nicole here in studio with us. nicole: and i am nicole petallides. lori: hurricane isaac impact is already being felt. many oil rigs and the gulf is being shut down. nicole: the storm has the potential to impact all of us even if you are not directly in its path, especially when it comes to gas and oil prices. especially when our output comes from the gulf. nicole: the republican national convention losing a day due to the storm. the show will and still go on. what do you need to watch with this big event, plus, neil cavuto and he will be joining us live from tampa. lori: it is the top of the hour. time now for stocks.

lauren simonetti. stocks cannot decide. i wonder if traders and investors are watching isaac wright now. lauren: they certainly are. for the ones that are here. it is a very quiet monday. we have a lot of action going on. a lot of mergers. the nasdaq is that outperform her right now. shares of apple which are surging to a new historic high, they hit $680. their highest level. now we have to see if samsung products will have to be removed. that is what we are watching now. a nice day for apple, as you can see. we are also talking about the mergers and acquisitions. m&t buying hudson city. stocks are certainly moving on this news. m&t has more access now.

you can see both are up. we have seen that in a lot of deals today with the inquirer and inquire the are both up. lori: thank you. tropical storm isaac is willing to the gulf of mexico. more oil rigs are shut down. rumors of the petroleum reserve has traders concerned. bill plante of the price future group is in the pits of the cma. how are you? >> i am doing great good we see those oil prices down after that petroleum reserve rumor. down about $1.27. look at gasoline. gasoline will be the story today. it is coming up. coming up on the futures. we are hearing some incredible

numbers in the cash markets along the gulf coast. some areas as much as 30-35 times higher in the cash market. obviously, people are panicking buying in the golf of mexico. they are trying to but every available job right now. you would not think that would impact harbor target, but it is. the chicago cash market, believe it or not, is up $0.30 as well. traders are saying shutdowns have only begun. right now 27%. some traders are expecting we get the 80% of mexico oil and gas production shutdown before this storm is over. you really need to keep an eye on the wires to see how they will go down. the most amazing thing, of course, you have natural gas, that production has been shut down. down about five cents at -- some

of the onshore production that has been shut down may make up the difference. some traders are amazed we are not moving out more. they think the storm will take its toll on production. back to you. lori: thank you so much. you are absolutely right. we are seeing a lot of those companies have into shut down the production. tropical storm isaac missing the tampa area. the republican national convention is still canceling it day one events and joining us from tampa with all the inside scoop their rich edson. >> good afternoon. i am about to ditch the ring gear because there is really nothing going on here as far as the weather is concerned. the rnc thought we would get a direct hit here from isaac. that moved west.

still, even though there is a lost day at the rnc, folks say they are planning on moving forward. >> as we continue to move ahead, we are planning for a tuesday, wednesday, thursday convention, and we have a wait and see attitude to see what happens with the storm. >> and just about an hour they will officially gallo in here. it will keep track of how much federal debt has increased on this convention. tomorrow you will start to get the roll call. republicans still have their eyes on isaac. they don't want to have too much of a celebration here if there is destruction going on in the northwest. lauren: rich edson getting ready to dump the rain here. it has been pouring here in new york. [laughter] >> no problem. you can use it.

lori: treasury rates are dropping here slightly with a lot of concerns about that u.s. economy. mortgage rates on the rise up again for a fourth consecutive week. the national average is at 3.66%. joining us today with more ed pinto. he is a resident fellow. great to have you back on the show, ed. >> thank you. pleasure. lori: inching up just a little bit here. against the backdrop that the u.s. economy may be heading back towards a recession at least if you listen to the cbo. >> right. forget interest rates bounce around a lot. i would not be concerned about even 1%. during my career which is almost 40 years now, interest rates were 9%, they peaked at 17, they

came back down to nine, eight, seven, six, five, now they are 3.5. they bounced around a lot. lori: what was it correlated to? >> they are correlated, primarily, to treasury rates. treasury rates have moved a lot over the years. moves from a quarter to a half are very commonplace. lori: it has to be real tough to predict where mortgage rates are headed. do you then advise homeowners not to try, you are kind of shaking your head. >> does the right work for me today, that the house look like it is priced right today and if it is and i can afford it, go for it. don't try to pick a bottom. if it looks like it works, go for it.

rates go up in a big move to make up up pretty quickly. if they will move 100-200-point that usually happens over a short period of time and that it's hard to lock that in. trying to get the last 25 basis point is not a wise move. lori: rates historically low. the 30 year fixed was 40.22%, what do you think is the best course of action for homeowners. interest rates, even though they are coming up ever so slightly, do you think this could be a catalyst to encourage homeowners to jump in now, if pushed to the positive to revive the housing market? >> i think you will see on the purchase market a little bit of a push to get in. the retail market works the opposite. the window gets smaller and so that goes down. the real part of this market in

order to get the market going is the purchase market and that is what i tend to focus on. i think people would be more likely to jump in now if they see rates going up a bit because they do not know what will happen four, five, eight months from now. lori: what is your take on the housing market? there is a growing group of people who think we have hit the bottom and it is reviving. >> i think we have generally hit bottom. i base that on fundamentals. what rent is doing, what construction costs are doing, incomes relative to sales prices, all of those signal that we have gotten back to the mean. that is very important that that happened. efforts over the last couple of years have really slowed down the recovery. that we have it under our belts and i think we will have a recovery from here.

if our economy can continue, we are at bottom and we will recover. lori: sure hope you're crystal ball is correct. ed pinto, thank you so much. >> pleasure. thank you, lori. nicole: up next, it is time to make money. charles payne has his eye on a stock. we will tell you which one next. lori: more on isaac and the impact it could have on the oil refineries in its path. first, take a look at metals as we head to break. gold continuing to climb. analysts are predicting even $18,000 in your future. back with more after this. ♪ (birds chirping)

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♪ lori: charles payne is here, but why bother really.

you have a stock with some luxury products. charles: 52 years ago this month, -- he was a left wing god. his boss that he needed an alarm clock. he got it from his firm for $18 sold it for more. a capitalist was born. when he took over, they were going to kill this guy. he barely escaped. he came here and invented -- it is on course. lori: that is a big part. charles: they beat the street the last four quarters.

this stock really should be a lot higher. remember when fossil had that bass -- that report. they cover a whole lot of things. i like this stock a whole lot. they have been executing also. they will breakout -- two 30. nicole: use a fossil is coming back. we will see whether lovato does. charles: these companies are doing very very well. movado looks great. lori: thank you, charles. nicole: wait to see you. it will be great to see lauren simonetti down on the floor of

the new dark stock exchange. what is going on? lauren: speaking of tiffany. the stock is on fire although the news is not good. many analysts were saying they were expecting tiffany's to cut it even further. the site here is that although sales are making expectations and a quarter is not supposed to be that good, they are expecting margins to be better. they are not expected to pressure tiffany as much what we had into that all-important holiday quarter. also looking at aol shares today. they are up 2.5%. the news today is that $1.1 billion is giving back to shareholders. there also buybacks $1630 worth of stock. back to you, ladies in the studio. nicole: thank you. up next a trip to the weather center for the latest isaac's

path and its strength. lori: we will also take a look at the impact the storm may have on the refineries in its path. as we go to break, take a look at the dollar. it has really been bouncing around against the euro.

>> 20 minutes past the hour i am

juliet huddy with your fox news minute. bobby jindal has canceled plans to speak at the republican national convention. he would not lead this state while it is threatened by tropical storm isaac. florida governor rick scott says he will not attend any, chance events until at least wednesday. paul ryan has postponed his trip till wednesday. the wisconsin congressman say brian will fly to tampa tomorrow. 2 feet officials have already extended until tomorrow. two people died in the neighboring dominican republic after they were swept away in a river. some of them died after their homes fell on them. haiti is prone to flooding and land sites. some bad news today. it is pretty bad. lori: wish you had better news

for us, j. tropical storm isaac bearing west threatening to make landfall. we are tracking isaac's every move. >> we have a new advisory at 2:00 o'clock that will tell us the wind speeds and there is indication that we may have a hurricane on our hands sooner or later. i will show you where the location is of this storm system. it is around 300 miles away from the mouth of the mississippi. i will show you that satellite. okay, we can show you that one as well. weather eight. if you put that one up, i can show you all of these fancy maps. i will just show you on these maps. think you -- thank you. again around 300 back and away from the mouth of the mississippi river. we are indicating some organization. yes, we are forecasting a

hurricane. it could actually happen today and through the overnight. let's take a look at the potential for tornadoes as we have these landfalling tropical systems, the counterclockwise motion of the outer band moving across land, give us potential for tornadoes sometimes, we also have a severe thunderstorm warning north of miami. the hurricane is in the gulf and it will strike the northern gulf coast. there is your tract as of earlier on today. we will get a new advisory as of 2:00 p.m. we are thinking sometime tuesday into wednesday, a landfall of new orleans which means they would take a big punch of a lot of rain, extremely strong wind and certainly storm surge that could really do some damage to that area. lori, we will bring you the very latest. back to you. lori: thank you so much. nicole: a strange similarity to

hurricane katrina. we all remember that. that has energy markets today on edge. bp, royal, dutch shell, all closing down some of the operations there in the golf of mexico. let's see where it is right now. down 1.1%. at 95.09. this is all about the rumors that are flying dude really think the reserves, right? kyle cooper, first and foremost, what do you think about the prospects of possibly releasing some other reserves? do you think it is likely and is it a good idea? >> keep in mind, you don't really use crude. you use gasoline. what will happen is we will very

possibly be closing a lot of refineries. in response, if you look at the market, crude is down, products are up. we have to use crude into reusable products after refineries. lori: what is everyone talking about in your group, what is the number one concern. obviously about the closures are not absolutely. there is a real potential for infrastructure damage. the federal shores of natural gas, maybe two bcf right off the shore. sixty-five bcf, natural gas market and in 18-19 oil market, that is not significant. this storm creates real damage like katrina and rita did. lori: that is a significant worry for everybody. i want to ask you about the price of oil right now.

we see it right around the 200 day moving average. it either breaks out, you know, maybe it will go to 105 because they go back to $77, that well of lost june. where do you think our path leads us here? >> i think giving the demand characteristics in the u.s., low 19 again barrels is really pretty horrid. it remains pretty tepid. keep in mind, all of those refiners shutting down actually lowers crude demand significantly as well. i see as being a little week here. lori: what is your global picture as you are talking about weaker demand here and obviously when you talk about a tough economy? what is the global talk to not absolutely. europe is in a worse situation than we are. demand there has been horrid for quite some time. there is continuing signs that china is growing at a much slower pace.

overall, the outlook, while still positive, is much much rosier than it was at the beginning of the year and certainly in 2011. barring some major supply disruption. probably on the high side and will tread a little lower. lori: do you have a stock that you and your firm are loving these days or a pic or group q we look at commodities only so we do not look at stocks. we are focused on the fundamentals in the physical markets in the commodity itself, not the equities. lori: all right. kyle cooper, thank you so much. we appreciate the insight. >> thank you. nicole: up next. neil cavuto life in tampa. we will ask them what he will be looking for an particular. what he wants to hear out of these republicans at the convention going on this week. first, a look at today's winners and losers on the s&p 500. valero energy. there you go.

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lori: isaac making its way toward land expected to strengthen into a hurricane as soon as tomorrow. we continue to monitor the storm and of course its i am pock and market reaction to it all. delegates gearing up for the storm-shortened republican national convention. neil cavuto is there. he joins us in a couple of moments. social security running out of money. we have got someone with a plan to save it, maybe beef it up. nicole: time now for stocks. we'll go right down to the new york stock exchange as we do every 15 minutes. we find lauren simonetti covering everything

especially all the insurers related to the gulf coast. >> hey, nicole. as the storm makes its way west, several insurers will likely be impacted by isaac. state farm has the most coverage in the area. 20% of it. allstate has a lot. that stock is up. travelers as well and citizens and hanover are other stocks we're watching. we have a mixed reaction. citizens doing the best up, 2.2%. corelogic estimates the current path of isaac if it makes landfall as a category 2 hurricane, 270,000 residential properties at risk with a market value of $36 billion. back to you, nicole. nicole: $36 billion. we'll be watching for damage physically and lives, always the human element is number one. thank you, lauren. lori: can't forget that, that's for sure. tropical storm isaac may have pushed back the republican nag convention by one day. there is plenty on the

agenda that the gop plans to tackle. joining us now. we're so thrilled he is here with us, neil cavuto, fox business senor managing vice president and host of "cavuto." thanks for joining us. what does romney-ryan need to do to get it done and make an impact and sway voters to their cause? >> obviously isaac is disrupting plans mightily. they're going to officially convene things in half an hour. call the order and uncall this to order so the formal convention will actually take effect tomorrow morning.+++k

given how much debt we rack up per minute, per hour, per day. you know how that goes. separately they have another clock how much debt we accumulated just since the convention started. the idea to pound the theme that look, we've got real storms around here but we've got a big financial storm that is enveloping all of us. it is an issue i will be taking up with jeb bush, of course the president's brother, former governor of this fine state who you might have heard had it with attacks on his brother by the obama administration. governor bush said why don't you cool it and move on? he has been a big believer in focusing on economic issues and what a romney ticket would bring to correct that economy. billionaire paul dejoria

will join us here. he thinks a lot of business titans in this audience, some of whom are delegates, will be making it very clear what they want to see out of this ticket and a kinder, gentler, u.s. government. ed meese will be here. and we have signs that ohio is dead-even. you hear this a million times that is must-win state. we always talk, guys how important the economy is and why for example, fbn is here. not just for me to come down here and get great room service. not to complain. i will bring this up with kevin mcgee, not so great. that is separate issue. the fact of the matter there is front and center attention on the economy unlike any convention i've seen going back maybe to 1980, when ronald reagan made it is laser like focus with jimmy catter. republicans hope lightning strikes twice. nicole: neil, having the debt clock there hits home. the numbers over the

administration the last few years. the economy is front and center. how about the likeability card for romney? that is something else people are watching because that's all you read about. >> you raise a very good point. even when we were live in this weekend why is the presiden+++

own brush with cancer and now multiple sclerosis. the fact his firm was shut down a couple decades ago when he marshals all the resources to help an employee's son who had gotten kidnapped. these are unpleasant and emotionally wretching issues for him to raise. a lot of supporters tell him now that to let people know you're not this grey poupon candidate. you have had challenges and better get them out there. people don't think you know what hardship is. he has that battle. he has the economic battle. competing with attention after certain storm. you name it he has to address it. most are confident that they think he can. that moment will come. we'll see. lori: neil, thank you so much for that live report. i hope maybe you can get out a little, eat better if you're not satisfied with the room service. >> find me mcgee. the room service, it is cold by the time i get it. this is separate crisis i hope to raise with him earlier. lori: i pity you.

nicole: be happy. >> not having so much of a problem. nicole: neil, the storm brings more added coverage even. some folks who may not have watched may be watching now. >> you raise is serious point. it is going to help. in the end more coverage and attention as usual will be here. how they're handling it and balancing it. net-net it could be to their advantage. we obviously pray and hope as they do that everyone is all right. the focus of attention how they handle it, might in a perverse way draw more eyeballs than detract. we'll see. lori: thanks, neil. don't forget you can catch neil's special coverage of the republican national convention at 8:00 eastern with several big names including former florida governor, jeb bush. nicole: up next, a look at the dominating factor driving the presidential race and what it means to both sides. look at interest rates there following today's -- 1.64%. concerns about the is economy.

expectations of another round of quantitative easing all weighing on yields today. the 30-year bond coming in with a yield of 2.75%. back with more after this. . .. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar, on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k).

so who's in control now, mayans? >> i'm adam shapiro with your fox business brief. best buy shares are climbing after the company gave founder richard schulze the go ahead to pursue his buyout plan. he already owns 20% of the electronic retailer's stock. he can form an investment group with private equity sponsors to make a bid. navistar international shares are on the ride after naming former textron executive lewis campbell. he replaces the danielle ustee. no reason why he was given why he left the company. more pain at the pump for drivers. according to "the lundberg survey" the price of a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.76.

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nicole: while headlines surrounding the election focused on medicare lately the economy is still the top issue for most voters. peter barnes is in washington. he has all the details. peter barnes, what do you think? >> that's right. the new "washington post/abc news poll" finds that the economy, surprise, surprise, continues to be the dominant factor in the presidential race even as the media focus on a lot of other issues, such as abortion, tax returns, the vp pick for governor romney and other issues that register much lower with the voters. the poll also finds the race in a dead-heat, with governor romney at 47% and

the president at 46%. little changed from early july and within the statistical range of plus or minus 4%. 50% of people approve of the way the president is handling his job, up from 47% in july. but here is where the romney camp thinks that he has an opening. only 44% of people approve of the way that the+++.

of airtime to make his case to the american voters but as you know, the governor's going to have a little less time now than some of his previous republican candidates? nicole: we were looking at the debt clock. the national debt clock, neil cavuto was showing us on the inside. we talked about one other issue including the economy, very big issue for romney is likeability. we've seen that in the polls, peter. >> well, on the debt, actually, romney scores better than the president once again on, who would be, better at, fixing the deficit but the likeability, i have all the newest

numbers on likeability. there is a likeability gap, a big likeability gap in the latest "washington post/abc news poll", the president dominates governor romney by 34 percentage points on who is more likeable. 61% of the people surveyed said that they find the president more likeable compared to 27% for governor romney. he wants to use this convention to try to talk a little bit more about himself to, and his personal life and his family, to try to make himself more likeable to voters. some people vote, for the candidate they like better. lori: more likeable, more approachable. we keep talking about the debt clock, peter. i know it is important. it is a huge issue, the overwhelming debt crisis the country is in. most americans don't necessarily care about it. what is your view on that strategy? >> well, again, romney gets more points than the president, better ratings on

which man would be better suited to try to fix the+++v auto sector with hertz buying much smaller rival dollar-thrifty. both stocks taking off. dollar think of the think up -- thrifty up 7 1/2%.

with this deal, it has been on and off negotiations between hertz, avis and dollar thrifty about two years. 95% of u.s. car rentals are in the hands of just three firms. we have to see if this does get approved by the sec. watching shares of barry diller's iac interactive. they're up one percent. they're buying about.com from "the new york times" for $300 million cash. so those shares are up and the new york times company are down by 2/3 of one percent. back to you. lori: thanks, lauren we have breaking news regarding tropical storm isaac. we hear royal dutch/shell is evacuating all personnel from facilities in the gulf of mexico and shutting in production. all this ahead of tropical storm isaac. there is look at crude oil today. down $1.22. it joins b. had p and bhp billiton evacuating personnel. concerning reports as well that we will get possibly

reserve releases. so we're keeping a very close eye on that with all of our reporters scattered across the country and in the trading pits. social security on the path to be out of money by 2035 but there is still time to change course. find out how after the break. nicole: we're all paying towards hit. we'll see what happens. as we head to break, here is some of the winners and losers. there is the nasdaq. new all-time highs for apple.

. .. . .. . .

. .. lori: more breaking news on isaac's impact on oil and gas operators in the gulf of mexico. the bureau of safety environmental enforcement reporting that 346 platforms, 346 in total, platforms have now been evacuated. that is 58% of the platforms

in the gulf and 41 rigs have been evacuated. that is almost 54%. there is a look at rbob up nine cents. before that you saw nat-gas as well. we'll continue to follow the path of tropical storm isaac and its impact here on the fox business network. apple's one billion dollar victory over samsung for patent infringement could mean higher cell phone phone costs. adam? >> several others using android operating systems that used software that might have infringed on the apple patents may have to enter into licensing agreements and that would be passed on to us as consumers. let's bring why i brought up the android operating system. people in the tech world are saying apple scored a big victory against samsung and its products. they are using google's android operating system. google issued a statement in

regards to all of this. the court of appeals will review the infringement and validity of the patent claims. most of these do not relate to the core android operating system. several are being reexamined by the u.s. patent office. for the immediate future not much has changed. they will get a list from apple for samsung products they want to stop being sold in the united states. they will healed a hering whether or not the products will be stopped. will google go after apple. but they're suing google after motorola mobility patents. lori: thank you, adam. nicole: without major changes the social security trust fund is heading towards insolvency. my next guest says there is one simple measure would save social security. joining me now with his fix is eric kingston. he is a professor at syracuse university and the codirector of social security works. i have a lot of questions

for you, eric, but tell us quickly what is your quick fix. >> first, let's back up just a second and why we built social security. we built it generations of, americans have contributed into it. politicians have built it to provide broad protection against loss of income. and it is an extraordinary source of protection. you think about the recent financial crises we've had. the one institution we have not had to worry about relative to housing savings, relative to pension, private pensions, relative to losing a job, losing 401(k) value, the one system in the retirement income system that works is social security. nicole: eric, you didn't give me your fix. what is your fix? i only have about 65 seconds left. >> all righty. so personally i would say it is not broken. at some point in time we should be asking all americans to pay the same rate on their social security in their terms of their contribution, in payroll tax contributions.

they should pay the same rate as all others. nicole: so raising the cap on the payroll tax, is that your idea? >> that would be essentially one thing we could do. there are many things we could do. nicole: all right. >> the system is not broken. this is not a problem. this is a solution. nicole: i have to tell you i have contributed to social security too right from my first job at sports and tennis junction in great neck, new york, where i sold sneakers. i get the concept of it, at the same time, isn't this is a tough time to do that when unemployment remains so high, consumers are still so reluctant to spend? you think this is really the right time to do what you're suggesting? >> i think we can do it gradually over time and the crisis we face in retirement is not social security. it's a solution, not a problem. the crisis we face is that tens of millions of baby boomers and younger people are moving into retirement. people in their 40s and 50s, who lost home equity. who have lost pension protections. there is nothing there to protect them except

social security in many cases. it is critical that we, that we build, we strengthen this institution. like our highway system. >> thank you. >> it is solid. it work. nicole: i understand where you're coming from. mitt romney and his team is talking about raising retirement age and living, limiting also some of the benefits for some high earners. that was another alternative. eric, thank you so much. >> that would be pulling it apart, brick by brick. nicole: thank you, eric. lori: in a moment we'll update on isaac's path and and strength. tracy and ashley will be here in the next hour of fox business network. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more . ..

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>> stocks may be drifting. we're getting news regarding impact of, don't want to call it hurricane yet.

evacuations. ashley: ladies thank you very much. tracy: i'm tracy byrnes. ashley: i'm ashley webster. tropical storm isaac just hours away now from lashing the gulf coast with rain and high winds and residents there bracing for the worst. we'll bring you the very latest on where and when the storm will hit. plus, mississippi senator roger wicker will tell us how his state will is getting ready for the storm. tracy: stocks looking for direction as lori mentioned after snapping a six-week winning streak on friday. could we see more selling ahead. ashley: tracy, go to rick nab at the national hurricane center for the very latest on tropical storm isaac. let's go there right now. >> the circulation center that is occupying a huge part of the florida peninsula on the east coast. there were tornado warnings earlier in the port

st. lucie area. this band is training over some of the same areas. this is a continuation of the rainfall that began when isaac moved over the florida keys and southern florida yesterday. this could contribute to storm total rainfall that in some spots could exceed 15 inches. still an ongoing flash flood threat here on the eastern part of the florida peninsula, primarily. but anywhere in the southern, central and northern florida today. you could have localized flash flooding. be careful on the roadways that is way to get in tloubl when you have heavy rain and flooding. being in a car in water-covered roadways there is isolated tornado threat in central and northern florida. that is spreading to northern part of the gulf coast region tonight into tomorrow. looking at the broader satellite view the structure of isaac certainly more organized than it was yesterday at this time over the southern florida peninsula and florida keys. a big band on the northwestern side wrapping around into the center.

it appears to be gaining organization slowly if you look at satellite imagery. recent pressures observations from the air force reconnaissance planes showing pressure coming down a little bit to 877 millibars. -- 988 millibars. the center of circulation will not reach the northern gulf coast until sometime+++]

six to 12 feet of storm surge in the coastal areas of alabama, mississippi and southeastern louisiana. that is a potentially life-threatening situation. that is why you would need to evacuate if told to do so. going back to the satellite i want to show you just how big the storm is. tropical storm that we're forecasting to become a hurricane before landfall, but it is not just the strength that we're worried about, it is the is zoo. the larger tropical storm and hurricanes much more capable of producing that storm surge i just talked about. also this will impose a significant inland flood threat due to the heavy rains it will bring because it will slow down in the forward motion as it moves ashore and because of its large size. 12 to maybe 18 inches of rain locally are are possible over a large area of southeast united states and gulf coast states as it moves in land. water from storm surge and water from inland flooding due to rainfall and hurricane and tropical storm

force winds all hazards we need to prepare for today before isaac comes ashore.+++% wouldn't believe we had so much action here by looking

at numbers because they're completely flat at the moment but we have $7.3 billion in deals to talk about. on this merger monday. the first is hertz buying dollar thrifty for $2.3 billion. sending both shares significantly higher. dollar thrifty taking out new annual high today. then you have ibm, purchasing an hr company for $1.3 billion in cash. basically ibm wants to help recruiters use their social tools to recruit new workers. finally, in the banking sector, m&t buying hudson city for $3.7 billion. and that actually is the largest banking deal so far this year. and that will help m&t expand from connecticut region. so on the eastern coast an we see the reaction right there. back to you guys in the studio. ashley: merger monday lives on. lauren simonetti, thank you so much. appreciate it. tracy: after a late summer rally are we in for a september selloff? our next guest says, yeah, september is historically the worst month for markets

and warns there are headline risk that investors should be prepared for. joining us now, russ koesterich. chief investment strategist for blackrock ishares business. russ, thanks for being with us. tell us why september is historically so poor. >> september is an interesting month. investors often look at the calendar. it is a normal thing to do but the truth is very few months demonstrate a bias ha holds up over time. september is the exception. not just in the u.s. but globally. typically what happens in september, you do see weakness more than any other month, particularly in years when the market's down going into september the way it was in 2011. so the good news for this year is that while there is a negative bias to the month, it may not be as bad as a year like 2011 which tends to the worst if you go into september with the market already at a loss. tracy: okay. so we're going in with a market somewhat up, you're saying not so bad. >> yeah. tracy: last year, september, dow down 6%. you're saying might not be

that bad this year except we have this doomsday, september 12th. all the big events happening, right? >> tremendous amount of headline risk. that is the other thing for investors to think about. not just this negative seasonal bias but a couple of other factors as well. one you mentioned that the headline risk, september 12th you have the german constitutional court ruling on the esm. you have the dutch elections. both could be destablizing. we have the fed coming out on the 13th. so a lot of headline risk. the other thing to keep in mind the market is arguably complacent going into the month. we have the vix at multiyear lows. that suggests a lot of bad news, at least as of today, is not discounted into the price. tracy: say a lot of it is window-dressing too, right? we close out august 0th, close out the quarter, start the september off fresh. people put their money back into the market. >> happens in september, academics may argue about this the reason typically negative or at least the theory, two things happen. you have tax-loss selling by mutual funds ahead of the

fiscal year and institutional selling by managers. tracy: let's talk about where you should put your money then. knowing september is typically a down month you're still saying dividend stocks are the way to go. you don't think they have run up? >> well, i think it depends where you look. certainly some pockets in the u.s. look very expensive. we would be very cautious about u.s. utilities. we're increasingly cautious on telecom. we do see good opportunities outside of the u.s. one of the advantages of dividends is that the stocks tend to have a lower beta than the market. in other words there is more downside cushion in portfolios with a dividend theme. we're still arguing for dividends. we're just saying investors should cast a wider net and look for dividend stocks in northern europe, southeast asia. even a little bit in emerging market where they're much cheaper and yields are much higher. tracy: you work with the ishares though. i know, you use some of their funds. i presume, going more global, dealing like with a global

index fund kind of a safe bet going into september right now? >> yeah. we see good opportunities, for example, in northern europe where some funds you can have that would give you that exposure. even in emerging markets. the dvye is an emerging market dividend fund that gives you exposure to the big dividends players in the em space. dividend exposure might be a way to think about cushioning that downside. tracy: thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with with us, russ. >> thank you. tracy: ash, september 12th. ashley: yes. tracy: either duck or i don't know what. it is a big day. ashley: it is a big day. talking about a big day, tomorrow is the big day for the republican national convention which starts tomorrow. it is a day late but thanks to tropical storm isaac of course, which appears to have missed the tampa area but our very own+++ç

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- ♪ 'cause people got me questioning ♪ ♪ where is the love - ma'am. you forgot your purse. - thank you. oh. thank you very much. - a message from the foundation for a better life. tracy: that time of day. we have to make money. charles payne is here. this time he has a tech stock and follow-up on a very precious blue box recommendation. >> let's start with the tech stock, salesforce.com. i love the company for a long time. the valuation is auld wild. last thursday afternoon they posted numbers. the stock got hammered.

ceo talked the stock up. i like it. they're following amazon model. amazon hitting all-time high this morning. they're building for the future. ultimately i think this stock is $200 stock. wunderlich put, raised their target to 207 "today". ashley: wow. tracy: tiffany's i gave it away, right? numbers were not great. i thought what was really interesting. sales down in the americas, china, up in asia-pacific. >> you're right. tracy: north of the merge's and europe. >> here's the thing. i had it on with you guys, august 17th. i have to explain why tiffany is down. at least i'm not doing that. i think what people like, this is what i like. same-store sales up 10% in japan. they have 5 stores there. -- 55 stores. stores sales were up in europe of all places. ashley: times get tough you buy jewelry. >> the moral of the story, sometimes even a bad company can have a oversold stock.+++

trial. there are eight similar trials going on across the globe. obviously samsung shares took a beating today. lowest level in four years where they closed. but apple shares hitting a new all-time high above $680. still up 2%. now according to bloomberg, apple will ask the court to block several samsung products from store shelves here in the united states. so we have to see what happens there we will continue to follow it

because obviously this is big story for consumers. another big story for consumers amazon.com. shares are down right now. but they too hit a historic high a little bit earlier today. and you know, one of the problems that we see with best buy shares and their struggles this year, that everyone is using best buy as the showroom, right and going on amazon.com, probably on apple ipad to buy the products right? back to you. ashley: that makes sense. bloomberg reporting that apple is seeking to ban sales of eight samsung devices in the united states. so the news gets even tougher for samsung. tracy: you wonder how it will play out for google too. ashley: you do. tracy: that is whole angle we haven't talked about. ashley: nokia really up in europe. tropical storm isaac is taking dead aim at the gulf coast. the next mississippi senator roger wicker will tell us how his state is it preparing for the impact. tracy: we'll look how the dollar is faring as we head out to break. down 10 points here at home for the dollar.

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. . >> at 20 minutes past the hour i'm juliet huddy with your fox news minute. the most recent update from the hurricane center says the outer bands of isaac will reach the gulf coast as early as tonight. isaac is rolling through the gulf of mexico as a tropical storm but it is expected to grow into a hurricane before hitting land somewhere between louisiana and florida. in new orleans parts of jefferson parish have issued mandatory evacuations. meantime syrian military helicopter+++g

headlines on fox business network. a legend that man was. ashley: why is he was. landed on the moon on my 8th birthday. forget the moon. what about my birthday gifts? tracy: seriously. did you get little astronaut toys? ashley: no. a football and a tricycle. tracy: all about ashley. ashley: it is all about me. forget the moon. let's move on to serious stuff here. the governor of mississippi declaring a state of emergency as tropical storm isaac barrels along the gulf coast area. joining me from tampa, florida, the sight of the republican national convention, senator roger

wicker. you gaveled in. now you're out of there at least for today, senator. let's talk about isaac first. what is the biggest threat to your state as it stands now? >> well, we're watching it on an hourly basis. it looks like it might have been downgraded now to a projected category 1. that would be very, very ening news for us. it is flooding and winds and depends on the exactly where the eye hits. but, we're monitoring it. we're helping with the federal agencies. our emergency management folks in mississippi are very much profession by now in this so i think they're doing well. ashley: you think they have learned the lessons from katrina which was seven years ago, this coming wednesday? >> that's right. it is an eerie anniversary but that was a category 4, a direct hit. this looks a lot different. feels a lot more hopeful to me. ashley: ironic, isn't it? we've been talking so much about the drought and now we have this huge storm with

potential for absolutely flooding rains. how has the drought impacted mississippi especially alongwith all the barges and commerce that goes on up and down that huge river formally? >> that is how it affected us. actually, we, for the most part our farm area has escaped the brunt of the drought. that has been more arkansas, oklahoma, missouri and that area. so our farmers have done quite well, but yeah the mississippi river, is an artery of commerce and when the barges can't get up and down it of a affects the economy. so the core of engineers. they know what to do. they have done it before. and we're keeping the mississippi river open. ashley: are you concerned, senator, that this storm isaac comes right at the time, as mitt romney is trying to gain that all important momentum as he heads towards the election in about nine weeks time? are you concerned that the convention will be overshadowed just a little bit? >> well, if it is a category 1 and it is limited to flooding, perhaps not.

you know, there is really nothing we can do about it. it is, it is an act of god. a natural occurrence. and, we're just monitoring it. we're concerned for the people in the way. but, but we have, a country to run and a convention to proceed with and we really don't have a choice. ashley: i know you're on the armed services committee, senator. very quickly want to talk about these allic spending cuts that would kick in on january 3rd. how difficult or how devastating would it be to the defense budget and in particular what does it do to your state? >> well it would cost our state 11,000 jobs. one million jobs nationwide. that is what it would amount to. but also, we're talking the smallest navy since world war i. devastating cuts to troops strength. it was a draconian meat axe approach at this was intended to be so drastic it would never kick in. ashley: all right. we're already out of time. senator wicker, thank you so

much for joining us from tampa as the convention getting underway full-scale tomorrow. but we appreciate you taking time out to talk with us. >> thank you very much. ashley: thank you. tracy: got to move on like he is saying. ashley: move on, i know. tracy: we'll get the latest on the tropical storm isaac including where and when the storm is going to hit the coast. ashley: but first let's take a look at some of today's winners and losers. look at tiffany. talking about tiffany with charles payne. up 4.50. up almost 8% on the day at 63.05. we'll be right back.

tracy: welcome back. apple is jumping to an all on 10 all-time high. we will have more on how the company's patent winnings over samsung are important. and tropical storm isaac. it could dump 18 inches of rain over the florida panhandle and mississippi and alabama and louisiana. oil prices are down because of this. we have been watching will move all day. about 50 $5 per barrel. gas prices are rising, too. we'll have a lot of the energy crisis coming up as well. ashley: is that time. time for stocks. let's head back down to the stock exchange.

reporter: hello, ashley. i am joined by our guest today. today. he said that wednesday's the big day where we see some movement on. >> wednesday is a big upgrade you have a second look at the second quarter. the consensus is for 1.7%. but i'm hearing whispers it could be higher higher credit the number for just 2%, that will be good by the president. good for the economy. baffert hopes of monetary easing that could impact the markets. >> let's talk about monetary easing and go fast forward to friday. would he make of that? >> you have ben bernanke speaking on friday. i think that given the dire situation that you're bazan, try to ease the bigger deal this week. he will be talking by the markets. are you going to watch? >> i might.

finally, we are talking about the consumer space but amazon at an all-time high. novitiate is something that you are looking at today. why is nokia stock important? >> the buying of it is important. it's been overcome by bank of america. no kia is in a position where they can possibly take advantage of what has happened here between samsung and apple. if nokia is able to move and drag microsoft along with the, i think that this could be -- you have to watch the auctions. this could be something that could be something in the end. >> it's good to see you. i guess apple is not the only winner in the apple versus samsung one. ashley: thank you very much we do we have been talking about tropical storm isaac talking about tropical storm isaac churning in the gulf of mexico. on an eerily similar path to hurricane katrina. it devastated the coast seven years this wednesday.

seven years ago. rick leventhal is with us. reporter: state officials are concerned. it is so beautiful here today that people will get complacent and will not heed the warnings gravest of emergencies in effect across alabama. hurricane warnings are in effect entire gulf coast. mandatory evacuations went into effect at 8:00 o'clock this morning. anyone living along the coast or the four rivers in mobile, alabama, or baldwin county, those living in low-lying areas, those in mobile homes come encouraged to pack up and get out. despite this beautiful weather, things are expected to get a lot worse over the next 24 to 48 hours. schools are closed. the national guard is on standby. even though the storm is tracking for the west, i can tell you that the port of mobile, alabama, has extended operations great equipment tied down and any ships that could be moved out were moved out. here at the port from operations

were suspended today. officials in alabama, including the governor, telling us that with the storm moving to the west, it puts alabama on the more dangerous side of the hurricane with strong winds, heavy rains, storm surges, localized flooding, even tornadoes possible. >> we always have to remember that what we're trying to do is protect the lives of the people of this area. everything else is secondary. but the lives and safety of the people of this area are most important. reporter: the state emergency management director says there's no question that mobile alabama will fill in impact. the question is just how significant it will be. tracy: rick leventhal, be safe and heed the warnings. thank you, sir. ashley: there was a surprise win at the box office over the weekend. dennis kneale is here to tell us all about it. reporter: hollywood must be

mortified. because the unabashedly liberal swells in tinseltown had a lacks lackluster weekend. "2016: obama's america" took an even more than the number one film of the weekend, "expendables", starring sylvester stallone. a tepid box office return. as you'll see there. let's take a look at what came in at number eight. "2016: obama's america" raped in $20 million. that number is far in excess of of the number one film day. about 4000 verses that 6000. it's unheard of for any documentary. especially for one not made by michael moore.

based on the work of the conservative writer, dinesh d'souza, who argues that obama cannot escape the nk corniest weavings of his heritage. here's a quick sound bite. >> obama has a dream. a dream from his father. at the since america be downsized. reporter: the films critics say that they will expand distribution just in time for the rnc. ashley: thank you, dennis kneale. tracy: family fun. coming up, cheryl casone he has a lifetime of behind-the-scenes look at the sporting event. she has insight from one of the biggest sponsors. ashley: as we do every day at this time, let's take a look at the treasury. the 10 year yield down 1.64%.

as for the 30 year, down about five basis points at 2.75. we will be right back

ashley: computer security software symantec thing that they bought more than 5.5 billion attacks last year. that is an increase of more than 80% of the year 2010. the question is how can you protect yourself from cyberthieves. joining me is the former security chief. you just let the white house a couple of months ago. what keeps the folks at the white house up at night when it comes to cyberthreats?

>> the first is from major u.s. companies, defense contractors, where we can use it as a competitive advantage, but also affects us from an economic perspective. the other thing is the data, a lot of the major companies have in the united states on you and i and other citizens, customers worldwide, using it for things that shouldn't be used for. ashley: this is the biggest international threat -- visit china? we know that famously some of the things that have been getting up to. is that one country that comes to mind? >> that is the one that has been brought up in every intelligence report and discussion. you mentioned the security companies time after time. it is conducting this kind of activity. ashley: what about domestic threat? those hackers who break through the latest cybersecurity? >> yes, and that is an

interesting piece. when you look at domestic side, you we oftentimes think of those that don't like the way social way social policies are. they don't want to wear that the company conducts business. breaking into those companies and selling personal data. even worse, doing the denial of service attack, which means you can't conduct business with them because their servers. ashley: what's the number one thing consumers should do to be protected as it can be? >> at number one thing that consumers can do is to make sure that your systems are updated all the time. the security patches, including the antivirus, anti-mal ware software. that is one of the things that the bad guys count on. people don't keep their systems up-to-date. >> it seems to me that no matter what you do, some of these hackers, whether they are based in europe or wherever -- they seem to be just one step ahead. is that paranoia? or is that true?

>> that's not paranoia. it's very true. not only do they capitalize on the technical aspects of the technology that we use today, but they also look at the social thing. social engineering. they send you an e-mail that say you want a big prize or what appears to be the 2013 election results. they get you to open something, which installs mal ware, which compromises your system. ashley:'s. ashley: the bottom line is you can do everything that you have said, but there is no guarantee that someone can get into your accounts? >> that is correct. that is one of the things that we have to be very, very cognizant of. that's why we recommend check your accounts. use a specific credit card for online usage. focus on something that it goes wrong and you can be notified right away. ashley: former white house security adviser. thank you so much for joining us speedier that's great information it's very scary. ashley: yes, very scary. tracy: the u.s. open. the athletes aren't the only ones competing for the

spotlight. taking the business courtside. cheryl casone he is at the u.s. tennis center in new york. reporter: i have to tell you, it is a major storm that hit. hurricanes in the gulf, a massive rainstorm hit here at the u.s. open. finally, some of the matches are getting back underway. we are at court 13. they are now squeegee in the big court for the next match. the jobs are created in flushing, new york, and the the new york area, because of the u.s. open and the sponsors. one of the sponsors is a dachau. they are a sponsor. you have been traveling around the country and looking at jobs across the country.

what are you finding right now? people are incredibly out of work. 8.2%. >> i've been traveling across the country the last two weeks and seemed tremendous optimism i know in the jobs market. it started in charlotte, north carolina, which is a lot of hiring there. straight up to the midwest and detroit area. hiring there, especially engineers right now. headed westbound southern california. health care, is huge right now. as well as hospitality. jobs are straight up to san francisco to silicon valley. the i.t. hiring there is two minutes right now. just a tremendous amount of optimism i know. reporter: dc we will have unemployment are done in the next six months in this country? >> i do feel that way. a lot of jobs created right now are temporary jobs. they are not temporary. they are long-term. many are turning into permanent positions. direct hire positions.

like at the u.s. open right now. temporary jobs are super excited for the community. reporter: addeco has had a long-standing partnership with u.s. open. >> we are all about talent, whether on the quarter off the court. and of course, we have a super exciting day here. reporter: obviously, joyce, it's going to be a nice afternoon for tennis. hopefully for the corporate sponsors on opening day as well. well, you heard her talking about hiring. everyone is working hard today. coming up, we have two big interviews, countdown of the closing bell on the next hour of fox business. we will be talking to panasonic, jim doyle, the school board and the greens. the technology that is powering. panasonic is involved in a big way. he will be telling us how they

have been doing it. back to you. in what is a dry studio. tracy: cheryl casone he, thank you very much. ashley: as for stocks, let's go back down to be new york stock exchange. looking at the impact of tropical storm isaac. reporter: tropical storm isaac making landfall by wednesday. the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina. we are looking at several oil refineries that have been closed down. particularly valero. valero is being affected by an explosion out there. and as we are requiring an explosion on there. valero shares are up 3.5% right now, heading in a new high. 346 platform so far. ashley: thank you very muh.

tracy: up on deck. the founder and ceo tells us how frozen yogurt is growing and growing and growing. we are eating lots of it. i know that. ashley: but first, a look at today's winners and losers. we will be right back looking for a better place to put your cash? here's one you may not have thought of -- fidelity. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank, like no-fee atms, all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture.

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ashley: tropical storm isaac bearing down on the gulf of mexico. 78% of oil output has been shut down. we have a reporter in the pits of the cme with the latest remap those numbers that you mentioned, 70% of production come as white whale came back a dollar off. oil got hit early because of all the refinery shutdowns. the lack of crude usage, as well as strategic petroleum reserve. but we did come back on the floor traders saw that. another note you should look at, 48% of natural gas production is also shut down right now. this is definitely going to have an impact on inventories of when the next coming weeks. is it going to get worse? it will depend on the track of the storm. i would expect that the numbers we are looking at are going to get better overnight. you have to stay tuned. other issues -- when it comes to the retail price of gasoline.

soaring all over the country. if you haven't filled up your tank, you better do it now. the prices are going to be sharply higher tomorrow. ashley: that is good advice. phil flynn at the cme. tracy: fillip of attention have in your garage as well. the height of the recession. sixteen handles open 26 stores and is planning for more this year. joining us now is the key to the success, founder and ceo, frozen yogurt is so hot again. my kids and i go to a place in town which is very similar. this is self-serve frozen nearby. he started in new york city in 2008. why did you think it would take off? >> customers love to have choices. never before as was there a platform where the customer can go when and choose multiple toppings and flavors and create something that they identified as their own snack. tracy: what do you think that

this platform came back? >> a self-serve format really allows kids to have a fun environment. allowing them to choose what they want. and i think adults also gravitate towards it. they are able to do the portion control based on what they like speech. tracy: revenues are up 5.5%. i have to believe that the whole let's be healthy crazes helping. >> it is. having a better for you snack alternative. people are more aware of what is out there. making smarter decisions. tracy: that is agreed. you are looking at 50 stores, five states -- do you have 27 stores? you open one in stanford, is that correct? >> we did speak you wiser working? >> people are gravitating towards the self-serve model. tracy: 20 of the 27 are

franchised. why the franchise model? >> the franchise model allows us to expand into new markets. it is able to be provided in local neighborhoods. tracy: 16 handles rotates and you are planting 16 tuesday. how does that work? >> we have a partnership with trees for the future. each of our stores went 16 trees per day. tracy: you pay by the ounce. this could get very expensive. >> it can, but i think the people like having the freedom to be able to make it themselves. you and your boys and girls are welcome to our stores anytime. >> thank you so much.

ashley: tracy is often have semi- frozen yogurt now. bring some back to me. i'm sticking around to take you to the last-minute trading. tropical storm isaac and we have a money manager with three stops to keep your portfolio recession proof. countdown to the closing bell is next.

then he. ♪ ashley: good afternoon, everybody. i'm ashley webster in for liz claman perry is the last hour of trading. it is the oil market. everyone's attention right now. tropical storm isaac headed right toward the gulf of mexico. home to 76 operating oil rigs. u.s. regulators say 78 percent of daily oil production in the