great story. literally going after it. hey, everybody. thank you very much for watching "street signs," the most important hour of the trading day is straight ahead. >> "closing bell" is next. hi, everybody. good afternoon. we enter the final stretch. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo, and we're not the new york stock exchange, where no one saw it coming, but once again, in triple-digit rally mode. scott. >> i'm scott wapner in for bill griffeth. i got that right today. signs the economy is showing strength with big auto sales taking center stage. that was really one of the big bright spots today. almost across the board, the numbers astounding for the automakers. >> i think as we approach the close, things quiet down a bit, given the jewish holiday, volume probably lightens up, light volume already. but nonetheless, look at this market. up in the triple digits, 110 points higher on the dow. also on the show, very special "closing bell" event, ceo of aig

for the entire hour. robert benmosche will be co-hosting with me. lots to talk about with the always candid benmosche, we're coming up on the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis. we'll talk to him about the tapering and the next fed chairman. >> and a couple of exciting hours. and another topic mr. benmosche is sure to have good insight on, standard & poor's claim. claiming they're being retaliated against by demanding $5 million in fines by how it rated mortgages ahead of the crisis. so far, only s&p is facing those kinds of penalties even though others blew it. we have more on that. >> this is a really good story. i want to get some important legal minds' take on this, suing the federal government, and could this be the truth, that, in fact, the aaa goes away.

we'll get into it. let's check where we are in the marks as we see the rally continue, as you can see by the intraday chart. just shy of the high, but very close to it. 110 points on the industrials average. nasdaq composite also strong, continuing to add onto yesterday's double-digit move, another 37 points higher. 3,650. better than 1% there. the standard & poor's index also higher, with a gain in the session of 14 1/2 points, and also very close to the high of the day. almost 1% higher. joining us now on the "closing bell exchange" is anthony chin, peter congress, michael pinto, and our own rick santelli. good to see everybody. thank you very much for joining us. anthony, let me kick it off with you. -- taper this month? >> i really do. i think they're going to make the announcement on september 18th. i think that the beige book certainly was encouraging. and certainly the auto sales coming in much stronger than the market was expecting at

16-plus million. on an annualized basis. all of the things suggest to me that this economy has a fairly good head of steam going for it. >> and, peter, so if that's the case, what happens to the stock market? >> peter anderson, you there? >> no audio here. >> all right. let's move on. michael pinto? >> yes. >> mike pinto, let's go to you. let's assume anthony is correct. >> i believe it will. i believe it will happen. but since mid-july, i've been in 60% cash. i think an awful lot of things have to go right in the next 60 days. oil prices have to stay below $100 a barrel, and they're over that right now. so the war in syria, whatever is coming, can't be able to spread. you know, the tapering is going to happen. i think it sends the 10-year note toward 7% and the last time that happened, that sent a negative gdp print in the next quarter. >> wait a minute, 7%? >> did i say 7? i meant 4. >> oh, yeah.

>> i meant 4. >> i was going to say, pinto, i'm used to you making bold predictions, but even for your standards, that's big! >> that's true. but the average is 7.3, going back to 1971. so we're headed 7%, even higher, in the future years. going back to my thoughts, continuing resolution and the debt ceiling has to be raised without having any of the fireworks that occurred in 2011. so i'm 60% cash and very happy to be there. i'm short the treasuries and long some gold. >> peter anderson, are you with us? >> yes, i am. >> what's your take on all of this? >> yes. >> do you think the fed begins the taper this month? how would you be allocating capital in the face of that? >> well, you know, i think rising interest rates, maria, if they're done for the right reason, that's a good thing. and i've been a big proponent of the rates raises, because there will be good news. in other words, the economy is growing. we saw the auto numbers that have come out. very, very impressive numbers. i think that's a harbinger of

better economic data to come. so i do think the fed will start to taper in this month, later this month. and i don't think that's a bad thing. how to prepare for a portfolio for that is a different story. it depends on why you own bonds in the first place. i would advocate still owning bonds, but owning them till maturity, so you don't care if the principle fluctuates along the way. you're going to own it until it matures and you'll get 100 cents most likely on the dollar. >> rick, 2.90 on the 10-year. the market seems to be taking that move okay. >> yeah, you know, interest rates are almost acting as if they weren't highly managed or under the fed's thumb with regard to their inventory. but look, two's at 46, fresh 24-month high-yield close, we close anywhere above 44. a five-year note yield is up the most today, so the curve is flattening. it's hovering around 1.75. that's a fresh 24-month high.

if we look at 10s, they are right on the cusp, as you pointed out, judge, currently at 2.89. that is the july 2011 high-yield close. i suspect we're going to go through that. 30s are the only laggard. their high-yield close, judge, is at 3.92. currently at 3.79. it shows you there has been flattening along the curve, especially 10s to 30s. >> let me ask you in terms of interest rates, guys, people with money on the line, michael, anthony, peter, what is the number in terms of interest rates on the 10-year that would trouble you most? what would cause you some concern to say, "okay, take some money off the table in equities"? >> maria, it already caused me to take money off the table. since mid-july, i've been 60% cash. look at durable goods. look at the pressure in new and existing home sales. that is only to be worsened -- worsening through time. and here's the real issue that we have to deal with. you know, back in 2007, we had a problem created by inflation and

low interest rates. it was an equity bubble. it was a housing bubble. we solved the problem by taking interest rates to zero percent, leaving them there for seven years, and by printing $3 trillion into the monetary base. now, if paul volcker killed inflation in the '80s by taking the fed funds rate to 20%, how is it we solved our problems by a massive increase in inflation and debt and lowering interest rates? how could that possibly ever be true? >> well, if i could just jump in here, too. >> yeah. >> the other issue is, from may to the common -- well, to the present time, 100 basis points to me on the 10-year is too much, maria. so, you know, i can't tell you exactly what is enough, but i can tell you what's too much. and 100 basis points in that short of time period doesn't give any investor a chance to kind of calibrate themselves and reorient themselves into a new regime.

so i would say if you can get a 25-basis point increment over a reasonable time, meaning probably less than a year but not greater than a year, that would be okay for investors to digest. remember, this september there's so many data points that we're going to be discussing and trying to figure out and make sense of that interest rate is only one component of that. but as i said, i think 100 basis points in the past couple of months is way too much for anybody who -- >> who cares if it's too much? what is the market, owe an explanation to investors? it's actually 130 basis points! and investors don't like it, that's tough! isn't it? >> right. >> i mean, it's tough! that's what it is! it will probably be higher once the tapering becomes more efficient! >> i wonder if the fed stopped buying $85 billion worth of bonds every month, i wonder how well the auto sales really would be, if we weren't floating consumption bubbles? >> let's ask the -- >> who were the -- [ overlapping speakers ]

>> every time interest rates rise, it does, in fact, subtract a little bit from economic growth. today, the fed was not suppressing interest rates. long-term interest rates will be equal roughly to real gdp growth plus roughly the inflation rate or about 4%. >> what inflation rate -- antho anthony, wait, what inflation rate? is it the 2.4% that the fed -- that the government says home prices increased last year, or is it the 13.7% that the nar says they increased? there's all kinds of -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- not inflation in the housing market, not inflation in -- >> how about inflation in the stock market? how about inflation in the oil market? >> it is not inflation in the stock market. -- define when the eke whi -- >> who cares what he thinks? i want to know what the market thinks. the credit, currency, inflation risks associated with owning our debt should move interest rates well north of 4% in the very

near -- >> it is not -- it is not just what the market thinks. this is what historically has been the norm. it's been roughly equal to how much the economy is growing plus how much the inflation rate is running. whether the market believes it, whether the fed believes it, or whether you believe it -- >> what's the inflation rate, anthony? >> it's roughly 2%. >> by whose measure? >> by a lot of measures. the cpi, for example, whether you're looking -- >> old style or new style? >> do you know if you looked at core cpi, 40% of the core cpi, we'd be using 5% if they used an accurate measurement of how home prices are rising. >> i think over long periods of time it doesn't matter whether you use core inflation or headline inflation or whether you use the pce. over time these things gravitate towards that norm. >> what about the credit risk associated with a $17 trillion debt -- >> 100,000 different variables. >> -- 3.7 trillion in total, growing by -- none of those --

[ overlapping speakers ] >> -- misleading, because not all of the liquidity is circulating in the overall economy. >> the fed has to take out of the liquidity, otherwise you have the late -- >> that is incorrect. >> let's leave it there. michael, please. we'll pick it up next time. it does underscore, maria, there is this great debate over how much distortion -- >> yeah. >> -- are in various parts of the market as a result of the easing that has gone on for the last several years. >> for sure. meanwhile, we saw the auto numbers today. we saw some consumer spending, and it looked good. but it's offset by, obviously, persistent unemployment. thank you, everybody. we appreciate it. >> dominic chu is back at the markets desk to find out who the big movers are as we head into the last 50 minutes or so of the trade. dom? >> reporter: scott, look at the upside, right? green mountain coffee roasters, the makers of the single-maker keurig machines is teaming up with campbell's soup to offer soup pods. it marks the first time keurig

will have a snack option on the product menu. another stock is conocophilips, after it said it won an arbitration panel judgment at the world bank in its case against venezuela. they concluded that venezuela did under -- now under deceased president chavez wrongfully seize the assets in 2007. on the downside, shares of saic are getting beat up. that's after one of america's biggest defense contractors reported profits and sales that missed forecasts. the company also cut its full-year forecasts for fiscal 2014. remember that saic plans to split into two companies later this year. and then we'll finish off with women's specialty retailer, francesca's, reporting earnings, sales, and a forecast that all missed expectations. the negative trifecta. slower customer traffic and weaker results in the gifts business are taking a toll on sales, maria. they've lost a quarter of their value in just today's trading alone. back over to you. >> all right, dom, thank you so much. another glitch at the nasdaq

today caused a six-minute outage. bertha coombs has the story. over to you. >> reporter: much more contained this time, maria. once again, a systems failure with the feed that provides the quotes on nasdaq stocks. didn't actually impact trading. nasdaq said at around 11:35 this morning they had a server failure. the system -- the backup system kicked in, and about six minutes later, everything was restored. the nasdaq said it only impacted a limited range of stock tickers. what's interesting is this obviously comes two weeks after we saw that major outage that saw all trading halted in nasdaq securities for three hours. now, the nyse arca said its experience was different than what nasdaq reported. it saw the outage for nine minutes on the entire tape, but traders i talked to said their experience was it was smaller, much like what the nasdaq reported. of course, next week, s.e.c. chairman mary jo white will be sitting down with the exchanges to look at that flash freeze and no doubt this second glitch will

come up, as well, in that meeting. back to you. >> all right, bertha, thank you so much. maria, coming-out today for smartwatches. samsung revealing the first, hoping to beat competitors to the market, and capturing the cool factor. but the early feedback seemed mixed. jon fortt joins us now. jon, that really does seem to be the reaction -- mixed at best. >> reporter: yeah. yeah, scott. i'm trying to be -- reserve judgment here, but there are a number of big dings against the galaxy gear. the fishs is reviewers are saying the full-year -- sorry, the full day of battery life they're touting, that's only under regular use. so people who use this thing actively aren't going to get a full day. it's arguably too bhulky for female wrists, and it will work with the samsung tablet and note 3, so you have a large watch that works with a huge phone, doesn't look like it will hit the consumer sweet spot off the bat with those reviews.

>> oh. sorry, jon. i thought you were tossing to some tape. i don't know about you, maria. big watches are kind of in. that doesn't look -- it doesn't look all -- >> it's a lot. i mean, jon, you know, given the fact we've seen this proliferation of so many devi s devices, you have your iphone, you have your ipad, et cetera, i mean, do you really want -- do you think that will replace some of the devices? or do you think people are really going to have the willingness to get another device on top of all of the other stuff? >> reporter: i think there is the willingness out there for another device. i'll point out qualcomm has come out with this interesting watch called talk. ceo paul jacobs here announced it a little bit more than an hour ago. i'm going to have him on "fast money." he'll be wearing the watch, we're told, so we'll talk to him more about that. what's interesting about qualcomm's concept is they're not trying to sell millions of watches, they say. they're really trying to get other manufacturers interested in adopting their technology. what they're saying is the screen technology will allow

days of battery life, which will be key for them in this category. it's interesting, before apple came out with the ipod, there were other mp-3 players but they missed key components. we're not quite there on the interesting watch. it will be an interesting space. >> i wonder, you say, jon, apple, wonder what they're thinking right about now? you know, it's not necessarily important to be first, it's to get it right. >> reporter: absolutely, and what -- i expect they will. tim cook all but said so in may of this year. and, look, the pieces that are key for making a device like this work are going to be the software behind it, just as itunes was key for the ipod, and, also, the services backing it up. there aren't any killer software apps or services that have come up with these watches so far. so apple's probably licking their chops on that front. >> all right. thanks, jon. >> all right. we have about 45 minutes to go before the closing bell rings. the dow is hanging onto a triple-digit gain, 112 points. a big day all across the street.

the activity really heating up in washington on the hill over what to do about syria, as the president presses his case for military action overseas. and the tide is high, so proctor & gamble is responding. folks don't want to pay up for the laundry detergent tide, so p&g is creating a cheaper tide to go along with regular tide. does that mean it only gets your clothes half-clean, or what is that? whas the difference? will the plan work, and how will the stock be impacted? that's coming up. in less than an hour, aig ceo robert benmosche will be with me as the special guest host for the hour. we'll get his take on the increased regulation, and find out who he wants the next chairman to be. that and more coming up on the "closing bell." stay with us. thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind...

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now. and i can tell you that they're arguing over every single word. just a couple of minutes ago, two senators were arguing over the word "whereas," and whether it belonged in this resolution, or not. one senator arguing that "whereas" was superfluous. on the house side, we have chuck hagel earlier today asked by a member of congress about the composition of the rebel forces who might stand to benefit by any u.s. military action. now, here is the answer that he gave to that question. >> this is an imperfect situation. there are no good options here. this is complicated. there's no clarity. every point you made, the complications of the various terrorist group, which we have noted, are there. they're in play. this is a specifically difficult part of us trying to sort out who we would support, how we would support them.

>> reporter: so, guys, even somebody here who is arguing for an intervention in syria on behalf of the united states is saying that this very difficult to figure out who we would support among the various rebel groups and acknowledging there are terrorists as part of the overall rebel coalition. that's making -- that's part of what's making this a very tough sell up on capitol hill. nonetheless, the betting still is the president will get his vote and it will go his way at the end of the day. >> so, eamon, what are you expecting in terms of clarity? what's the time line on this? when do you expect the clarity on when the vote is and when we would see a military strike, if we were? >> reporter: i think the president will get his vote, and i think he'll get it at some point next week. and then, i would expect they'll move pretty lickety-split right after that. they're going to make sure the timing is right in terms of the targeting and the strike and the dynamics on the ground as far as the military piece of it. but politically, once they get that authorization, i think they're going to go for it. it's not something you want to let get too stale, and, also, the authorization will come with

a time limit to it. they'll say you have 60 days, and then maybe another 30-day window after that, but fairly compressed here. >> eamon, quickly, senator mccain saying he doesn't support the current resolution. how much weight will that carry in the overall discussion and how the final bill is shaped? >> reporter: he's negotiating, scott. what mccain wants is a tougher bill that ultimately allows the u.s. military to sort of tip the balance in the civil war, not necessarily to commit itself to winning the civil war for any one side, but he wants to be able to shift the momentum of the war going on now. he wants a tougher resolution here. and he might end up getting it. they just passed his amendment in the committee. we'll see how that fares in the full senate. >> all right. >> thanks, eamon. >> reporter: you bet. >> we're in the final stretch of trading for the day. about 35 minutes before the closing bell. the market up 117 points on the dow. shares of proctor & gamble up 14% thus far this year, but could the company's most recent marketing plan be a dangerous one? we'll find out why some are

worried a less-expensive version of tide could leave a stain on the brand. and then, rolling out the big guns on healthcare. bill clinton tapped to be the explainer-in-chief for the president's new healthcare law that's rolling out. can even clinton explain the legislation that no one seems to understand? we'll decode it just ahead. before global opportunities were part of their investment strategy... before they funded scholarships to the schools that gave them scholarships... before they planned for their parents' future needs and their son's future... they chose a partner to help manage their wealth, one whose insights, solutions and approach have been relied on for over 200 years. that's the value of trusted connections. that's u.s. trust. [ male announcer ] staying warm and dry has never been our priority. our priority is, was and always will be serving you, the american people. so we improved priority mail flat rate

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make it happen with the all-new fidelity active trader pro. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades when you start using active trader pro today. welcome back. take a look at this rally here on wall street. we are about 30 minutes away from the closing bell. we have the dow up 106 points. the market jumping for a second-straight day.

retracing much of last week's syria-related losses, actually. strongest monthly u.s. auto sales figures in almost six years adding to the optimism. the automakers, technology stocks are the leadership groups. nasdaq up 35. s&p 500 up 13.6, scott. >> and rates are at the highs of the day, too. because the auto sales numbers are good, maybe rates are moving up for the right reason. >> good news is good news. >> and the stock market is able to handle that, at least for today. >> yeah. >> so far. hey, a lot of time left. 30 minutes to go. high tide is scaring away consumers. laundry detergent tide, that is. >> proctor & gamble has a plan. but will it stain the plan? courtney reagan is looking at the story. >> reporter: the great recession might have ruined some consumers' previous purchasing habits. proctor & gamble is hoping to capture shoppers that grab the lower-priced laundry detergents by introducing a midtiered

detergent. they discussed the plans for tide simply clean and fresh, which it will sell at a price below its regular tide, considered a premium-priced product, but above the lower-priced competing deterg t detergents and like arm & hammer and purex. 41% of the households buy the lowest priced ones. 30% buy midtier and 29% are buying the premium-tiered detergent. in 2010, proctor & gamble did launch a lower-priced called tide basic but pulled it after consumers had a hard time distinguishing between the new low-tier and the regular tide powder. they say in this case, they don't think consumers buy the highest-priced variety will trade down to the new midtiered tide, simply clean and fresh, not so sure, one to be debated. maria? >> court, thank you very much. shares are up 14% this year. can this move give the stock a boost, or will it just be a wash? let's start talking numbers on the technical side of the story,

todd gordon with trading analysis, and cnbc contributor. on the fundamental side, mark leichtenfield. mark, you like p&g, or are you taking profits? >> no, i like it. you look at p&g, it has 50 of the leading consumer brand, dominate market share, and it's a perpetual dividend raiser. they've been raising it every year for 56 years. the last time they didn't do it was during the eisenhower administration. that's a long time ago. they've also beaten the s&p 500 by double over the last 10 years. so i think you grab the 3% yield, you know it's going higher year after year, and you buy the stock. these are companies that create wealth over the long term. >> all right. fundamentals right there. todd, how does the chart look? >> staples are underperform more powerful sectors and p&g is part of it. you're seeing financials, consumer discretionary outperform, and this stock is not confirming. technically speaking on p&g, we've seen a triple-top up here

at about 82.5. it was denied. we're now down threatening an uptrend support line that should hold. it's been in place since summer of 2012. we're breaking below it around 77.5. i don't think you want to own the stock in here. >> in terms of the last quarter, the noisiness around that, does that play into here in any way? >> no, it's been a clean -- a clean break below the $77 level. as i said, it's been a triple top. it brought down the technical support. you'll see stop-losses go off. as the broader markets continue to push higher, like technology and financials, you're going to see the staples underperform. look at the utilities, with the massive move in interest rates. you're seeing utilities, staples underperform with higher interest rate environments. >> thanks, gentlemen. >> todd is right. you definitely -- >> go ahead, mark. make your final point. my apologies. >> if todd is right, i think you definitely want to buy the weakness, because right now the stock is yielding about 3%, 3.1%. if you can get the yield up to 3.4%, 3.5% as your starting

yield, and then own the stock for years, as that dividend increases, i think you'll be in great shape over the long term. >> all right. good analysis on both sides. guys, we'll see you soon. thank you very much. >> thanks. 30 minutes before the closing bell sounds for the day. we have a market holding onto gains, off of the highs, but up 101 on the dow. and bill clinton getting the word out on the president's new healthcare bill, or law, as it's about to go online in a month. but will bubba be able to get people to sign up? we'll find out how businesses are preparing. and after the bell, aig ceo benmosche has a opinions on the healthcare law. we'll get his take on regulation, the next chairman of the federal reserve and what he has planned for aig. that's all ahead. if you're serious about taking your trading to a higher level, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then schwab is the place to trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

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welcome back. the final stretch of trading for the day. 30 minutes left. let's look at how the market is shaping up. we're a bit off of the high. still showing a double-digit move, up 96 points. we had been up well over 100 earlier.

so we're shy of the high now with 30 minutes to go. nasdaq also strong today. adding on to yesterday's big move, by the way. nasdaq up another 32 points. technology and the automakers among the leaders today. better than expected auto sales. s&p 500 up 12.50 points, scottie. the man president obama once called the secretary of explaining stuff was at it again today on behalf of the soon-to-be implemented healthcare law. hampton pearson is in d.c. with the story. hampton? >> reporter: hey, scott. yeah, you know, former president bill clinton took a shot at getting the public to understand and support the affordable care act, obamacare. his diagnosis -- it's better than the current system, which is unaffordable and unhealthy. it gives states a chance to devise programs that work for them. and he says problems with the law can be fixed. >> we're going to do better working together and learning together than we will trying to over and over again repeal the law or rooting for reform to fail.

>> reporter: now, clinton's remarks come as maryland and other states start promoting the law's new insurance marketplaces scheduled to open next month where millions of uninsured persons will be able to shop for health insurance. but a small but powerful group of states, including texas and florida, are either opting out of setting up the exchanges or refusing to accept the billions of dollars in federal money being offered to expand healthcare for the poor under the medicaid program. >> the health of our people, the security and stability of our families, and the strength of our economy are all riding on getting healthcare reform right and doing it well. >> reporter: and clinton's speech is the first from obamacare allies and administration officials, leading up to october 1st when open enrollment begins for those insurance exchanges. maria? >> well, hampton, you know, yesterday former home depot and

chrysler ceo bob nardelli told me exclusively the law will be a big burden for business. listen to this. >> i was here at the exchange a month ago, and a forum sponsored by ernst & young, and there were a number of small medical device companies in there, and then the reality of the imposed tax -- >> higher tax. >> -- higher tax, went from profit to unprofitable overnight with the imposed -- imposed tax. >> one of our next guests -- sorry, scott. my apologies. >> one of our -- our next guest says the healthcare law will prevent him from growing his business. he's wayne edleman, president of a high-end garment care business here in new york city, 40 employees, and also joining us is our steve liesman, our senior economics reporter. so what are the issues that you're having as a result of the implementation of this law? >> well, we came into the bronx from long island to an economic

empowerment zone looking to grow our business and create more jobs, and we have that 50 number stuck in our head. we're adding lines of business, we're growing our business, things are looking good. but that number just sits there. and it's very difficult to get our hands around. >> so what you're saying is you're not going to go above that number, because you're not going to add expenses to your business, because one head more than 50 people is going to create a different profit outlook for you? >> i'm not saying we're not going to go over that number. >> you're zeroing in on that number? >> right. who knows where the scale will go once we get to 51. >> steve liesman, you hear these stories, you hear these kinds of stories from gentlemen like wayne. >> i do. >> the data would suggest, at least according to mark zandy, it's having an impact. what's the real story? what do we do about it? >> mark's data, which is the adp we'll get tomorrow, is inconclusive, and that's what

i'm seeing in the data. there has been a very recent spike in part-time workers as a percentage of full time, but it's not out of bounds for what we've seen. if you look at a chart i put together here, scott, this looks at part-time as a percentage of the total workforce. and what you see is it's about 19.6%. the big jump happened after the recession. since then, we've been bouncing around. now, i guess you could argue -- and this is the plausible argument -- that the number hasn't come down more than it otherwise would, and you can see at the end of the chart a little blip up. but then you look at the next chart, and this is part-time growth versus full-time growth, and what you see is that full-time growth has now eclipsed part-time growth, and you see what happened in 2010. so i'm very interested in what wayne has to say, and we've heard a bunch of these anecdotes. the question for the macroeconomy, does it aggregate up to a meaningful place? i think what i hear wayne saying is he's confused more than he's figured out exactly what to do. and i hear an awful lot of that. >> totally confused, and i'm thinking to myself, you know,

two part time equals one full time, so no matter how you get the task done, you need the hours, we're thinking of -- that we need a consultant in order to get us through this, and navigate us through. and i'm told that there actually is a position called a navigator that is helping small businesses get through this reform act. >> wayne, can i ask -- >> go ahead, steve. >> what do you do now, steve? do you provide -- it's 40 full-time people, and do they get healthcare now? >> that's a great question. we offer -- we pay 50%. and i'm actually a trustee of a private employee benefit trust that we have through our trade association that does provide good, affordable healthcare, but it's still 50%, and that's what we can afford to pay. >> so in terms of, you know, what you can do, where your wiggle room is, some companies have been cutting workers, cutting their hours to get under

the threshold of the law, others are saying, look, we will provide you but not your spou s spouses. what are your alternatives here? >> well, ultimately, the game -- you know, the entrepreneurial game is to grow your business. so you don't want to cut hours. you want to try and be as profitable and as efficient as you can with your current workforce. >> steve, do you think stories like the one we're hearing from wayne will ultimately force the administration, congress, or whoever to quote/unquote fix whatever issues are there in this law? >> i do. i think as you take what wayne is saying very seriously, but it points to me to a different tact that the obama administration should think about. because there's an advocacy role that they play, which is they counter the criticism of the bill that's out there. but it seems to me there's a real need for an educational role to play, which is to tell people either it is bad or it isn't, but it's very hard, i

have found, to get some of these answers. my guess is wayne could get them. but it may cost him money. i'm not sure that's right. >> how much do you think this will end up costing you? what's your overall increase expectation? >> you know, i don't really have a handle on it. i don't know if some of our employees are going to look outside what we offer and go elsewhere, and at that point, we might have a net savings. but as it is -- >> others are hoping, right? >> you don't know. i want them -- i want them to be taken care of, because our business is really all about our employees. >> your business is how old? it started by your mother and father. >> started by my parents. we're under the same name since 1961 at the same location, and we exist prior to that. >> wayne, you're in new york, right? >> yes, sir. >> so the actuarial tables that were published showed that new york on an average will pay less than they were previously paying. that's not true in every state. it's specifically untrue in certain ones. so to some extent, the full-time

equivalent could be less. but again, you're only paying half right now. >> right. and that's, also, you know, are we under 50 or over 50? >> right. >> right. thank you, wayne. appreciate you joining us, and your insights. steve, as always, thank you. >> pleasure. >> we'll keep following it. 15 minutes before the bell rings. still at 95. not as positive as the dow was. but it's a strong day, nonetheless. meanwhile, social media kingpin, linkedin, headed for a secondary offering that will bring up the balance sheet to $2 billion in cash, and no debt. julia boorstin will have the story. and at the top of the hour, robert benmosche will join me as co-host. stay with us. we're back on "closing bell" next. [ female announcer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting.

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hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans. >>. >> welcome back. shares of linkedin are down today after the company announced plans to raise about $1 billion in a stock offering. julia, what's behind the move and why is the stock selling off so hard, do you think? >> reporter: the big question now is what's next, scott. and the next step is that linkedin plans to price that offering after the market closes today. then, it's going to get to work

putting that money to use. now, the two main areas where we can expect linkedin to spend that $1.1 billion are in international expansion with infrastructure in the hiring of more sales teams to help grow its lagging margins outside the u.s., and for acquisitions, which are likely to focus on areas like professional content as well as mobile. and the same vein of its recent acquisition of start-ups, slideshare and pulse. scott, the company certainly doesn't need the cash. and since it will end up with $2 billion and no debt once this is completed. now, linkedin is simply taking advantage of the stock's all-time high, which was hit yesterday. the stock's up about 130% in the past 12 months. one analyst, robert peck, says he doesn't think that linkedin would raise this money unless the company's upcoming earnings report will be strong, writing that, quote, linkedin is likely having a strong quarter, given it has visibility into two months of the quarter and is selling stock.

on the other hand, linkedin's roughly 2% dip in the stock today shows some investors could be concerned that the company's doing this because they see a peak in the stock. scott and maria? >> all right, thanks so much, julia. big movers approaching the close, mary thompson. what are you watching? >> reporter: maria, this could be the best close for the dow in about five weeks. up now about 109 points. the market is getting a boost from strong auto sales today, and again, as concerns about syria has moved to the back burner. the semiconductor stocks are strong throughout the day. good news on semisales for the month of july. intel a leader there, along with dupont. microsoft continues to be a drag on the dow, as it was yesterday, followed by ibm. sienna came out with strong third quarter results and raised its fourth quarter sales forecast. it's one of the better performers within the s&p 500 today, up over 25%. we want to end with jcpenney, because another day, another hedge fund taking a stake in the company. this time, it's glenn view, and its shares are responding to that news. again, the dow is up 106 points.

>> mary, thank you so much. we have about 11 minutes to go, as mary said, the dow is up 107. and the s&p 500 is up about 14. and the nasdaq is having the best day of all of them, up nearly 1%. up next, in a few minutes, aig ceo benmosche, a great host, a straight shooter. don't miss it. we're back with the final few minutes of trading. back in a moment. before global opportunities were part of their investment strategy...

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welcome back. we are about 10 minutes away from the closing bell for the day. the dow trying to spew out a triple-digit move here for the first time in over a month. the dow right now up about 100 points. joining us now is mark spellman and kenny fulkary from o'neil securities. good to see you both. we were talking to art cashin, kenny, and he said $700 million to buy going into the close. that's a big number there. i am wondering from you, why today's rally? is this new money, because of the new month, or something else? >> no, i don't think it's new money. today's rally is the direct result of we went back down yesterday, tested the support level, 1,625-30, and we have resistance, and coming back up. it's an asset reallocation. i don't think it's necessarily new money. it's just money being moved

around. >> allocation. >> i don't know, mark, auto sales incredibly strong today. >> yeah. >> rates moving -- at the highs of the day. and the stock market's near the highs of the day. can the equity market get used to the fact of higher rates and deal with it in the way it's dealing with it apparently today? >> i think it can. i think certain sectors will continue to do that. certain other sectors won't. as i said, higher rates, any group that competes with rates for investment dollars, i think, are just going to perform poorly. reits and utilities. they've got a tough way to go when you're starting to get over 3% yield. but other groups that have a good income stream and a healthy dividend and have improving earnings, i think very much can outperform the next -- >> -- benefit and improve the economy, which we've been talking about, even yesterday, the end of this year, end of 2014, we all see an improving economy. >> sure. >> much better global environment. so the industrial names, right, bank names, technology names, names that you would expect to perform. >> so what's your strategy for

higher rate environment, then? where do you want to be allocated as rates keep going up? >> i mentioned being underweighted in reits and utilities, which i think have a double whammy of bad valuation and higher rates. but other income-generating securities. lately, i've been looking for laggards. august was a down month. we work from the bottom up. i found two laggards, bce, the old bell canada, stock hasn't done a darn thing -- >> why do you think it will do a darn thing -- >> the big cloud was verizon would enter the canadian wireless market. they will not do that. i think that could give that stock particularly legs going forward. 20%, 30% upside on the stock. 5.2% dividend yield. in a portfolio of income-generating stocks, that's a good one to own. >> you guys, two weeks and counting until the fed next meets. the taper will be the talk of conversation for the next two weeks. what's ultimately going to happen, and does it matter to where the market goes? if they come out and say we're going to taper and we're going

to do it now, what happens to the stock market? >> well, okay, then it depends on the size of the taper. now you're hearing people say symbolically they want to take $5 billion a month off the table. $5 billion in $85 billion bond repurchase, is ridiculous. why do -- if they're going to take off 15, 20 billion, that's a much different statement. doing something symbolically is almost, honestly, ridiculous. >> if the deficit is already lower, $5 billion means nothing. >> and the fed knows this. so they're not going to do something like that. >> as a portfolio manager, in our income growth fund, we're positioning ourselves right now for tapering. i don't care if it happens next month, next quarter, you have to have a longer-term view. >> how do you position yourself for it? >> as i said, we're overweighted in stocks, however in the last six months, we raised 8% cash, looking for the dips that may come when you see tapering come and adding income-adding stocks. >> all right. thanks, guys.

countdown is next. >> it is. and after the bell, join us for an interview with benmosche. we'll get his reaction to the standard & poor's claim that the united states is retaliating, because they took the aaa rating. don't miss it. you're watching "closing bell." has it's ups and downs. seasonal... doesn't begin to describe it. my cashflow can literally change with the weather. anything that gives me some breathing room makes a big difference. the plum card from american express gives your business flexibility. get 1.5% discount for paying early, or up to 60 days to pay without interest, or both each month. i'm nelson gutierrez and i'm a member of the smarter money. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. ♪ ♪

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the new york stock exchange. it's time for the closing countdown. we want to show you the dow jones industrials average, off of the highs of the day, but still a positive day down here, plus 90 points or so for the dow. that's .66. why such strength today? look at the board of some of the automakers. really strong sales across the board. general motors leading the way. that stock's up 5%. big day for honda, as well. nissan and toyota rounding out that group. let me show you one more chart, because it's pretty telling, as well. the rally holding up even in the face of that right there, there's the 10-year note. the yield at 2.90%. just about at the highs of the day, yet the market is hanging in there. that brings me to matt chesslock, so we can handle higher rates? >> obviously. good numbers from the beige book. nothing too alarming. the fed may accommodate us with tapering, which would be nice, even for equities, and even trade on their own for a little while. >> that will be the talk of the day, right, for the next two weeks, it will be about the taper. i know syria's there.

there are other issues. but isn't it all about tapering? >> yeah, it will be all about tapering. we'll find out what the job numbers mean. tomorrow a light day with a lot of volatility, i would expect, with the holiday. >> that's right. the jobs report coming. have to pay close attention to that. you want to pay close attention to bob benmosche with maria. the second hour continues now. it's 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo. the stocks gained ground for the fourth time in the last five trading sessions. investors are keeping a close eye today on syria once again. take a look at how we're settling out on wall street. the dow jones industrials average is shy of the high of the afternoon with a gain on the day of 98 points, 14,931. last trade there. nasdaq composite picks up 36.5 at 3,649. and the s&p 500 tonight up 13.3 points, about 1%, at 1,653.