much in the m and a market. no exception right here. david it has been fun. thank you for joining me. street signs begins right now. >> is housing hot or not? >> yet another milestone for the company and wait until you hear it?

the dow was down over 3%. what is more you are looking at a live picture of the us state department. we are waiting on secretary of state john kerry to look at the situation in syria. the white house has come under pressure to act on reports of three people. let's get now from the stock markets to the housing markets. mortgage rates are at their highest level in two years. we are leaving the strong spring and summer season.

are more beginning to worry about house sng. >> they are. even though existing home sales bumped up in july, i'll get to that in a second. i want you to hear about how the ceo of red fin told me this morning. the businehas been running hot. in the final weeks of august we have seen customers steing back. they are not pulling the trigger. it has basketball a major slow down. why the slow down? >> rising mortgage rates. so from 3.5 to 4.5%. that made houses 15% more expensive. home sales bumped up.

new home numbers are based on size. existing numbers are based on closings so contracts were signed in may and june. pumping up prices and they made up 16% of buyers in july. i spoke to two major investors. they both thel me that they are continuing to buy homes. chang said he is seeing eye smaller investor and some of the bigger guys are slowing down their in vestments because they have seen so many investments. gentleman we are going to continue our debate in the

mousimous housing markets. we are awaiting the statement from john kerry. amon can you gives an idea there has been a lot of pressure. it appears that serious that indeed crossed that line. >> officials here are sighing they are closer and closer to determine whether syria used chemical weapons. the problem is that syria if you go in on force whose side do you go ip.

very difficult questions here facing the question. we are going to wait until we have the state. sent of urgency hear. what if anything can the united states doing to do pent prevent an approval that agrees with folks around the world. >> alongs the kaem kal attack. we were on the record saying yester take that there is the possibility that they had people go ip and gaclean up that video. dissuburbs the evidence and you

can't problem any of it. this question of chemical weapons is a one going back to the beginning of the iraq war suggested that it was a slam dunk. now, making the same kind of case they are going to make sure that they have three, four, five six times to back that up. you can get them wrong in disastrous way. we are going to join now strat four's eva baldwin. what are america's options right now. chemical weapons were used. we appear to be in a difficult situation? >> ideed. there are no good options.

the narrative is out there. regardl regardless of what options or not that are coming up. other kung tris watching that and following through with the threat. how you do it is another case all together. targeting the chemical weapons themself. >> any kind of military movement by the u.s. would be a lose lose. what countries if any would rally behind the united states. europe in particular have been in the lead. it is always easy to call for action.

the united states is the most critical player. whether it is about to allow access to its basis. hipting to that effect. everyone is going to make the attem attempt. this is more likely going to go through the coast of the route where they he will build the military operation. >> does he care about legality. when you are willing to gas your own people. >> it is very difficult obviously the regime took a huge gamble. it didn't have reason to be over confident. it was limited and hezbollah

which has been a major aid is being pulled back to lebanon with provcases there. it is a do or die moment for the regime. there is nothing stopping the regime from any retaliatory option. reeva thank you very much. the statement on syria has been delayed 20, 20 minutes from now. so, we'll continue with the regularly scheduled street sips and about we reserve the stock market drop? >> he is a smart guy. later on tesla living up to the hype. the stock is soaring.

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welcome back. let's take a look at what is happening now in the world of housing. should we be worried about housing there is a debate coming

out. or is everything just fine as we say here on street signs? >> let's bring in patrick newport and thank you for joining me on the show. is everything fine or are we going to start wortsrd wo worki a double? >> investor interest is fading. prai pri prices now and existing home sales are sustainable. when you take i to amount that raes are stel low, kealakekua

bay buying are still renting. >> why are people saying they are raetled. >> that could shourp out to be the pert time we've seen the mortgage rates sailing down know much. the real surprise is that rates started rising at the againing of know. other end kators of the housing market have been rising off the bottom frof a while now.

remember, right now, existing home flils and praises are close to new york al. construction is 40% below normal levels. and what is under all of that is that young people stel aptvilled out of their families homes. the recovery hasn't started to happenthet. it is heart to have through home sales. were you expecting this or saying something that concerning you. i wasn't expecting this. whether we are going to see a two or three year ecovery. it looks like lee are running

in into sh into hospitaling. but also we are seeing that the housing markets, they are half of the states, new york, new jersey and illinois, hosing markets are low leveled and high rates swroo and you have or high rates ow could you think it is still be low the norm? >> i think the gem grahamics. the demand is so muff greater than the supply. >> the bnt is tright have amount.

rights rates will slow it a little bit. it is the bottle knock that is you'rying me right now. >> that is an accident bount. we talk is pending home he sales and new home sales will go down. if they dent have a certain car. >> you can't buy homes if they are not sore something. they may not be what you want or where you want. there are fewer homes for sale that is normal. it has started to expand this year. both have seen increased in,

inventory this year. there are a couple of reasons for this. people are starting to sell and seeing prices rice. no one wants to sell a home at the bottom. in the new home said. we have seen a increase in construction. that adds more mosts to the inventory. >> what is normal these days? it is a good question right? thank you very much for joining in on the debate. >> coming up. >> donald trump calling the new york attorney general a light weight after being sued. >> and how one stunt boom to be

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okay let's get a check on

the markets for you. the nasdaq is up and the s&p is sitting at 1666. and then we will get out to rick in chicago. bob, you know, what i think is interesting here it feels like we are back to the old days of bad news. >> the s&p has stabilized for all the wrong reasons. continue with the durable goods numbers today. s&p 500 is up three days s in row. coming to the upside. ten year is what matters and we were heading towards 3% on the ten year. the last couple of days we have been moving to the downside. so, the good news here is that

it stablized the market here. we have seen the yields here moving to the opside and since thursday or wednesday last week we have stablized. part of the reason we are floundering, is that we are floung d floundering. it is difficult to make a strong determination on what is happening in the stock market. on a good day we should do 100 million shares at the open. you get my point? >> don't go waving your hands. you are the only ones that are working at the moment. >> we are working hard but making up for everybody else.

not falling apart at all. >> people, you and i were chatting in the commercial break. it is cool to be negative. all i know is this, they are having their best year ever. i if talked to realtors and they can't find a home they like. there are homes that like. she may have her best year ever this year. stop hanging out with the sellers. we need buyers. >> i tell you what, i'm listening. first of all, i don't know that people have the propensity to

make the housing half sem tempt at the end of the day housing and interest rates are going to have the relationship. the question is how much of a relationship and in the grant scheme of things we have gone to a 280 teenure. but if we look at the history of financing and homes this may be the beginning to the road to higher rates. >> it is worth more than two cents. thank you for joining us. >> all right five more trading days in august. jim paulson is a smart guy. jim, you heard our commentary, when did 4.5% suddenly become a

high interest rate? >> it catches people's attention. i think we are talking about a pause and we'll get used to 4.5% rates. we'll look at that. i think people will be comfortable. iming prices are reasonable and rates are as well. i don't think it is going to roll over and die. it is interesting the way that the more mar ckets are interpreted. if we keep on getting markets like this there won't be a taper in september.

what would the markets say to that. i just think we made too much about whether they taper or whether they don't. whatever they end up doing, they're going to be easing a lot yet in september. there's still going to be billions of dollars of bonds being bought through the end of the year even if they start tapering. i think they're going to start that process. i just think the market is dealing with just a lot of stuff, a big increase in the valuation of equities from where we were last year. a three-point increase in the multiples. so stocks are at much higher values. a complete repricing of the long-term interest rates. and as we're debating today, what's going to be the impact of that. we've got tapering coming up probably next month. we've got syria, a mini fiscal cliff drama ahead of us. i think the market's going to make it through all of that, but it's probably going to take time to digest that. >> as always, put $4 in the taper jar. that's one for me. you can't say that word anymore.

>> thanks. >> thank you very much. coming up, the answer to the riddle we gave you earlier, when can a boom actually be a bust? and live press conference from secretary of state john kerry on syria. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me online so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office is there to help. because they know i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. voted "best investment services company."

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and just reminder, folks, we're looking at a live picture of the u.s. state department. secretary of state john kerry about to deliver a statement on the situation in syria. white house has come under pressure to act on reports as many as 1,300 people were killed by chemical weapons yiez e used by the assad regime on their own people. 2:00 p.m. was the scheduled time and shortly moved to 2:30. as you can tell it's 2:31 right now. still waiting on the secretary of state. not sure why there's a delay, mandy, but as soon as the secretary of state begins speaking, we're going to bring it to our viewers. indeed we will. let's get to street talk time.

call this wall street talk actually because we're down here of course at the new york stock exchange. mixing things up on monday. h hasbro is our first stop. buy to sell at citi. >> recent product launches should drive increased sales growth. non-moving related products, that's big. movies do well, but nonmovie stuff also target up to $53 from $40. it blew past their $40 target back in late february, but they still see about $6 of upside. >> let's look at stock number two, and that would be the trucker, arkansas best. >> not a name we talk about much but it was up to a strong buy from a market performance. target is $46, stock is currently at $20. seen by deutsche bank and buckingham also positive on arkansas best. >> and we've also got stock number three in the form of darling international. this is actually our under the radar mover today. could say arkansas best was also under the radar, this is under the under the radar. >> under the under radar, like

under the rainbow, underrated. texas based company upgraded to buy from hold. they just made a big deal, darling thinks the deal marks another milestone in darling's growth strategy. target raised from $25 to $22. i'll tell you what it is, but you might be having lunch so forget it. we wasted a whole interview. >> my dad works as one of darling's competitor. >> i say no more, you come from good stock. deutsche bank upgrading from dollar tree a buy to hold. >> target goes from 60 to 49. stock right now at 54.20. so about $5.50 upside if you're listening on the radio. stocks had a nice run this year, but still only at the price it was at in june of last year. >> we've also got family dollar in related sector news. in the same call deutsche bank cut family dollar to a hold from a buy. >> yes. same store sales comp simply harder to deal with. and operational improvement

already baked into the stock. three weeks ago credit suisse remind you suggested that dollar general could buy family dollar for $90 to $100 a share. stock's at $72.50. back to where it was a year ago. credit suisse floated could be taken out at significant premium. >> we're talking about lots of news in this sector. we've got big lots as well sharing in the good news on the j.p. morgan upgrade. all buyers are seeing green today. so our question is if the bargain stores are booming, what does that say about the consumer and health of the economy? let's bring in mary epner, great of you to stop by the nyse today. >> thank you. >> is this good news for them, bad news for the economy? >> no. this is actually very good news for a couple of reasons. these consumers who frequent these discounters, they've

seen -- they've had the impact of hours going full time to part time. and they also have the unfortunate thing of living paycheck to paycheck. so they have less money. and they're not buying in bulk 24 rolls of paper towels. they want their two that they'll need for the next month versus when the economy was better buying and storing. this is actually very good for dollar tree, dollar general and big lots. >> well, we could get into the whole wage argument that lower priced goods causes lower pay and that we're trapped in a cycle of cheap and nobody will make a fair wage again because nobody wants to pay up. that's a different argument for a different day. >> very good. >> the only way this helps the economy is if people to your point has extra money to spend after they go to the store. >> yes. well, the thing is with these i'd like to point out is they have better prices than many of the big box retailers as well as grocery stores and drugstores. >> right. >> they fear the dollar tree, dollar general and big lots ability to be more nimble than

they are. >> so these are the people who would lose out from this shift to the dollar stores. >> correct. >> we're talking walmart, costco, potentially sam's club. very interesting comment from an executive at sam's club saying the members are trading down from steak to chicken and pork, which suggests to me people are just watching their dollars a bit more these days. >> yeah, like i said, it's a big problem. but the ones who are benefitting from this are the others who can really react to trends. places like costco and sam's club, they buy huge, in bulk and don't have the ability to shift their assortments as their customers needs change. in your example from steaks to chicken. other stores are doing that doing it well and ability to be nimble as the consumer changes is a big win for them. >> mary, just quickly before again, reminder to our viewers we are waiting on the secretary of state john kerry waiting for a press conference. we might have to jump in. >> sure. >> there's a live look at the

u.s. state department. our reporters waiting patiently. your take on retail in general. we've talked a lot about housing today. it's been the theme of our show. >> yes sfl they say with every home purchased about $58,000 goes into the economy. it's been good. if it does waiver. what's that mean? >> it depends. we have seen a strong shift to home and places where the furniture -- small furniture is sold because we're seeing that there are three generations living in one house. and that is suddenly changing. the other thing that we've seen in retail though that is that if there's newness in apparel, it is working and it is selling. we've been talking about other spaces. and there is activity in the apparel space, but it has to be new and different. >> new and different these days. teenagers are so fickle. >> they are. >> consumers are so fickle. >> they are. >> thank you very much for joining us, mary. >> mary, thank you. tesla is all grown up.

stock is soaring, sales are scorching. we're going to talk to a guy who just bought a model-s. can the company really live up to all this hype? >> and of course as we've been promising, we are paying a close eye on the state department. secretary of state kerry is scheduled to deliver a statement on syria there any moment now as you can see. there's the podium. it is empty right now, but we will bring you the breaking news live. we are at the stock exchange. bill griffith is back at hq. bill, what's coming up on the show i'm co-hosting with you by the way. >> coming up, the most important hour of the trading day, amazon may be sky high, but cloud business was half baked over the weekend with outages and slowdowns. we'll tell you what happened and if it's time to get off your cloud. and is this the week before the calm -- before the storm? the last week of the summer usually gives way to a slew of economic activity. next week we've got the jobs number, manufacturing report, we'll look ahead at what's ahead for the economy. and it's back to school for millions of college students, but never before have colleges

been under fire from costs and quality perspective as we begin a five-part series on "closing bell" that we're calling school days, the changing face of college. all that and more coming up on "closing bell." in the meantime, more "street signs" after this. i hav

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welcome back everybody. what we're looking at there is a live picture of the state department. the podium currently is empty, but we are waiting for a statement from secretary of state john kerry on the situation in syria. there is of course a lot of pressure on the united states to respond forcefully to the reports of the assad regime there used chemical weapons last week on their own people. as i say, we will bring that statement to you as soon as it comes on. in the meantime, let's get back to what's happening in the world of business because actually it's a pretty good day for the gold bugs. gold popping 1400 an ounce. courtney reagan, you've been following the trade. >> that's right, mandy. topping 1407, a level we haven't seen since much earlier in the summer and early june. again, topping 1400 before retreating really trading on whether or not the fed is going to go through with this taper program that many have speculated. a lot of gold traders thinking that is not going to be the case.

as a result, we saw gold under a little bit of pressure today. ultimately settling around 1,392 an ounce. again, much of this movement has been around whether or not the fed is going to continue or not continue that bond buying program. however, the cftc says traders are continuing to add to their net long positions in both gold and silver and have done so for three weeks in a row. and a number of analysts say that that actually does provide a reason for us to believe that these are new long positions and not simply short covering. barclays analyst also saying that friday marked the biggest day of inflows for gold etfs that they have seen since january. something we're going to continue to watch despite the shares of the etfs being lower in trade today. mandy. >> thank you very much, courtney reagan. well, it is officially getting ugly. donald trump fighting back after being slapped with a $40 million lawsuit by new york's attorney general. cnbc's own dominic chu has the

tit-for-tat. >> brian, this is fantastic just the drama. donald trump pushing back against that $40 million lawsuit brought by new york state. now, this suit alleges that trump and his for-profit school, trump university, made false claims about classes and misled students. now, in an interview on cnbc's "squawk on the street" new york attorney general eric schneiderman slammed the school. >> you can't run a bait and switch scheme. you can't defraud 5,000 people out of $40 million and distract things by saying this is a conspiracy between me and president obama or i was soliciting money from people who had some affiliation with him. the case speaks for itself. the documentary evidence is overwhelming. he committed fraud on an ongoing basis. >> now, donald trump pushed back in an interview on cnbc's "power lunch," not too long ago claiming that the suit is politically motivated and calling the new york attorney general's accusation a fraud, a

lie. >> eric schneiderman is a lightweight. he's done a terrible job. he's got a very low approval rating. we have the trump school, which had a 98% approval rating from the people that took the courses. what he said is a total lie. we did apply for the university. we talked with the people. they negotiated ultimately when they said no we took the name university off and we used a different name. >> now, brian, donald trump did say that he intends to fight this suit. so we'll see what comes out of this whole drama going forward. >> it's like water off a duck's back, isn't it? >> no. >> nothing sticks. >> no, water up a honey badger's back. trump may be the honey badger. >> he may be. and that is a compliment. >> that is a compliment. he moves about freely. still ahead, did tesla just prove it's a real deal as a threat for the bigger auto world? and reminder, we are awaiting secretary of state john kerry. we understand the delay is

because the president is at a medal of honor ceremony and john kerry will follow the president when he's finished the medal of honor ceremony at the white house. certainly don't want to delay that medal of honor. highest award in the u.s. military. anybody receives that is a true hero. back right after this. in a world that's changing faster than ever, we believe outshining the competition tomorrow requires challenging your business inside and out today. at cognizant, we help forward-looking companies run better and 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 the future belongs to those who challenge the present.

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welcome back to "street signs" everybody. we want to give you a live look at the state department. we are waiting for secretary of state john kerry to make a speech on the syrian situation. accused of killing upwards of 1,400 people of its own. the president said there are red lines, chemical weapons would cross that line. it appears there's proof chemical weapons was used. we are waiting on a speech, potentially a response from the united states from secretary of state john kerry. that was supposed to be at 2:00 p.m. but the president is at a medal of honor ceremony. in the meantime back to business, check out facebook, a new 52-week high for the second session in a row. by the way, facebook just 8%

from its all-time intraday high of $45. that was on the initial reaction on the day it went public. this was an $18 stock just about one year ago. big run for facebook lately. tesla taking another victory lap today. the car maker sold more vehicles than porsche, land rover and jaguar in california this year. wow. and the stock, it is just soaring. it is up more than 400% this year and hitting, yeah, another all-time high again today. shareholders obviously love this company. but you know who else does? drivers. let us bring in ceo of stock picks. he owns shares of tesla. howard, do you own a tesla? >> i can't afford a tesla. only td people afford teslas. >> maybe the roadster used. what makes you so enthused about tesla stock, especially, you know, at this price point,

howa howard. my gosh. >> at this price point i think people chasing the stock may win this time but they're going to be unsuccessful in the stock market. i think, listen, the stock is part of the animal spirits we call momentum. and for the average investor there's no reason to chase this stock up here. i think it's an important point people need to understand. there's going to be hiccups along the way, brian. you sold this many cars in california but two people in california fix these cars. while it's all great and people love their cars, they have problems that other cars have with accidents, waiting three months for parts and up happy customers. no perfect airline or automobile. this car is great. they're the ipad, the iphone of cars. but again, chasing it up here is silly. >> okay. it is silly at these price points with the run it's had. we had a tweet from a guy in missouri saying he's going to

test drive one. not just the hippies in california, howard, with the charging stations. do we value tesla? we have had this debate before. as a car company or a patent heavy technology corporation? >> it's a patent heavy technology corporation. they're a platform. no different than facebook or twitter. it's what people do with the platforms. who will build out the infrastructure to support the autos? it's the dealers they want. it's the mechanics to fix the cars. how do they get parts? it is going to be the accessory business. you know? iphone accessory business exploded. could be clothing. it's a platform, a life style product. there's still obviously a lot of very wealthy people in the world who wants these from norway to the united states, but again, these are momentum stocks and these are not for the faint of heart. there was a great breakout. you can see it in the charts. >> go to parabolic, howard.

i do love the product, as well. it's a spectacular car. but, i mean, by every technical measure it's blown out. i don't know who's left. kind of like the analysis of apple. i just wonder how many buyers there are left. you know what, howard? unfortunately, i have to interrupt you. we have the secretary of state speaking in washington, d.c. on syria. >> national security team have been reviewing the situation in syria and today i want the provide an update on our efforts as we consider our response to the use of chemical weapons. what we saw in syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. it defies any code of morality. let me be clear. the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. by any standard, it is inexcu

inexcusable and despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured, it is undeniable. the meaning of this attack goes beyond the conflict in syria itself. and that conflict is already brought so much terrible suffering. this is about the large scale indiscriminate use of weapons that the civilized world long ago decided must never be used at all. a conviction shared even by countries that agree on little else. there is a clear reason that the world has banned entirely the use of chemical weapons. there is a reason the international community has set a clear standard and why many countries have taken major steps to eradicate these weapons. there is a reason why president obama has made it such a priority to stop the proliferation of these weapons and lock them down where they do

exist. there is a reason why president obama has made clear to the assad regime that this international norm cannot be violated without consequences. and there is a reason why no matter what you believe about syria, all peoples and all nations who believe in the cause of our common humanity must stand up to assure that there is accountability for the use of chemical weapons so that it never happens again. last night, after speaking with foreign ministers from around the world about the gravity of this situation, i went back and i watched the videos. the videos that anybody can watch in the social media. i watched them one more gut wrenching time. it is really hard to express in words the human suffering that they lay out before us. as a father, i can't get the image out of my head of a man who held up his dead child

wailing while chaos swirled around him. the images of entire families dead in their beds without a drop of blood or even a visible wound. bodies contorting in spasms. human suffering that we can never ignore or forget. anyone who could claim that an attack of this staggering scale could be contrived or fabricated needs to check their conscience and their own moral compass. what is before us today is real. and it is compelling. so, i also want to underscore that while investigators are gathering additional evidence on the ground, our understanding of what is already happened in syria is grounded in facts, informed by conscience and guided by common sense. the reported number of victims, the reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, the firsthand accounts from humanitarian organizations on

the ground like doctors without borders and the syria human rights commission, these all strongly indicate that everything these images are already screaming at us is real. that chemical weapons were used in syria. moreover, we know that the syrian regime maintains custody of these chemical weapons. we know that the syrian regime has the capacity to do this with rockets. we know that the regime has been determined to clear the opposition from those very places where the attacks took place. and with our own eyes we have all of us become witnesses. we have additional information about this attack. and that information is being compiled and reviewed together with our partners and we will provide that information in the days ahead. our sense of basic humanity is offended not only by this

cowardly crime, but also, by the cynical attempt to cover it up. at every turn, the syrian regime has failed to cooperate with the u.n. investigation. using it only to stall and to stymie the important effort to bring to light what happened in damascus in the dead of night. and as ban-ki moon said last week, the u.n. investigation will not determine who used these chemical weapons, only whether such weapons were used. a judgment that is already clear to the world. i spoke on thursday with syrian foreign minister and i made it very clear to him that if the regime as he argued had nothing to hide then their response should be immediate, immediate transparency, immediate access. not shelling. their response needed to be unrestricted and immediate

access. failure to per milt thmit that, him, would tell its own story. instead, for five days the syrian regime refused to allow the u.n. investigators access to the site of the attack that would allegedly exonerate them. instead, it attacked the area further, shelling it and systematically destroying evidence. that is not the behavior of a government that has nothing to hide. that is not the action of a regime eager to prove to the world that it had not used chemical weapons. in fact, the regime's belated decision to allow access is too late. and is too late to be credible. today's reports of an attack on the u.n. investigators together with the continued shelling of these very neighborhoods only further weakens the regime's credibility. at president obama's direction, i've spent many hours over the last few days on the phone with foreign ministers and other

leaders. the administration is actively consulting with members of congress and we will continue to have these conversations in the days ahead. president obama has also been in close touch with leaders of our key allies and the president will be making an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons. but make no mistake. president obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people. nothing today is more serious and nothing is receiving more serious scrutiny. thank you. >> secretary of state kerry there with a forceful response to sir why's use of chemical weapons. the united states says it has undeniable evidence that it was used on citizens last week and the secretary pointed