who can forget "the love boat?" just finished its final cruise. "the pacific princess" was acquired by a turkish ship recycling firm for 3.3 million. look at it listing to the right, listing to starboard. it will be stripped for parts. renovation costs just too expensive, sue. bon voyage, love boat. you will surely be missed. >> that does it for us. "street signs" begins now. >> feel like you could just stick your head in the stand and your problems will go away except that they don't? three big-name stocks have been playing ostrich as well. jcp, blackbury and dell. 1,000 here we come. analysts slapping ever higher prices on price line. is that the right price, and so far this week snakes on a plane,

spiders on a plane but what about stand-up comics on a plane? i'm not sure which is scarier and the must see to be believed liquid repelling product that's taking the nation by storm. i'm lacing up my white tennis shoes and i'm stepping in the fruit punch to test it all out. welcome to "street signs." happy friday as well. i'm mandy drury. so much for the record highs of last weeking right? that was last week. this is this week, and this week the stock indices are on track for their worst week since june. we're down right now across the board. let's get straight down to the nyse because, bob pisani, we've been drifting lower most of the week. we are though still only 2% away from historic highs. >> yeah. >> what do you and the traders make of all of this? >> i think there's a lot of things going on. the macro environment, globally, that's really helping stocks and a few things that might be hurting stocks. let me summarize where i think we're at right now for the markets here. japan and the u.s. are a little bit stretched right now, mandy. a lot of people are arguing and

i'm not sure i feel comfortable enough with the economy to say stocks should be trading at a higher value right now. sideways for a while is probably likely. the big story this week, great numbers on china improving all throughout the week. the data there. see that in commodities. europe is in a sweet spot right now. it's cheaper and bottomed out. some people believe it's been outperforming recently and people are underexposed to it overall so a few good spots here, and japan and the u.s., that's a little bit of an iffy thing. right now the dow is in the same pattern as yesterday, the bowl-shaped thing that drives people crazy. see if we can get into positive territories. mandy, back to you. >> thanks so much for joining us. stocks down across the board today, but there are a few names sticking out to us because it's like they have got their heads stuck in the sand. let's call it, guys, the option trip trade. talking about jc penney and blackberry. for good measure let's throw dell into the pit as well. our all-star panel of reporters lined up to hit each of these names.

first of all, though, i want to talk about jc penney, scott wapner, this is your big story, been following it and a lot of moving parts and bring us up to speed. >> hard to keep up to speed on the developments. >> yes, it is. >> the volleys and punches and counterpunches that have come back and forth over the last 12 hours. a couple letters from bill ackman to the board. there's been a response from the board and official statement from the current chairman of the board who says if mr. ackman's statements in the letters that we've seen criticizing a number of issues with the board, the board saying that mr. ackman's statements are misleading, inaccurate and counterproductive. i spoke with bill ackman a short time ago who said our letter is entirely accurate in all respects. we look forward to meeting with the full board to discuss the future of this company. what you have right now is a mess. it is a full fledged mess. >> is there a school of thought that maybe ackman is meddling too much? pushing for the changes fast and wanting things done fast is what got ron johnson into a lot of

trouble in the first place. >> i think at this point it's a case of desperate times call for desperate measures. he's sat there and watched the value of jc penney's stock price go down clearly from the letters today, you have had a situation where behind the scenes bill ackman has wanted things to happen more quickly than the board was prepared to do. >> right. >> in terms of speed, and here's where you have it. you have a -- a company that has not been performing well from a fundamental standpoint. you have a stock that has not been performing well, and now you have the chairman of the board who is in that seat now going back and forth with the largest shareholder and board members, and the interim ceo of the company sitting there knowing that he may be replaced over the next several weeks and months. >> right. using another animal analogy, it feels a little bit like groundhog day. you wake up again and it's still a me. let's bring in herb greenberg as well on this issue and joining us on the cnbc "newsline" is

mary gilbert from imperial capital, an underperform and an $8 price target and i believe you've cut that price target to $8 from $10 recently. what do you make of what's going on? >> well, first of all, with regard to this major shareholder and board member, we think it's distracting. it doesn't allow management to focus on what they need to do, and that's execute a stabilization and eventual turnaround of the business. >> do you believe in that stabilization? do you think it's going to happen, because when you look at, for example, the credit default swaps on jcp they are widening. the market feels like maybe there's a greater chance of a default. >> that's correct, and actually we think a lot of this is getting overdone at this point. there's a lot of focus on the second quarter which the company is due to report on august 20th, but we already have insight into the quarter. they indicated that the cash ended the quarter at 1.5 billion so that implies that the cash burn was 1.1 billion. however, most of that cash burn

came from working capital investment and capital expenditures to complete the remodel of the home department, and then also the investment and inventory to get assortments back in place to attract their core customers, so that's some of the key private label brands. >> mary, this is herb. you know, the one comment in bill ackman's letter that was interesting is where he said we receive three different financial projections, a new one in each of the last three meetings, each one projecting worse results than the previous one. now, if that's the case, maybe there's reason for him to want to expedite it even at this point in time. what do you think about that? >> well, i think there's definitely a panic going on, and, look, we only have one quarter, and this is not the critical quarter. q-4 is really going to be the highly critical quarter, and, you know, they do have cash and other liquidity options to get between now and then and maybe even through a good portion of 2014. it's an evolving process.

we adjusted our estimates. that's the reason why we lower theed our price target. our thesis on the stock is really based on a turnaround. we're actually assuming the company does turn around in 2015 and that they reach 1 billion of ebitda. today they are at a negative 644, but if you slap a 6.25 ebitda multiple and present value, that you're getting $8 a share so the stock has been overvalued. >> i want to discuss something with herb quickly, the interesting thing in bill ackman's second letter is critical hiring and firing decisions are being made without the board being properly consulted, right? let's not forget he is the largest shareholder and is also on the board and let me go on. >> sure. >> they just hired and are having all these problems. they have credibility issues all over the street, and what do they do? they go out and hire a new marketing executive. where do they hire that person from, kraft?

>> no retail experience whatsoever. bill ackman in the letter says imagine my surprise when i learned of miss berman's hiring, debra berman, from a press release. they are making those material decisions without the entire board knowing about it? >> if you take bill ackman at his word here, and the company says he's not at his word but if you do, is he basically trying to air this because he seals the wheels coming off the cart here and he's basically trying to say i warned you so he can get out of this bad situation with some level of respect. he's painting a picture here of something that's absolutely not great. no matter whether it's good or bad that he aired this publicly. >> got to leave it there on jc penney, but, mary, thanks for joining us the conversation. herb, stick around and scott wapner, great reporting on this story and blackberry, ostrich stock number two. seema mody has been covering that story and a real interesting one. really sitting up and listening

in. >> a published report says blackberry is warming up to the possibility of going private. however, no deal is imminent, and blackberry has not launched any kind of a sales process this. follows an ibc report. because of sluggish sales and disappointing over the last year that there has been ongoing chatter on the street over whether blackberry would consider going prif. this speculation has resulted in volatile swings of blackberry shares. short interest has been steadily increasing now at roughly 35%. analyst peter missick at jeffries says going private makes sense as it will give it breathing room and perhaps sell off its struggling iphone business. the stock is down roughly 90% from its peak in june 2008. >> $84 billion market cap back in 2008 and now it's 4.8 billion

in market cap. seema, thanks very much for the background story. i want to bring in will power who covers blackberry and has an underperform rating on it and its target price is 9 bufnlgts great to have you on the show and thanks for sticking around, herb. as seema was just reporting there, a sale process has not been launched, but nonetheless what, we see here is a board really having a radical change in its thinking. >> well, i think that -- that's problem possible. i haven't seen any real new details from the board specifically, but the bottom line is the company has to look at ways to create value so i don't think it will be a surprise to anybody if they have got everything on the table. look, the real question here is what are you buying at this point? got a company that has a brand that's under duress, not only in the u.s. but globally as you look at the onslaught created by android. hardware sales in decline and a services business accelerating to the downside so whether you go private or stay public you're still facing the same competitive challenges. >> absolutely. who would buy this company and who would take it private?

>> that's a very good question. the rumored buyers from maybe lenovo, dell, something with an enterprise focus. it's always possible somebody from the private equity side could have some interest, but at the end of the day, you know, taking it private, again, isn't going to solve the competitive pressures they are facing. >> what it will do, as it would do for dell or any company in that situation, is take it out of the public eye. they can effectively do what they have to do without somebody looking at the numbers every single quarter because that amplifies it not just to the financial community. >> but do what? >> doesn't matter whether they liquidate the thing or sell the technology they don't need the blackberry name dragged through the mud of the financial pages, and the headlines there that follow through and everybody sees. >> right. >> which is what happens when you're a public company. >> get your house in order behind closed doors. >> have to break it off there because there's breaking news coming in on time warner, the big battle between cbs and time

warner. julia boorstin in our los angeles we'ro what. are you hearing? >> reporter: well, the fcc is saying the two companies, time warner and cbs better settle their dispute. otherwise the fcc is willing to step in. fcc acting chairwoman saying in an open commission meeting today that the commission is actively monitoring the status of this dispute, day seven, and i'm frankly deeply disappointed that the parties seem to be unable to reach a transmission agreement. distressed that consumers and viewers are being adversary affected. we continue to urge all parties to stay and resolve in good faith to resolve this issue. she says, however, i affirming to you i'm ready to take further action if this dispute continue. the two companies are supposed to take this as a warning. >> this is a bit of a warning. thank you very much, julia boorstin. also following a developing story out of white house with the president set to unveil new plans for surveillance

transparency. eamon javers is watching that story here. >> reporter: less than an hour away for a presidential news conference and nbc news is reporting as of right now what we know is that the president is set to announce new measures to increase transparency and to restore public confidence in government surveillance and intelligence operations. now, that's obviously in response to this whole edward snowden situation, deteriorating relationship between united states and russia. we'll have to see exactly what it is that the president announces here coming up at the top of 3:00 on the east coast, but we can expect to see some new initiatives here from the white house and then that, of course, is going to raise a whole series of followup questions. all of this coming just one day after the president met with top technology executives, including tim cook of apple and the ceo of at&t and others here at the white house to brief them on what he's thinking in terms of the cooperation between the private sector companies and the government in terms of intelligence collection around the world so a lot of moving pieces to this story right now. we can expect new news coming

out at the top of the hour at 3:00. >> thanks very much, eamon javers. on deck, the price is right. prideline edition. a stock that's winning the race to 1,000. plus, the coolest thing you will see all week. i guarantee it. it's a new product that promises to keep anything and everything dry. is it too good to be true? guess what. we'll put it to the test right here on "street signs," and it's coming up. i've been doing a few things for a while that i really love-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 playing this and trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the better i am at them, the more i enjoy them. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so i'm always looking to take them up a notch or two. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and schwab really helps me step up my trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 they've now put their most powerful platform, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 streetsmart edge, in the cloud. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so i can use it on the web, where i trade from tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 most of the time. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which means i get schwab's most advanced tools tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on whatever computer i'm on. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's really taken my trading to the next level. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i've also got a dedicated team of schwab trading specialists. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

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priceline hitting an all-time high. the question is at $980 a share, when will it break 1,000? many of the big banks say, yes, it's going to do it, and several have even raised their price targets as well, well above 1,000. but you know who is not celebrating this? william shatner. he tweeted this out today. congratulations to priceline on their stock price. wish i hadn't sold my stock all those years ago. joining us now is ron josey from jmp securities and you raised your price target by 200 bucks today. seems like everybody is jumping on the upgrade bandwagon. is it the right decision? >> we hope it is, you know. we did raise our price target. not as if we raised it on very aggressive multiples in our opinion. our 1,110 price target is based on 21 times next year earnings and with the growth at the company and the stabilizing trends in macro and also improving margins we think 21

times is absolutely reasonable. >> why is it then, and just taking a look and maybe we can bring up a cool chart on this. expedia, for example, is down quite a lot this year while priceline has been going to strength to strength to strength. why do you think that is? >> sure. it's really a tale of two cities right now. expedia have a very good year last year based on the new platform, but, unfortunately, 2q had a little bit of stumbles going out of the gate and meanwhile you have priceline that continues to put up very strong numbers. remember, international bookings did grow around 44% this past quarter to over $8 billion which is big numbers and big growth rates. expedia has yet to sort of show that. and when expedia does, i think you can see the price do better, but i think until then, you know, priceline is also taking share. >> those international bookings that you talked about are well above even your expectations. >> yeah. you know, we were looking for 42% growth that came in at 44 and importantly, you know, this is a company that we think overall next year they will do over $50 billion worth of travel

bookings just on their site alone and that's growing 30%, so it's -- it's -- they are not seeing that much of a slowdown relative to the size that they are. >> getting to 1,000 in one thing, right, ron. we all know that. get there, great, put your party hat on. how do you stay there and what do you think could bring this story undone? >> good question. some of the things that keep us excited about this story is not only momentum that we're seeing from consumers and also the share they are taking in hotel bookings, but just some of the overall execution issues that they are doing. they are doing very well executing in terms of generating consumer interest based on their, i would argue, best in breed marketing efforts around tv and internet, including search and other meta travel sites with you also, you know, they said that overall margins are expected to do bert as time goes on, and so what you're seeing here is growth coming back and being pretty good and then mar jibs expanding. you both those two together and that's what gets the stock price

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to feature amateur comics and musical acts, not snakes on a plane, potentially bad comics on a plane. also all week we've been talking about manufacturing here in the good ole usa. mom and pops are making a comeback, as are large corporate operations, but what are politicians and corporations getting out of their efforts above and beyond the economic benefits? eamon javers investigates. >> one of the major goals has been to bake things again. >> north carolina is moving forward. >> we think it's good for our state. >> reporter: it was a banner day in north carolina, lenovo announcing a new manufacturing plant in the town of whitset and as documented in this lenovo video, all the dignitaries were there to cheer on the company. >> hopefully this the start of great things to come. >> reporter: that's the kind of public relations windfall that companies can count on when they announce new manufacturing jobs here in the united states, but those announcements can be more than just an economic opportunity. it can also be an opportunity to

curry favor with political officials here in washington. in fact, on this web page the public relations company working for lenovo that day boasts that five separate political leaders spoke on behalf of lenovo at the event and the firm assisted them in the development of their talking points and messaging for the event. leno lenovo, a chinese computer company, is a firm that can always use good press with the chinese government and has sought to sell its products to the military, the state department and others. >> this year, apple will start making ma cs in america again. >> >> reporter: it's not just foreign companies. apple ceo tim cook scored a coveted seat at president obama's state of the union speech after his company announced it would invest $100 million to bring manufacturing jobs back to the united states. >> apel then south successfully the holy grail of tax avoidance.

>> that's the kind of intangible washington goodwill that can come in handy for a company. >> so help me god. >> reporter: especially when it comes under scrutiny on capitol hill for its tax practices a few months later. cnbc business news, i'm eamon javers in washington. >> and coming up next, "street talk." herb's red flag edition. is eating crow though on some of his most-watched stocks. plus, why this ipo market has herb very worried, and forget the red sox/yankees rivalry, a new battle brewing between new york and boston, and it is which city has the best pizza. perhaps you can tweet us your answer @streetsignscnbc or @mandycnbc. and later on, this stuff, does it really work though? [ male announcer ] come to the golden opportunity sales event and experience the connectivity of the available lexus enform, including the es and rx. ♪ this is the pursuit of perfection. ♪ i'm bethand i'm michelle.

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it is "street talk" time. when the cat's away the mice do play. brian is off and mixing things up a little bit. herb is in and let's take a look at the stocks you node to know

about. first of all devry falling today after reporting losses yesterday. of a 6.5%. this is a for-profit higher education company. >> going through a real hard reset. they have had it pretty tough across the board. a really bad quarter and the ceo summed it up when he said we're responding to a challenging environment by executing a turnaround plan. lots to do there. at some point it will turn itself around. they are changing the name of the company. not really that much to devry education group. trying to get their act together. >> they haven't done so badly though over the past year though. it's up about 50% or something? >> the worst is over for them. i don't think they are going away but they are telling you what they are doing. take a look at open cloud company because that stock is really soaring today. it's up by about 9%, revenue and eps exceeded expectations. the company also provided some q3 revenue guidance in line with

consensus and citing really strong performance in the cloud. cloud is very hot. >> it used to be called a manage server company and they have become part of the cloud, now an open cloud company, the direction they are going. it was a good quarter. bet are than some of the prior ones. we're talking about what people believe is a commoditized business. pay attention to growth rates, continue to slide and margins are getting a little weaker, and some analysts, split decision on this if you look at how the street wants to do if. >> ubiquity networks, make wireless products for emerging marks, a global company here. incredible gain. 25% to the upside today, and its net profit rose and came out with a revenue also up 7%, and citing gains. >> and i had red flagged this company. >> you're talking about it and robert parra, the ceo, went out and bought the memphis

grizzlies. this indeed, the key decision, does this quarter transcend, can they sustain this? i actually tweeted this out earlier and herb greenberg and robert parra tweeted back, starting a twitter war and i welcomed him to come on cnbc any time. i will play nice. >> not just cnbc but "street signs." >> if you want to go to the twitter stream see the battle going on, not much of a battle but he started. >> let's take a look at universal display, up 6%. q2 earnings well above estimates and raising forecasts to the higher end of its previous forecasts and citing higher licensing fees and l.e.d. demand. >> this is another one i red flagged. they make back lighting and smartphones in tvs. raise guidance and seeing much better visibility in the future

and i want to point out, a lot to prove here again. >> let's talk about a topic close to your heart, ipos. got noodles here, reported revenues up 18% after the bell. what's interesting is it was a very hot ipo, popped 100% on the first day, a big restaurant change and the shares, as we can see, down about 10%. >> this was one of those jobs act ipos and what's interesting is it's down because guidance was just in line. that tells you what happens. >> just in line. >> they really want to see a big beat of the company at this stage. >> and cvent, an ipo this morning on the nyc. >> we talked a lot about ipos this past week. there's been an avalanche. i was on air about a month or two ago talking about the avalanche, all from the jobs act

that jump started our job act. one out of seven, less disclosure and less auto requirements and getting more deals done creating a lot more excitement on wall street. be careful. they are all not going to. >> is this like 1999 all over again? you have, for example, noodles up by 100% on the first day and the farmers, the sprouts farmers market popped 123% last week amid record high stock markets. >> feels that way. the one big benefactors from all these deals, the two big deals, the nasdaq and new york stock exchange getting deals they wouldn't have had otherwise. >> right. >> but, again, for guys like me, it's good honey. >> it is good honey. milk and honey. >> hunting. >> hunting. >> guns and irrigation systems, actually can be pretty sexy. products that are sold by three companies, and our next guest says you should be adding to your portfolio. talking rural stocks. let's bring in randy bateman, cio of huntington funds.

glad we're doing something a little bit different because this is an interesting area and we don't always look at it. i want to take a look, first of all, at cabella's with us about the outdoor enthusiast. >> we've seen a great deal of explosion in the farm community. ag business and farm income is up really double since 2009. went from 60 billion up to 128 billion now, so a lot of money that's slowing around in the agricultural sector. you've got fracking that's also flowing into that area so companies that can participate in that rural community capital expansion and cabela's is one of them. they don't have to put a lot of bricks and mortar into producing or distributing their product. use catalogs in most cases, and that has them i think a great deal of opportunity to hit those communities that you really don't want to try to build that

bricks and mortar effort. >> right. primarily a catalog company, aren't they, which i guess is the secret to their success? lindsey corporation, a large-scale irrigation equipment manufacturer. >> yeah. they had a really bang-up quarter this past, up some 36%. you know, again, it will play off the farm efforts that have more jingle in their pocket and they can be able to spend. a big drought a couple years ago, and i think that weighs heavily on their minds. they want to go ahead and put that type of equipment in early, and they have a great deal of growth in their international sector as well. >> we've also got tractor supply company, almost like the opposite of the business model over at cabela's because they do rely on bricks and mortar shops. >> absolutely. >> and they have a really great ability to be able to open these stores in smaller underserved markets. >> absolutely. very quickly they can move in. they are not really glamorous looking stores.

cement floors and bare ceilings, but they have a lot of good inventory that's in there, and they can put those things up very quickly, and they don't have to compete with some of the big guys like a walmart that might go into a bit larger community. >> thank you so much for joining us today, randy. have a great weekend. >> thank you, mandy. still ahead on the show, never wet. the name kind of says it all, but is the product too good to be true? we are going to put it to the test ahead. plus, a double dose of food news. jane wells sinking her teeth into the blt economy, and why new york pizza lovers are feeling kind of burned today, but first, let's get out to bill griffith with what's coming up on "closing bell." what are you sinking your teeth into, bill? >> we've got danny meyer coming up in a movement first though president obama sets to hold a news conference from the white house at the top of the hour. we'll bring you the entire event live beginning at 3:00 eastern. and then it's food time again for us. restauranteur danny meyer will be talking about his big expansion plans for the mythical

shake shack and he'll talk about his new in-flight partnership with delta airlines. and as you said, mandy, priceline may be nearing the $1,000 mark. hear from somebody who says that stock is still a bargain, believe it or not. all that and more. maria and i look forward to seeing you at the top of the hour. mandy is back now with the pizza outrage on "street signs" after this. ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade.

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okay. let's take a quick look at the markets where, of course, the last trading day of the week, and it hasn't been a good week at all in terms of equity prices. we're on track now for the three indices for the worst week since june. the dow is off by about 72 points. the nasdaq only down by about six points, but it does look like it will be on the losing end of the streak unless there's a massive turnaround the last hour or so of the trading day, and the s&p 500 is at 1692. can it get to 1,700, of course, is the biggest question for next week. that's next week. we're still in it this week. let's talk pizza. it is pure pizza outrage. trip adviser recently ranked the nation's top ten cities for a slice of pie.

new york came in fourth behind san diego, las vegas and boston. chicago didn't even make the top ten, and i know some people have already tweeted in and said that's and outrage. the rankings were based off of trip adviser user reviews. we should note that trip advisor is based just outside of boston so maybe a little bit-of-bias. just putting it all there, the blt is under attack. jane wells, always with the best assignments, has been sinking her teeth into this one. jane? >> reporter: mandy, i have been investigating and reinvestigating this story sandwich by sandwich. i'm going start with the "b," bacon. look at this. here is the problem going on with bacon. american hog farmers and those in china, which is even a larger market, are grappling with an intestinal virus which is nearly 100% fatal in young pigs, though it has no effect on humans. don't have to worry about it. the so-called p.e.d. virus happens in a pig's virus and the

pigs often die because the diarrhea and at the same time a plant-based quasi-natural component is hitting the market claiming this it stops the diarrhea in two hours. this is created by a couple of techies in silicon valley of all places which does raise eyebrows. >> well, in the midwest they -- they certainly think it's a little odd. they go what do you know about farming? if you're constantly doing what everybody else is doing in that industry, you're not going to come up with innovation. >> reporter: well, they do call sanford the farm, you know, prices of the "l" in your blt costs more, iceberg up 150%, blamed on a perfect storm weather problems. >> this is the first time in recent memory where we've had california coming off of a heat spell. we've had similar type problems

in ohio, canada, new jersey, maine. >> a plant stung by a sugar beet leaf hopper somewhere during its productive cycle. >> and the "t" in your blt is being hit hard with a virus in california. tomatoes are a $1 billion industry in the nation's so-called salad both. 90% of the processed tomatoes come from california and a lot of fresh and it may be hard for farmers to fulfill contracts. >> this virus has knocked a pretty big hole. there are some processors that are estimating that of the 13 million ton crop they have contracted, that we could have a 2 million ton deficit. >> wow. so we've talked about the "b," the "l" and the "t." one positive development in the sandwich. it costs less bread. wheat prices way down. >> got to find the silver lining. there's silver lining. >> i want to get your thoughts because a moment ago we were telling our viewers about the trip advisor pizza lovers survey

where new york came in fourth. can you believe that, in terms of rankings for the best slice of pie around the nation? what do you make of that, fourth, new york? san diego was number one. >> have you had pizza in san diego? >> we don't necessarily have cheese on our pizza. we'll put anything on our pizza. >> seaweed and sushi. >> so boring, so old school, she says as she's eating a blt. >> amazing you're not double your sirksz jane, because every single assignment you seem to have -- you're sinking your teeth into something delicious. i want to come back as jane wells. thank you. back to something serious. we're waiting for the president to hold his news conference. minutes from now. that's a live picture. of course not much is having right now, but it will, and coming up next here on "street signs." it promises to keep anything and everything perfectly dry, but

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well, we like to bring you new and innovative products here on "street signs," and here is something uber cool. it is called never wet. it's a spray that you put on, well, whatever you like, well, whatever you don't want to get wet, right. rustoleum is the company that makes the spray and rpm international is its parent company. joining me today, ed vorhees, president of rustoleum north america. thanks so much for joining us and ron rice is here, president and ceo of rpm international and, because, because we can't talk about this, we actually

have to show our viewers what it's all about. >> that's the fun part. >> you've brought in for me today, maybe we can take a look here, a pair of shoes, and these shoes have already been sprayed in advance with never wet. >> they have, and it's a two-step process, mandy. the first part is part and it forms a base coat. you wait half an hour and put on the second coat, which is part b, and wait 30 minutes and you're ready to go. >> and it feels kind of like rubbery. >> a little -- a little texture to it. >> yeah. what exactly is the key ingredient here? i mean, is it hazardous, for example? >> no, it's not hazardous. everything here has been used in the cosmetic and food industry for over 20 years. very safe. >> let's do the demo. i'm going to go over here. you brought along with fruit pun. and we can all spill at a lively party, and i'll dip my toe in like this. you'll have to hold me. thank you. okay. i'll pull it out. look at that. it just runs straight off, like, water off a duck's back. that is incredible.

okay. the other side, just to prove it's exactly the same. so literally, not a single drop of fruit pun. remains on these shoes. can i feel it, as well. >> sure, go ahead. >> not even wet. >> it's never wet. >> so what we're going to do with this particular shoe, which has not been treated -- >> this shoe has not been treated. just an average shoe. we'll do the same thing. we'll dip it into the hawaiian punch -- >> yeah. >> -- and you see what happens. >> automatically it's -- >> it's stained and it has an issue. so the shoes are no good anymore. >> we've also got a number of other things over here. i'm already thinking it's not just clothes. you can pretty much do -- use this spray on any surface, like paper -- >> that's right. >> wood? >> that's correct. >> metal? >> that's correct. >> should we do a demonstration with the paper. >> this is a newspaper not treated. i'll take this if you want to just take some -- >> okay. >> -- take soda and just pour it on the paper. >> okay. >> say you're at home with the kids, reading the paper -- >> whoops, there goes "wall

street journal." okay. >> and now you have an issue. >> you have a big issue. now the paper that has been treated -- >> again, if you have important documents, things of that nature, it would be very good -- >> i'm always spilling coffee, brian sullivan has stuff down his tie. look at that. >> you can touch it. >> absolutely amazing. now, tell me -- maybe you can answer this question, ron is in the dollars and cents businessy kind of question. what's demand like for this product? >> it's really early. this has literally just been developed and packaged and being launched these last two months. so it's a little early to tell. we've got some experience in particularly rust-oleum and launching other innovative type products. this one feels a little more exciting than most. >> you feel that this is kind of like your big hit product? this is going to be the big one? >> this will be pretty exciting. >> okay. you can tell. >> the last demo here. tomato sauce. hershey's chocolate sauce. let's do some damage. >> okay. this -- we have two sides here. one is untreated, the left side.

the right side is treated. you can go ahead and pour whatever you like on it. >> this one is untreated. >> untreated. you can see how -- >> okay, roll over. big "s" for "street signs." maybe orange juice. let's make a mess. there's an australian that makes artwork like this. >> you're a pro. keep going. >> and some ketchup. >> ketchup for good measure. there we go. >> nice. >> right? and let's do it on this side. >> there we go. >> ah, that's incredible. it just runs straight off. >> right. >> i have a feeling this will be the hit product. where can i get it from? >> right now, it's everywhere. everywhere. >> home depot. >> home depot, lowe's, walmart. >> how much? >> $19.97 for the kit of two cans. >> my parents will be -- there you go. it's all over me. >> should have had it on the sweater. >> will i buy it in australia is the next question? >> eventually, yes. not right now. but we will eventually. >> i want to ask you, as well, would you be interested in

partnering with the sneaker companies or maybe even a phone company -- >> that's a great question. >> we've all dropped our phone in the sink. >> that's a great question. >> i believe it works on a phone, as well. >> it does. but you can't spray the outside of the phone, because all of the holes, it will if in and it has to be before the phone is put together. i wouldn't recommend people taking their phones apart. we are going to go direct to the phone companies and the ipad companies and sell it to them. they're going to spray it before it goes out. we don't recommend taking phones apart and stuff like that, because it's hard to do. >> okay. when you have any exciting news on maybe business partnerships to announce to us -- >> absolutely. >> -- come and tell us first. >> absolutely. >> best of luck. very cool. >> thank you. >> lots of fun to play with. ed and ron, thank you for joining us today. we are minuting away from the president's news conference. cnbc will be carrying that news conference live. as you can see there, these are white house live pictures in front of you. but first up, forget pencil cases and trapper keepers like cars and louis vuitton handbags are the new back-to-school must-haves.

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versa, followed by the ford focus, chevrolet sonic, mazda-3 and honda civic. what happened to your parents' old car or the good ole school bus? and also, why not add in a designer handbag for the back-to-school shopping list? that's a new thing as well. whatever happened to backpacks? courtney reagan is on the story for us. just seemed like a little bit too much, though, court. >> reporter: yeah, you know, mandy, not if you're one of the brands that the teens are really lusting after. it's no secret that those traditional teen retailers, the aeropostale and others are warning of weaker sales. they're blaming a challenging retail environment, what he said. but it may be that teens lost interest in what they're offering. it's evident here at woodbury common premium outlet that teens have their sights set a little higher. >> we think the teen is looking for a number of on-trend and

fairly high-priced point brands, so michael kors, kate spade, torrey birch and calvin klein and the brands continue to have a lot of appeal. >> reporter: a panel of teen high schoolers this summer told piper jaffrays' consumer conservative they're saving their back-to-school dollars so they can buy a michael kors handbag, a coach ipad case. and that's pretty much what we saw and heard here today when we talked to teenagers. they like the discounts they're getting on the designer duds here at the outlets. traffic is really pretty strong. so much for fresh number 2 pencil exciting folks. mandy, brian? >> thank you so much for that, courtney reagan. it's new york. why would you ever pay full price anywhere, even if it's designer stuff. thank you very much for that, courtney reagan. let's look at the markets for good measure. we have just over one hour left in this trading week, and this week is on track, by the way, folks, to be the worst since

june, after hitting the record highs of last week. very thin trade, though, as you can imagine. a lot of people out there on vacation. down nasdaq s&p, slightly to the downside. thank you for watching "street signs" everybody. "closing bell" is next. have a great weekend. hi, everybody. good afternoon. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange. the week seems to be ending on a down note, but we're all watching the white house right now, bill. >> that's right, maria. bill griffeth at cnbc global headquarters today. we're looking at the pictures in the east room of the white house where the president is expected to begin that news conference at any moment. as soon as it gets s under way, we'll show it to you in its entirety. in the meantime, we'll leave this picture up so we can all know exactly when the president enters that room, and at that point, we'll cut away to it in full. in the meantime, maria, the markets, it's another comeback day here. >> it has been. we're off of the lows. still negative, of course. the dow