at apple. appreciate it. just ahead owns signs, we've got your earnings squad. they will lay out the numbers to come. battle of the biotechs, throw. four best stocks in the s&p 500 are biotechs by which is the best buy. diamond ditch, a top restaurant

with three top scott that are overcome. we'll talk about that's, too, so stick around. [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout so we can work on that thing that's stuck in the thing. [ female announcer ] today, cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everyone goes home happy. [ female announcer ] (announcer) at scottrade, our tcexactly how they want.tg. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to. plus, when i call my local scottrade office, i can talk to someone who knows how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. awarded five-stars from smartmoney magazine.

welcome to the earnings

report. i'm melissa lee joined today by kayla tausche and jon najarian. first off the scorecard, 30% of s&p 500 companies have reported so far, 68% both estimates. the stocks we are watching today, all report in just a couple of hours time so qualcomm, let's kick that off, dr. j. >> not a good quarter for them and qualcomm, a very big trade that went off this morning. somebody bought about three-quarters of a million shares of qualcomm, ten cents away from where the stock is right now and sold 43,000 upside september calls. now, that's a huge trade. that represents about 4.3 million shares versus three-quarters of a million shares against it. they are saying qualcomm goes nowhere if indeed they are right. >> take a look at chart. qualcomm has had tough sledding for the past year or so. it's down for the year and talking about lower cost smartphones that hurts call come

because that means companies, oems are willing to pay less for chips so the margins will be pressured. >> we're talking about the quarters in hindsight and apple shipments looked pretty good, up 51% and qualcomm a big servicer of those devices so looking at past three months maybe it will be good. >> inintellectual property they licenses as well as the chips they produce. >> etf, fallen ref into for four straight quarters in a role and they were good. >> t.d. america that reported, charles schwab, o'trade rounding out that punch and customer assets are up yield offer year. we expect that they will start to earn a little bit more on those assets. were volumes up in june, they are seeing the volatility,

analysts say it's the best trading volatility. everyone expects the numbers to be up. >> they are expecting bullishness from client. interesting to see what the commentary is from e-trade. that's it from earnings squad. want to join the conversation join us. pack tomorrow morning on "squawk on the street" with more updates and insight. brian, over to you. >> melissa, thank you very much. biotech stocks are some of the best performing in the s&p this month. in fact, check this out. alexion pharma up 21%, that was our mystery chart of the day and gilad and celgene up 16%, top ten in the s&p 500 this month. with those kind of gains you think anything left in the gas tank? let's ask chris raymond, a senior analyst at r.w. baird. thanks for joining us. of all the names you cover, can you, a, explain these big runs recently and, b, say if any of

them are still worth buying? >> yeah, thanks, brian, thanks for having me. the two names i guess that we're focusing on specifically near term and for earnings are regeneron and alexion and absolutely i think there's guess in the tank for these to move forward. what we're calling for is sizable upgrades this quarter. >> alexion, biotech legalese, can you tell us what they do, what drugs they make had. >> quintessential business model. they have a drug called solaris which treats diseases you've never heard of, pnh and ahus, two rare diseases which make for a good business model, high profitability and almost the closest thing to an anew. if you get that patient, you have that patient for life, so, as i said, very high profit

margins, 90% gross mar egyptian, and right now, you know, actually the stock is up month to date, but year to date it's underperformed the space and that's been i think largely due to a lot of concerns out of europe. our cole has been that europe will come through in terms of a major growth raiser >> when you look at rejennon. going back to the court of '06, '1, a decent year. starting in 2012 the thing took off like a rocket but so has the valuation. is 25 times trading earning justified? >> in my view. in this space you pay for growth. these guys are going to grow top and bott team line this year, 60% and are looking at an earnings growth rate, at least through the next several years, well north of 30%, which, you know, in my view is a pretty

decent valuation here. >> is there any headline risk to lexion and regeneron? bioteches can go down 30% in a day if there's not some piece of data that you don't know exactly what it is. >> cuts both ways, you're absolutely right and that's one of the reasons we like these rate. it's really -- especially in the case of alexion, it's a case of very low expectations so that's why we like these names. >> chris, a real pleasure. thanks for coming up, talking up alexion and regeneron. sounds like something out of "battlestar galactica." up next, are restaurant stocks overpicked? and a bankruptcy judge in detroit essentially saying today that the bankruptcy can go on without challenges from creditors such as pension funds in that grace period. it's a, quote, win for anyone.

>> what's going up later? >> noted analyst mayor think whitney will tell us how the aftershocks are affect iing and barrage of earnings after the bell highlighted by facebook and as per usual the numbers and instant analysis coming up. maria and i are back together. look forward to see you back at the top of the hour right after more "street signs" comes your way. stay tuned right after this. this summer was definitely worth the wait. ♪ summer's best event from cadillac.

let summer try and pass you by. lease this all-new cadillac ats for around $299 per month or purchase for 0% apr for 60 months. come in now for the best offers of the model year. the world is changing faster than ever, creating new opportunities for those who stand ready to seize them. in a time when the biggest risk is playing it safe, we believe outshining the competition tomorrow requires challenging your business inside and out today. at cognizant, our flexible, collaborative approach helps forward-looking companies not only run better, but run different... to give your customers every reason to keep looking for you. so if you're ready to see opportunities and see them through,

we say: let's get to work. because now more than ever, the future belongs to those who challenge the present. faso you want to save on autoof insurance?. drive a hybrid. get good grades. lose the bling. go paperless. combine policies. make automatic payments. and of course, talk to farmers. hi ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪ the most free research reports, customizable charts, powerful screening tools, and guaranteed 1-second trades. and at the center of it all is a surprisingly low price -- just $7.95. in fact, fidelity gives you

lower trade commissions than schwab, td ameritrade, and etrade. i'm monica santiago of fidelity investments, and low fees and commissions are another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. . welcome back. more on the breaking news out of detroit. scott cohn down in the courtroom. looks like a win -- i hate to use that term because there's no winners here. this is an ugly situation, but if you're kevyn orr, this is the outcome you wanted. >> well, exactly, because what

it does, brian, is lets him go ahead with this reorganization and judge steven rhodes who smacked down the unions across the word in his ruling he's just finishing up reading said that the real public interest is getting this reorganization going, allowing detroit to emerge from bankruptcy and to fix its finances, that's the public interest as opposed to what the union said was a public interested that there are all the employes and retirees whose pensions could be gutted as a result of this bankruptcy and the unions fighting for their very existence. judge rode, as i said, pretty well across the board knocking down all of the arguments by the unions and pension funds and creditors that the city are no right to file this bankruptcy in the police officers place because city pensions are protected by the constitution. the judge acknowledged there's ambiguity in the case low and says it's not necessary to resolve that ambiguity now and

said that none of the rights of any of the pensioners or anybody else are affected by basically staying all of the other rules, all the other cases, all the various losses had been backing in state court to try to block this federal bankruptcy and he included the governor. the judge ruling that under the law kevyn orr is an officer of the city and is covered by the automatic stay that happens when the city files for chapter nine bankruptcy. >> so essentially they are giving the bankruptcy court a lot of autonomous power and saying that the u.s. constitution gives them power,

gives them exclusive jurisdiction. judge rhodes said if he had allowed other lawsuits to go ahead or federal lawsuits or appeals or whatever to go ahead then you run the risk of competing rules and slowing down the bankruptcy which the city has declared and slowing down the whole process of trying to reorganize the city and get it out from under this $18 billion plus in debt. >> and now the hard work begins because now kevyn orr and the city have to actually coming up with a plan that includes real numbers, not just numbers, real numbers about what they will try to cut and they will take that back to the bankruptcy court that will then agree or disagree with those numbers, correct? >> quickly, please. >> but by all accounts, rhodes or orr has a plan going into all of this. one of the things that's going to be complicated, and there's another hearing in this case next week, is that orr wants to put in a committee of retirees

to represent their interestses. he realized he's buying himself another adversary this this case but that's something the judge will decide on and maybe that will give the unions a little bit of a silver lining here. >> scott cohn, appreciate you joining us. >> sure. >> up next. three restaurant stocks that need to be on your radar today. plus, last chance to name our mystery chart. best performer this week in the s&p 500. think. hmm, john madden. is that a good hint? guess @sullycnbc. i'll tell what you it is coming up. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪

hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪

it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

well, if it hasn't already been a busy enough hour, we now have breaking news on hec capital. kate is joining us by phone. kate? >> reporter: brian, thank you so much. in the wake of reports that a devastating criminal indictment could happen as early as this week for the firm s.a.c. capital, the hedge fund that's been investigated for a number of years, the s.a.c. management is trying to reassure the staff and today issued an e-mail this morning, saying, quote, the firm will operate normally and we have every expectation that will be the case going forward,

unquote. that's from a morning e-mail sent out to the entire staff. the other issue they're trying to let other people know about is the performance has been slow and steady and is now off about 10%, that's through mid-july. for the first part of july, they were up 1.6%. but based on the gains they've made in prior months of the year, that's out to about 10, and the uam is reduced but still $14.2 billion, down from 15 at the beginning of the year. remember, they've had billions of dollars in investor withdrawals so far this year, but that money has flowed out gradually through the course of multiple quarters, so we'll not seat the full impact until closer to the end of the year. so they're trying to keep spirits up as they await for more concrete news, it seems. >> yeah, kate, i want to reiterate the news, and excellent reporting, as always, nbc news has confirmed federal investigators are likely to file charges -- criminal charges -- against steven a. cohen, s.a.c. capital, et cetera, by the end

of this week. kate, does that timing sound good? what's the next step? >> reporter: the next step would be an indictment by the prosecutor if it's going to come to that, and it sounds like that could be any day now. there was sort of a critical legal deadline, or at least people throughout there was, this weekend, i believe it was sunday the 28th, by way federal prosecutors would have had to charge steve cohen, the founder of the firm, in connection with some pharmaceutical trades from 2008 that are believed to have been based on alleged insider trading, at least by prosecutors. but that date may not matter if what they're trying to build is a pattern of evidence of illegal conduct and behavior at the firm over a number of years. they've already had multiple former s.a.c. employees who have pled guilty to charges of insider trading. others are still under investigation, or awaiting trial. so as far as we're understanding, that's what prosecutors are honing in on, and that doesn't necessarily have to happen by this weekend, i don't believe. >> yeah, again, i want to reiterate and make it very, very clear that nbc sources, we're getting in just now, say that there are no likely charges

against mr. cohen himself, right, kate? it's not against steven anc. con as an individual, it's advisers in his firm. obviously, he is s.a.c. capital. the firm's name is his initials. there is no question he is the boss. so how do we differentiate those two things? >> reporter: well, there are two very different legal proceedings, right? new indict steve cohen as an individual, then among other things he will not be able to continue probably trading on wall street, at least until he's exonerated or it may be very difficult for him to do so. if the firm is indicted, theoretically, the firm could go under in business, and that's what the president of the firm is trying to reassure folks of this morning. but as we've seen in past cases where a corporation is indicted, it becomes very uncomfortable for outside parties to deal with the firm, and it can be hard to do business as usual, despite best intentions.

so, of course, they're going to be innocent until proven guilty, and i know they're mounting a vigorous defense. but at the same time, it could prove very difficult. but you're right, we're not hearing per se that there will be individual charges against steve cohen. of course, he was civilly charged last week with failure to supervise employees by the s.e.c. the winds seem to be growing of no indictment of him by federal prosecutors but we won't know until the statute of limitations have run out. >> and we've seen four former employees plead guilty to alleged insider trading. what more do you think there is here? >> reporter: well, i mean -- >> the government must think this is a pervasive endeavor at s.a.c. >> reporter: -- fire people as well as steve cohen himself. so until -- until the legal deadlines have been exhausted and, as you know, we had preet bharara, the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york telling our conference last week that in general there's a public misunderstanding of what the statutes are, that they're

longer than people think they are, they may not be five years. they may be six, they may be ten, depending onto legal issue. it may be another year at least before we really know that s.a.c. is out of the woods. >> kate kelly, great reporting as always. kate, thank you very much for calling in to "street signs" and cnbc. nbc news confirming that federal investigators likely to charge against s.a.c. capital but not steven a. cohen himself. very complicated again, but a big blow to s.a.c. capital and its investors. you heard that report. coming up next, our mystery chart shall be revealed. we will be delivered of a mystery chart. forthwith. hence forth. "first day of my life" by bright eyes

you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me.

it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing waiting time. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room. [ static warbles ]

♪ i love that. mario brothers, thank you, team. ea's the mystery chart. see you tomorrow. hi, everybody. good afternoon. we enter the final stretch. i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange. the dow is retreating from yesterday's once again record close. hi, bill. >> hi, maria. we've both been all over the place. we're back here together where we belong. we're watching the market closely, as well as following these stories right now, as apple rallies today on good earnings. we are now an hour