washington uncertainty weighing on stocks. if the s&p closes down today, it will be the third losing streak of the year. a different take on a way to fix america's debt problem. what is to blame on adding more than a trillion dollars in federal debt over the last ten years. right now, we want to check on how the markets are doing. nicole petallides will bring us up to speed. nicole: you did have a winning day. the dow is looking at the fifth day of selling.

jcpenney is hitting a 13 year low. you have a judge who may rule sooner than later on the whole jcpenney macy's situation. lori: thank you so much. five days until the government shutdown. twenty-one days until we hit the debt limit. we have bill cavuto with us now. great to see you. tried to defund obamacare. all of the talk is about senator cruz and this marathon overnight talking session. neil: he rallied the base. he might make it tougher for speaker boehner to cut a deal on

this. did they have to move onto something else that could save face for boehner and maybe people in the house. hours before potential shutdown. a number of deals have been another deal would be we will do it if we find something in the healthcare lot to delay. whether it is attached to this or something that happened a couple of weeks later. maybe they get a one-year extension or delay or, a couple

keep project that could save face. adam: we have jack lew saying that the government runs out of money. are you getting to any hint as to what it may be? neil: i do not believe them when they talk about a debt deadline. the last time we were in this, it was the same issue. we will run out on this day and then we will all of a sudden extend it. all but looking for funds underneath couch cushions to do it. this is where they start

prioritizing. you want to, obviously, keep the lights on. you want to keep paying social security checks. medicaid payments. it could be messy. there are ways to prioritize what does you have to pay. we may let the visa bill slide. they have ways of doing it. i am just saying it is not pretty, but it has been done. lori: what do you think of some of his comments? >> i wondered if at some point we were going to see a tall gentleman and a mechanical breathing apparatus come forward and say in a deep voice, spike

lee, i am your father. this is a fight to restore freedom to the people. lori: what is the republican establishment? what does the establishment think of this? neil: they do not like it. some were very blunt. senator, you have your head up your you know what. this is way beyond. i was here fighting this battle. we did everything we could, but we lost. there was a second referendum on

this. the american people ruled on this and made it law. that is their right. there is a consequence of election. i do not like it. i do not like it any more now than when i was finding it back then. there are different ways to go about it. adam: the numbers that the administration is putting out, it is going to go up for

everybody, much more than the administration is actually leading on. neil: people really do not like it. when they see something like this going on, they begin to think that is that law they do not really know much about it. for those that do not have health care, you get it as cheap as $100 a month. fear and angst over this is far more predominate then open arms for this. lori: thank you so much, neil.

an amazing group of gasoday. you do not want to miss it. a quick quote, you should try obamacare. he may like it. in reference to green eggs and ham. he is a good dad. no one will argue to that. adam: while they are fighting in washington, the inaction is paralyzing paralyzing the markets. the dow andds&p trying to break its four-day losing streak. we want to link and the president and chief investment strategist at point view wealth management. it is good to have you here. >> we are in an aging bull

market. now we have all of these headwinds that are faced with both fiscal and monetary policy. it almost would be healthy for the market to have some sort of pull back. interest rates are going higher. corporate earnings have not kept pace at this rally. lori: the markets that all volatile, if you will. that led to the fiscal cliff, ultimately, the sequestration. does the market question the credibility of d.c. at all? >> the safe haven is really the u.s. government debt. when you start calling into

question our obligations to honor that debt, where are your interest rates? are people who are going to go out and buy coca-cola or toothpaste or procter and gamble, does that really argue? i would say no. adam: at the end of the day, they will do something. we were talking before the program started about retail. the shopping season. we are seeing indications that it will not be good for retailers. if i am an investor right now, that worries me.

>> the short term trading is extremely difficult. we prefer to focus on the fundamentals. at the end of the day, they will think because there are 27 days it will cause you to take profits in a well-run detail. lori: oracle is one in particular that you like. >> it is kind of unwanted. that is where we like to look for opportunities. you have all sorts of companies who are generating generous cash flow. lori: does microsoft's fall into that category?

>> no one generates more cash flow than microsoft. lori: raising the minimum wage from eight to $10 an hour. the second hike will be affected by january 2016. adam: our money and the pockets of consumers as guests prices continue to go lower. there are several reasons for the drop. today's national average is

$3.44. the lowest level since january. lori: we have another major city on the brink of bankruptcy. san jose, california. we will talk about that had. adam: the real cost of oil. the surprising results of a new study. lori: plus, a new warning from board nations treasury secretary. more on how little time congress has to get its act together. ♪ capital to make it happen?

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[ male announcer ] how do you get your bounce? [ won ] time for change! lori: a quarter after. let's send it back down to the new york stock exchange and nicole petallides. nicole: the fifth day of consecutive losses for the s&p

500. for the dow, not so. i want to take a look at some of the medical names in particular. let's get right to it. this deal with striker moving ahead. you will see make those jumping. what we are talking about here is striker wants to have access to the surgical system. as a result, you see the two stocks move. adam: jack lew warned john boehner that the debt limit will be reached no later than october october 17. where can the united states cut spending? our next guest says he may have

found the answer. robert wescott joins us now. i think what really captured a lot of attention is the fact that you have been able to determine between 2012 and 2012, it contributed 1.2 trillion to the national debt. >> yes. we do not believe that oil has been the dominant contributor to budget deficits. it has been a contributor. adam: did the study finds that it worked out in a way that i as a consumer have less money to spend there for the have less

money coming in? >> there are a couple direct fax. oil prices quadrupled between 22 and 2012. oil costs more for the government to do things like five military jet and aircraft carriers and so on. the government's budget, the defense department's largest single entity in the world, their budget when something from like $4 billion a year to $16 billion a year. that is one direct effect. government does own some reserves. oil prices go up that can be a small plus for the government. would boost cpi inflation, you boost the adjustments for social security recipients, for

example. that has been a very big increase. finally, higher oil prices to rob real disposable income. it makes slower economic growth. people are paying income taxes on lower revenue. adam: with that cost consumers more to purchase them; right? we pay more for natural guests to do that. >> everything you said is correct. we did look as an experiment over the next 27 years and said what would happen if we could reduce the countries dependent on petroleum in the transportation sector by half. we did not say exactly how that should be achieved.

we leave that to market forces. we did look at some possible technologies that would help. another important fact there -- if those technologies could reduce the dependence on oil we could see improved budget situations for the next 27 years. adam: i do not know has a bigger grin right now. either way, thank you very much for joining us. >> you're welcome. lori: a possible big win for u.s. stock exchanges. adam: pegues is rolling the dice on twitter.

lori: even the ticker symbols. ♪ vera on dan ♪

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>> at 25 minutes past the hour i'm arthel neville with your fox news minute. developing this hour, police in nasa -- nassau county, new york, are searching for a gunman believed to have opened fire on two people the incident occurred near roots svelte field mall in garden city. the mall lockdown. the law enforcement officials did not have any word on the condition of the victims. u.s. forensic teams are helping kenyan forces to search for bodies and evidence in the collapse mall where terrorists held hostage four days. the death toll is 72. the middle of the mall collapsed bringing down another level down to the ground floor. hairy mitz, jr. was convicted of killing a neighbor and police officer responded to the shooting. he was the third excited this year in ohio. i'm arthel neville. get you back to lori. lori: appreciate the update,

arthel. see you around. alibaba group is the china's largest e-commerce company. our jo ling kent is all over the story. >> nasdaq and the new york stock exchange could be fighting once again this time over an ipo that would be far bigger than twitter. alibaba is basically the amazon and ebay of china combined. it is valued more than $70 billion and it is coming to the u.s. because according to "the wall street journal" the chairman and his team could not reach agreement with hong kong stock exchange on future control of the company, especially the makeup of its board post-ipo. journal says alibaba plans to use the same structure on a u.s. exchange that allows the partners of of the company to nominate the majority of alibaba board members. this would be a huge get for nyse or nasdaq. last year alone, chinese consumers bought one trillion yen, 363 million through al by

baba's market platforms. by listing in the u.s. ali baba would have the deepest ipo market in the world. yahoo! owns 25% of it. japan's softbank owns another 25. they have retaped a u.s. law firm so they're well on the way. when i was covering china everyone i knew, they shopped on tabao. actually more ubiquitous than amazon here. lori? lori: could be new competitors, amazon and ali baba. thank you, jo ling. adam: vegas is taking all bets on twitter's ipo the odds may be in your favor. think you know which exchange that twitter willies with? a betting website has the odds 4 to 7 for nyse and 7 to 5 for nasdaq. things get really interesting when it comes to the actual pricing. right now over/under is set at $35.50. we all know twitter is used to 140 characters but what about the four that will make up the twitter symbol.

lori: i like twit. adam: nothing to gain. 5 to 6 for twtr. plenty of profits for long shots, bird and egg. they wouldn't go with that. lori: i like troll. what about jack for jack dorsey the founder. adam: twrt. twit. lori: that is how i feel on twitter. still getting used to using it. adam: everyone is using it. lori: there are peaks and valleys in life but in silicon valley it is more like a rut. steve malanga on san jose, california, financial strug guess and odds for bankruptcy. adam: a potential hike at the u.s. postal service. a look who is up and who is down. we have got some green for you. you make a great team.

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adam: back to the floor of the new york stock exchange to check in with nicole petallides to see who she is watching. who is gaining, who is losing? >> all three major averages are still losing, adam. s&p 500 below the 1700 mark, the crucial mark. the dow continues to be to the downside down 53 points at the moment. we'll see whether or not we end the day because it would be a big deal, we vane seen that for the s&p 500, five straight days of selling this year. talk about noble corporation, a different picture. there is a winner for you as they look to spin off older drilling rigs into a thank you company and make an initial public offering next year and see initial valuation for premium assets. the stock is a winner. adam: nicole, thank you. lori: san jose is the latest city to be on the brink of bankruptcy but there is a plan

that could haven't ali save san jose an a court is expected to rule on the plan. what is the chance of it working and san jose surviving? let's bring in manhattan institute steve malanga. what is the problem in san jose? is that what we've seen in san bernardino and stockton, overloaded pension obligations. >> pensions and pressure on budget. 10 years ago they were spending 74 million every year out of the budget and now they are spending 250 million. they cut the workforce by 1,000 people. it would be over 300 million if they hadn't cut the workforce. crowd out of services. they're not opening buildings that they built, closing down parks, things like that. it's a pinch. lori: there is plan to determine whether or not it will get approval by a judge. state officials says it allows them to cut future pensions without altering benefits employees already accrued. tell me more about it and if you

like it. >> it is more than a plan that the ballot of was passed by people of the city and mayor promoted it. the he said we need this to remain fiscally solvent. the unions challenged in court. they challenged it on the grounds -- lori: police union. very powerful. >> they challenged on the ground essentially the courts in california have said that you just can't touch benefits at all. in the private sector you're allowed to testimony benefits going forward. can't changed what you already earned. going forward you can change them but california said you can't even do that. lori: you explained in the commercial break that that there is a change proposed for change in the california constitution and how it might lead to pension reform. >> if in fact this is overturned by the courts, san jose mayor, chuck reed, along with other mayors is trying to get together an initiative. they have initiative and referendum in california to put on the ballot a change in the

california constitution which allows them to say you are allowed to change retiree benefits. a judge recently ruled for instance in los angeles couldn't even change retiree health care benefits. that is not even vested way pensions are. lori: what will we do about the pension problem in this country? are cities doing it right, making necessary reforms? >> there are places where you can dot reforms and courts allowed them. utah is a good place. they did pension reform and basically capped the taxpayer state contribution at 10%. anything above the employee has to put in. rhode island is another place, did what they call a hybrid plan. a combination of defined contribution plan, and 401(k), and you underneath is there social security-like defined benefit plan but much smaller than the california pensions. lori: is there an investor fallout in the muni bond market from all this? we have another big-name city in the news. >> well a couple of things. i'm not sure san jose is about to go bankrupt yet but they're certainly worried about this

pension. here's the issue. clearly investors and the ratings agencies are paying much, much more attention. moody's recently said we'll start valuing pensions using much more conservative assumptions and that ballooned pension obligations of other places. in addition moody's said, by the way we'll include pension debt as bigger percentage of our ratings. so what, we, chicago for instance, has had their, the city has had their bond rating downgraded specifically because of pensions. there is clearly much more emphasis by the people are saying, this is what is important. you need to be paying attention to this. lori: and the buyers, because they're still such solid demand for muni debt, you know, the credit ratings are being downgraded, borrowing costs are going up but it is not steering any investors clear of the so that is probably -- >> i would say individual cases it is. lori: it is? >> yes. people are getting -- lori: getting more wary. you do have to do your homework.

>> exactly but that's at difference. municipal bond industry was up to certain point a place where you invest and sleep at night without worrying. now suddenly you're doing things like paying attention where they're investing which is probably what you should do anyway. lori: great place to leave it. steve malanga, thanks very much. >> all right. adam: most people don't want the debt ceiling raised but don't want a government shutdown either. charlie gasparino on the new pole numbers and how many americans want to delay obamacare. lori: speaking of fixed income, muni bonds hear is the yield on 10-year treasury. still buying treasurys. all the concern in washington leading investors to the safe haven play. back in a moment. [ male announcer ] imagine this cute blob is metamucil.

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>> i'm cheryl casone with your fox business brief. the united auto workers health care trust hired deutsche bank to advise them in talks with chrysler majority owner fiat. fiat owns 5% of chrysler and wants to by uaw trust shares but the two can not agree on the price. uaw wants to sell the 41% stake in chrysler as an ipo. orders for durable goods edged up higher in august, sign of modest growth in manufacturing. expectation was for order to remain unchanged. august numbers was reversed from july's figure which was revised lower to.1%. harvard university endowment

grew more than 11% this fiscal year to 32-pointbillion dollars. the investment are still below the peek of 2008 before losing $11 billion in the crisis. that's the latest from fox business, giving you the power to prosper.

adam: you want to pay attention to this. shares of wal-mart are drop quickly on a report that wal-mart is cutting order to address its rising inventories. the company actually flagged that in last month's earnings report. the drop is weighing on the dow with stocks dragging to session lows and as we talked with david dietze at the top of the program, another sign that the holiday shopping season will not be all that people hope it will be. lori: inventory build at wal-mart. adam: not good for the sales figures. lori: absolutely. as u.s. government reaches its debt ceiling limit how do americans feel about an increase in the amount the government can borrow? a new study has surprising

results. charlie gasparino is here, of course, with exclusive details. >> we know him well. fox news contributor. he did something with target point consulting. i have a interesting study in this. you wonder why things are so dramatically dysfunctional in washington? they're fighting over the debt ceiling whether to raise it. this is a big thing t could shut down the government. this poll, caught my eye, talks about dysfunction in viewpoints in the american people. polls show americans don't want simply to raise the debt ceiling but don't want a government shoulddown either. what does that mean? they want broad policy changes for exchange in debt ceiling increase. everybody knows if you want policy changes for debt ceiling increase it will take massive amounts of compromise between two sides don't compromise hence -- lori: reasonable person understand that. >> that is not what is happening here. american people are all over the place what they consider compromise. a lot of them. kind of interesting. 54% polled suggest delaying obamacare in exchange for

raising debt ceiling. i don't know that is majority but not overwhelming majority. doesn't tell that people are totally against obamacare. more interesting that 64% were reforming food stamp as opposed to obamacare, a much smaller, sort of program than obamacare. adam: 75 billion a year. >> but it is not huge in terms of -- adam: right. >> they have no problem with reforming that in exchange. kind of interesting. there are some other issues they're talking about on this, so you know, i looked at all this stuff and i you know, i said if you want to know why washington is so screwed up with this debt ceiling they are not getting really clear messages from home. people are all over the place on these issues. obamacare, despite what conservatives say, if this poll is right. by the way the poll was conducted by a conservative. obamacare is not the hated thing just yet. maybe it will be when all the bad stuff starts kicking in. adam: what you have to pay to get insurance at exchanges is higher than -- >> rationing and all that. people are still, marginally

against it but not totally against it. there are a lot of mixed messages here. you know, bottom line is, if you look at it, yeah they, i think if you can sort of pull something out of here that is sort of meaningful, you know i think the american people are kind of freaked out in a sense. why do we have a debt limit every year? why are we in this point where we have to suspend borrowing. >> how could washington not getting the message. wal-mart pulling back on orders. increasing inventories. mortgage origination declining. house prices going up and but now plateauing. get message from ben bernanke saying congress is a mess. we'll not taper until -- how much louder than can you get? >> what you say we still have five years after the financial crisis, despite stimulus, monetary and fiscal stimulus. fiscal stimulus by the obama administration. we still have an economy that is pretty bad, pretty weak. and think one of the things i think it is hard to pull out of

these surveys is, you know, people don't really understand the economy that well and how it worked. one of the things that president obama did coming into office, he looked to do a stimulus plan as he was threatening higher taxes and more regulation on business. that is a stimulus and a destimulus. and i think the media didn't do a very good job of pointing this out. we at fox business and fox news did it from day one. that was one of the problems, that the american people are still kind of in the dark as to what exactly went down in terms of fiscal and policy. they understand printing of money. although they don't understand what it means. it means, you know, going out there and putting, you know, replenishing capital to the banks where they are supposed to lend it out but why are the banks lending it out? banks are holding money right now, businesses are holding money right now. why is that? because they're afraid to spend because of regulation. stimulative effect of obama-nomics has not been explained. some think obamacare is worth it

of because we're providing essential need of people. adam: older people will, won't see increase in price but it is the younger people that will see it in premiums. >> what, no mater what you say about it, whether you're for it or against it, my dad died because he didn't have insurance, okay? i understand the notion -- lori: new level of empathy for you. >> no. i'm saying i understand the notion for need of health care. but what i'm saying remember there's a price. the price was the economy. when they destimulate the economy. lori: one question please, if i could, that is with this poll and talking about what american people understand about the economy for lawmakers for that matter, do you think we collectively take for granted the idea we would never default on debt we've had this discussion before. >> listen i don't see us defaulting on our debt anytime soon and most of the people don't think because the rest of the world is screwed up. at some point --, if the chinese economy radically slows down

where will they put their money? they see us as the one place to put your money. adam: that's right. >> then if you got a default you have massively higher, if it costs much more to borrow than you have massively higher interest rates or tax people. there will be economic -- one of the things that fed movie, we had the director in here, one of the things they talked about maybe we should start planning for some 10 years of, sort of slow economic growth to pay off this stuff so we don't have to worry about that. >> gotcha. charlie gasparino, thank you. as we do every 15 minutes we want to check markets with alan valdez, director of floor trading with d. in e securities on the floor of the new york stock exchange. -- dme securities. want to go back to wal-mart headline. sound if retail will take a big hit. we're seeing it with wal-mart cutting orders. is that what you're seeing with on sort retail officers. >> wal-mart is leading charge. take wal-mart and goldman out, we'd only be down 30 points. they put a lot of pressure on

dow impact. that is what traders watch, wal-mart. we get consumer confidence, but only poll 5,000 people that use land lines. 132 million americans shop at wal-mart every week. that is a big number. they say they're cutting back, we watch that very carefully. adam: alan, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. lori: the company that invented the office cubicle and the chair you may now be sitting in. we introduce to you herman miller next. adam: takeing a licking but keep on ticking, ticking higher that is, the price of a stamp and how much it could cost you next. ♪ in today's markets, a lot can happen in a second. with fidelity's guaranteed one-second trade execution, we route your order to up to 75 market centers

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adam: they're known as the inventer of the office cubicle, office furniture manufacturer, herman miller is seeing new strength by going against its own design. jeff flock is at the herman miller design yard in holland, michigan, jeff? >> what happens when a 300-pound person sits on a herman miller chair for 12 years? this machine is finding out. we're spending all day with the company today, looking at this hour with the growth segment of the company, that is retail. folks bringing the office into their home. we have the vice president of the fastest growing part of the business. what am i looking at here? these are new lines that nobody can even buy yet? >> you can't buy it yet, both coming out next month actually. we're seeing. yin and yank what we're doing with the consumer at herman miller. this looks like a the design from "mad men." >> that spark ad lot of people saying could you bring back the

old stuff? >> that's right. mid-century modern design is super contemporary and lives how we work today. this is new material. green fiberglass. a number of years ago we discontinued fiberglass because of environmental concerns. we bring it back in a way you can be proud of it and it doesn't hurt the planet. >> i love the couch. the couch stays the same but change out the cushions anytime? >> change out the cushions. it is decided on the easier to get up and down and modern urban environments designed in the u.k. for a industrial facility. >> this is new growth area for the company. you're bringing home to the office and office to the home. >> absolutely. if you think about it we spend enormous amount of our times in our homeworking and most of our times working environments wish it worked a lot more like our homes do. >> herman miller, stock is up 50% over the course of the past year. i leave you with look at this, adam, talk about how well they test these chairs. this is what your office chair

will go through in the course of twelve years. they make it happen here in a week. at herman miller. adam: wanted it to be like my office chair they would have to spill soup on quite often. >> that looks like your office chair with the cushions. that may have some soup on there. adam: thank you, jeff flock. lori: the booster, the pillow. more like my -- yeah. boost up. always short. looks like sending out the holiday card may cost a bit more this year. the united states postal service proposing price changes today including increase in the price of first class mail from 46 to 49 cents per letter. the proposed changes need to be approved by postal regulatory commission before any action is taken. if approved it would take effect january of next year and generate $2 billion in increased revenue for the postal service. adam: stocks hitting new session lows. that happened in the last

several minutes. s&p's stamp stovall breaks down today's action and market moves with tracy byrnes and ashley webster as fox business's "markets now" continues. my mantra? always go the extra mile. to treat my low testosterone, i did my research. my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer.

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[ male announcer ] get away fast with unlimited double miles from the capital one nture card. freeze! don't toh the face! can i drive? absolutely not. what's in your wallet? ashley: welcome back, everybody, i'm ashley webster. tracy: and i'm tracy byrnes. high on drama, kind of low on progress. the senate taking its time to stop the government shutdown while a new clock ticks down to the debt ceiling deadline. how will the fiscal mess play out for your investments? s&p's sam stovall is here to tell you. ashley: putting a price on obamacare the white house lays out what it will cost most americans and it might surprise you. fox news's dr. man any alvarez will be here to break it down into today's medical doctors. tracy: should the fda regulate electronic cigarettes the same way as big tobacco?

arizona's attorney general tells us his biggest concerns. ashley: i saw woman smoke it on the train. it is odd, and all the vapor. tracy: don't smell it, don't smell a thing. ashley: all right, i thought i would say that. top of the hour. time for stocks. let's go to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. stocks near the lows of the day. >> stocks near the lows of the day but as you noted we're getting hit now. the dow is down one-third of 1%. this is the worst levels of day around this level. wal-mart is killing sentiment. there was worries about the government shutdown that has been looming over the markets the last four or five days. right around 1:30 there was a report that maul wart is cutting -- wal-mart is cutting orders for the holidays. cutting unsold merchandise. they have inventory piling up they can't sell. the other problem they themselves are acknowledging, they don't have the manpower to pull stuff out of the back rooms. so some holiday stuff coming in

straight from boxes on to the shelves way too early. this is a big picture. big picture they're talking about their suppliers cutting down orders. a lot of this comes from the economy and consumers are just not shopping the way they had hoped, wal-mart had hoped. that being said let's turn to another retailer, this story, we saw wal-mart drop buck 1/2. it has come off the lows. but jcpenney is down 14% on four times the average daily volume. there's a couple stories here. first of all goldman sachs talked about jcpenney's liquidity and the concern about the company overall with underperform rating. also you have a judge looking closely at the macy's, martha stewart, jcpenney saga and saying the judge will do some ruling sooner than later. everybody is waiting on that as well. back to you. ashley: nicole, lots of information. thank you for the but the market moving lower. tracy: god bless jcpenney devote east. ashley: hanging tough. tracy: come on. all right, now on to the latest

battle to stop the government shutdown which is less than a week away now. the senate is taking action in the last hour. senior washington correspondent peter barnes with the details. peter? >> hey, tracy the senate just finished up a procedural vote to end debate on the continuing resolution that would avoid a government shutdown. the vote was 100-0. the vote came after texas tea party republican senator ted cruz held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes, speaking overnight in support of a provision in the resolution that would defund obamacare. under senate rules this was technically not a filibuster but it was the fourth speech in senate history. >> i told the american people that i intended to stand until i could stand no more. and i will observe to the majority leader although i am weary, there is still at least

strength in my legs to stand a little longer. >> but with the senate racing to avoid a government shut down on tuesday, the democratic leader lashed out at cruz. >> for lack of a better way of describing this it has been a big waste of time. the government is set to shut down in a matter of hours, just a few days. government will close. and it's a shame, we're standing here, having wasted perhaps, two days. >> now from here under senate rules cruz can return to the floor and speak and debate for 30 more hours. i would expect he is probably takeing a nap though right now. now once that's done, democrats plan to substitute this legislation with a new continuing resolution that does not defund obamacare.

they would hold a procedural vote on the new bill by late friday or very early saturday morning, with a final vote on it on sunday and would send that over to the house. by the way, now we hear republicans plan to amend that legislation with language to just delay obamacare for a year, rather than defund it. so we could get into some legislative ping-pong here between the two chambers. tracy ashley. tracy: peter barnes, who wrote these rules? and what were they drinking when they wrote them because this is so confuseing? >> the founding fathers, the founding fathers wrote these rules and said each chamber can write its own rules. tracy: craziness. it is craziness. thank god, at least we got to you understand it all. peter barnes down in d.c. >> thanks. ashley: back then, or was it some sort of a grog. washington indecisiveness, that's a hard word, isn't it,

has the country days a way from a shutdown and even with continued stimulus from the fed, well, investors, they are worried. joining me sam stovall, s&p equity i.q. chief market strategist with how uncertainty will affect markets and other things. talk about what is going on in washington first, sam, just to keep with the theme. what does this do for the markets? we know this has been a pattern with congress. they will argue, they will threaten and they will dawdle and something gets done at the last minute. as an investor do you assume they get it done? >> ashley, we're going from sam adams to sam stovall. certainly i think investors are a little bit worried. if you go back to the mid 1990s, when we had the first government shutdown, the s&p fell almost 4% in that time frame but then once the resolution had been agreed to, and the government went back to work, then we jumped more than 10%. so, i would say, yes, investors probably are sitting on their

hands right now. ashley: when you were with us earlier this year, end of april, early may, you said, sell the spy, s, p, y, which is s&p etf and buy equal amounts of xlv, which is the health care etf and xlp, which is consumer staples and hold to the end of october and then sell and buy back to xpy. it was very pointed. do you still believe in those moves you said back at the end of the april? >> i still believe in the overall philosophy. that is what i call the sell in may approach where you gravitate towards the more defensive areas in the summertime and go more towards the cyclical areas from the november through april time frame. this year we had an unusual

situation. the market did very well, and in the period which was normally fairly weak. we were down almost, 19, 20%, back in 2011. in that time frame, down more than 16% in 2010. so i stick by the overall adage. but this year it just didn't work out. but who knows, based on what the government is getting ready to do to us it may end up working just the same. >> with regard to the rates moving higher, sam, we were looking at some of these sectors that do better when the 10-year yield is rising and it is pretty much in line with what we're seeing as far as leading sectors. we have materials, energy, tech, consumer discretionary, industrials. are those areas that you like? >> we are still favoring the cyclical sectors at this point, and we are recommending that investors underweight the defensive. by that i mean, telecom services an utilities. those historically have been

among the worst performers in a rising interest rate environment because they are the highest different dipped payers. also they also have the highest debt to capital ratios. envision somebody who is trying to he trade water with nothing but lead weights in their pockets because of all the debts and commitments in terms of dividends they have to pay out whereas materials and energy are late cycle performers typically when inflation is picking up which we don't see just yet. so right now we're still sticking with discretionary and financials. ashley: quickly, sam, you mentioned the fed. we're waiting for the much-anticipated taper but there is a bit of leadership vacuum in january and we still don't have that sorted out yet although janet yellen seems to be the frontrunner but does that add uncertainty in the market with regard to the fed? >> yes it does. we don't really know who the president will nominate t could be janet yellen or somebody else

as all we know. she would be defacto chairman because she being in the vice chairman is in the role until a new one is appointed and approved. ashley: sam stovall, sam adams, all the sames out there, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks, ashley. tracy: all right. surging new home sales boosting homebuilder stocks yet again. is there anymore upside? we'll ask a top builder analyst next. ashley: also coming up, his hedge fund, sac capital in trouble with the law but steve cohen reportedly still makes money like the best of them. but first take a look how oil is performing. it has been on a downward trend for a while now, as we know, dropping again down 60 cents at 102.53 a barrel. maybe more relief at the pump. we'll be right back.

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analyst from rbc capital markets here in manhattan. thanks for being here. talk about the level of new home sales, because while they're up they're still historically low. we're talking about the like the 1991 recession trough. that is how low they are. >> that's right. what we're seeing is orderly recovery and the big fear among investors would be the fed would stop tapering. this would lead to higher interest rates, less affordability and reduced demand. now we have a temporary reprieve. the long-term trend for the recovery is upward. it is a positive slope. the question investors need to ask themselves is, what is the slope? so our view we'll have an orderly recovery. it will take another two to three years to get back to long-term, prerecessionary construction levels. tracy: what does the slope look like? it is not really a slope, is it? it is like an ascending line. >> it is protracted, okay? we have the headwind of increased interest rates, 30-year mortgages are up

dramatically since may. that is slowing -- tracy: have to say dramatically with a grain of salt, right? we're not talking 9%. we're still really talking historically low levels. >> tracy, you're absolutely correct. in a historical context rates are depressed. by the same level construction activity remains soft as well. our view is that you're going to improve, you don't have a great tailwind from the economy. growth is sluggish. on a bigger picture basis. we need the economy to re-engage in tandem with housing if we expect housing starts and construction activity to accelerate. tracy: we're not seeing any wage growth either. we see that in all the payroll numbers. let's talk about some of your picks though. lennar, kb homes came out, blew out the numbers but you're staying away from those. >> lennar is best-of-breed. that is the gold standard in terms of gross margin performance, terrific management team, best land portfolio. great stock to own for the next

three to five years. kb homes is a company which chased growth which is now intensely focused on profitability under the ceo, ken metzger. they have done a take fan fast tick job takeing a low margin business to make it to high margin business. by focusing on move-up buyer. great stock next three years. next six months, are home stocks going to be the place to be? probably not. tracy: fortune brand and securities, they are brands of fox, been on here, masco and mohawk industry. you're playing from a different angle. >> that's right. home prices are up. consumers have confidence to begin reinvesting in the residence and beneficiaries of this trend will be fortune brands home and security. great company. masco, getting its act together. a lot of positive momentum and global leader in flooring is mohawk out of georgia. we think all three companies are extremely well-positioned to

repair and remodel spending those are short term picks but if i was in it for the long haul -- >> past 6 least resistance where you want to be. you put your money there for a fresh start and have good six month returns and good three-year returns. tracy: bob, i like that. >> thank you. tracy: thanks for being here. excellent. ashley: from housing to the markets overall it is quarter past the hour, let's guest down to the nyse. nicole petallides. you're watching some of these tech movers right now. >> there are names we're watching very closely. we'll start off with black per riff which has such a hard time here. seems like when fairfax came in and big offer of 4.6, 4.7 billion to take blackberry private, seemed like good news at first. it was $9 a share offer. now they're having to obviously gain some of the bucks. they're looking for one billion dollars in equity investment to support the bid. prim watson, ceo is making calls

to private equity firms and hedge funds and the like to try to get the money. let's talk about facebook. facebook yesterday got a pop. goldman sachs, citigroup, gave it $55 price target. today you have a few other ones. canaccord has a buy rating, target. on pen -- oppenheimer, raises to 34 bucks. despite the fact that facebook continues to soar and test record highs here around get closer to 50 bucks, analysts are still hot on it. back to you. >> very good. nicole, thank you very much. we'll be back to you at the bottom of the hour. tracy: today's outrage over comments from aig ceo. why one top democrat demanding that he resign. that's next. ashley: as we head to the break, look how the u.s. dollar is moving today. a bit mixed. euro and pound up against the dollar. the canadian dollar and peso moving down. the japanese yen moving up. all in all that is what we call mixed, isn't it?

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tracy: at 21 minutes past the hour i'm arthel neville with your fox news minute. the fbi today releasing brand new video of last week's deadly shooting rampage at the

washington navy yard. you're looking at chilling footage right here. the fbi surveillance video showing the gunman as he carries out attack, saying evidence now shows that aaron alexis acted alone. u.s. forensic teams helping kenyan forces search for bodies in collapsed mall that al qaeda linked terrorists held hostage four days in nairobi. the death toll is currently 72. the maul as top level collapsed in the middle of the building bringing down another level to the top floor. a 7.7-magnitude earthquake left over 300 people dead and hundreds wounded in a southwestern province of pakistan. soldiers and rescue workers scrambling to reach victims in the remote area. the quake was so powerful it made a small island emerge off a pakistani port city. those are the headlines. back to ashley. ashley: arthel neville, thank

you very much. appreciate it. gas prices fall to the lowest level since january and likely have not bottomed out yet. sandra smith has details in today's trade. sandra? >> hey, ashley, well it is good news for drivers. we've seen prices come down 24 straight days. right now, many economists are predicting we could see gas prices at pump fall another 20 to 25 cents from where they are today. the reason? we're getting increasing supply, refineries are putting out more gasoline, also we've got decreasing demand, post-summer driving season and lower crude prices. nowhere else, others in rbob gasoline contract trades at cme, wholesale gasoline price. tells us where prices are going. rbob gasoline has been the worst performing commodity month to date over the past month, has fallen about 11%. underperforming all other commodities. so the price continues to come down. that means you will see lower prices at pump and guess what here is what you're paying,

national average, $3.44. just a month ago you were paying 10 cents higher than that, and a year ago, guys, you were paying 3.81. you're paying almost 40 cents less than you were this same time last year. so enjoy it while it lasts. economists do expect it to con to slide. ashley i always point out history. if you look back at history, we're still at significantly higher gas prices than we once were. in fact aaa points out today, that the price of gasoline has been dove $3 for 1,000 straight days. that has not happened before, ever. keep that in mind. ashley: sadly gotten used to that we'll take lower prices for now. sandra smith, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. tracy: congressman versus the ceo. top ranking democrat has demanded aig ceo robert benmosche resign over controversial comments he made. lizzie mack with all the details. what did he say? >> great to be with you, tracy and ashley, basically

robert benmosche was park talking about public outrage at $450 million in bonuses at aig after the company got up to 182 billion-dollar bailout. what he says, he called it, pub ignorance. that is what robert benmosche called it. public ignorance intended to stir public anger and people to get out the nooses, hang man's noose and pitchforks. like what we did in the deep south. that is what robert benmosche said, and i think it is just as bad and just as wrong. elijah cummings out of maryland, top house ranking member there. sharecroppers experienced lynchings. i find it unbelievably appalling. if it is true that he said this, mr. benmosche demonstrate ad fundamental inability to lead the modern global company in responsible manner and he should

resign immediately. this is lighting up social media. we're essentially seeing a fight between ceo of a company and came in after it flopped. and helped to, you know, right size it with a lot of government money. ashley: yeah. >> and a lot of layoffs. laid off 20,000 people, right. also the government bailouts didn't really help the economy. and it helped the underlying securities and derivatives aig improve in value. now the debate on the twitter feed and on social media, did mr. benmosche really rescue the company or did the government rescue aig. tracy: clearly government did. and what is benmosche thinking saying stuff like that. >> this isn't the first time he said it either. he made similar comments in 2009. so the fight is over, you know -- ashley: didn't learn the lesson apparently. >> the fight is should mr. cummings be in there saying he should resign? this is inflammatory comments. gotten at love people angry that he said it. i've been talking to people

about it. the thing with the d.c. bailouts, a lot of these bankers, a lot of these ceos holler around complain about d.c. but they are the first to go down there with their tin cup to get government bailouts. ashley: that's true. that is irony, isn't it, around the goal you could say. >> yeah. ashley: look the taxpayers bailed them out? >> yeah it did. with a lot of money. they paid it back. they still owe some money. aig still owes the taxpayers some money. a lot of money from the federal reserve came that way. >> started to hit on it. benmosche, did he save the company or chop it up and sell it? >> he sold off a lost units. tracy: can we call him a savior? >> that is the debate in social media. can we call him a savior. pitchforks saying that in 2009 and talking about lynch mobs in 2009. you know, that is where debate is too. tracy: ick. ashley: maybe he shouldn't say anything. tracy: there is that. ashley: liz macdonald, great stuff. >> sure. ashley: coming up, regulating e-cigarettes. arizona's attorney general tom

horn joins us and tell us why he is working with other states to push the fda to take action. tracy: first we have some winners and losers on the s&p 500 right now. autozone, up 2.75%. fixing their cars. dow is down 44 points. we'll be right back. howdy partner. you're not linda. i'm filling in for officer owens. she used double miles from her capital one venture card to take an early vacation. buckle up. let's go do cop stuff. [ siren chirps ] license and venture card, ma'am. was i going too fast? oh, you'd be going twice as fast if you had double miles. [ male announcer ] get away fast with unlimited double miles from the capital one nture card. freeze! don't touch the face! can i drive? absolutely not.

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24 hours. zero heartburn. ashley: 90 minutes until the close of today's session. some red and green on the upside. jpmorgan chase leading the dow 30 up nicely $1.11, cisco also up but on the downside among all of those in the red, walmart at

the bottom, the biggest loser and the dow is going to cut orders with suppliers this quarter and next quarter because of rising inventory which put together at this time. nicole petallides at the new york stock exchange with the latest. nicole: we will see the downside down 50 points and the wal-mart store put a damper on makes so we will see what wal-mart does, hearing that segment to segment not necessarily across-the-board. it may be in one sector within walmart. walmart came off of the lows of the day but the markets are under pressure. noble corp. is up 2% right now. they will spin off the older drilling rigs, a new company and initial public offering next year trying to seek premium value for the best assets, the big deal here today and you concede the stock reflecting

that. ashley: breaking news, oil extending for a fifth straight day closing down at $0.47 a $102.66 a barrel continuing to get help at the pump. as sandra smith pointed out we have gone over a thousand days where it has been over $3 a gallon gas. i can't remember when it was under $3. >> back in the day it was $1.90. a lifetime ago. i was mad about it being a dollar 90 back then because i had no money. time to break up the cable dial. let viewers play for only the channels they want to watch. a new survey says what the people want. dennis kneale will tell us what that is. dennis: viewers want their tv my way. the question is whether cable will never complied. 70% of viewers which they could

order cable individually or in narrower packages reassemble for ourselves and 65% say they would want ten channels or more, 70% said they would buy a basic cable, surprising 60% said they would sign up for sports even though 5% of viewers actually watch sports regularly. those results from a survey from price waterhouse coopers the firm interviewed a thousand viewers ages twenty-one-44 and 35-49 and focus groups so what would we pay? among those who want the channel 72% would pay $2 a month per show, 60% would pay $3 a month per channel and 26% really big spenders pay up to $8 a month per channel. one problem. it would topple the entire cable business reducing revenue, cutting profits, killing dozens or even hundreds of smaller niche channels and many monthly cable bills would be cut in half

and that $3 for general people are willing to pay less than the $5.71 per home vermont espn charges cable system every single month. u.s. senator john mccain has called for a bill forcing cable operators to break up the fat packages but disney's e o on fox business said he doesn't fear cable will have to break of the dial because viewers get such great value. the survey shows 14% of viewers want the big bloated channel packages cable now offers so for now we offset cable's in tread jensens by loading up on streaming. 40% of viewers get netflix, 20% get amazon prime, a 16% apple itunes, 8% who landed turns out the survey says most of us subscribe to more than one service. we will get tv our way whether cable likes it or not. ashley: on the netflix and whatever you want to watch it is interesting. this debate has been going on

for a long time. tracy: when you are channel surfing and happen upon something you would never buy and use it and end of watching something. dennis: 7 did the of discovery is a wonderful thing. when we lost newspapers and people stopped reading them they stopped stumbling on things that surprised them and we are about to do that did television. tracy: 7 debate. ashley: appreciate it. steve cohen might pay billions to settle insider-trading charges against his firm but legal woes are not hurting his return. what is reporting as they see capital is up 13% as of last friday and the fund is doing well so far this month and cohan has fewer outside investors since the insider-trading case heated up, plans that were deemed $5 billion from the firm,

charlie gasparino previously reported:looking to convert the hedge fund into a family office in the future. but still continues. cheryl: what will obamacare costs? every day americans like you and me, medical dollars, fox news, dr. alvarez is here. ashley: the ten year heading down, we will be right back. f te is just a tap away. ♪ introducing at&t digital life... ♪ ...personalized home security and automation... [ lock clicks ] ...that lets you be cloto home. that's so cool. [ male announcer ] get $100 in instant savings when you order digital life smart security. limited availability in select markets. ♪

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melissa: melissa frances, california governor jerry brown signed into law a bill that will increase the state's minimum-wage to national high of $10 an hour by 2016. current california minimum wage is the dollars. will increase to $9 next july and $10 in january of 2016. orders for durable goods edged up 0.1% higher in august, sign of modest growth in manufacturing. a big change from july's figure which was revised lower to 8.1% and at 5:00 eastern on money, but the honest guys are back, you loved them last time and you love what they're telling us tonight, most important ingredients to bring the work place for profit. that is the latest on the fox business network giving you the

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tracy: the white house has released details on what americans will pay for health care under obamacare and rich edson has the latest from the white house on all that. rich: republicans point out of this isn't exactly a complete picture of what people will pay, just take examples from around the country and it does show people can get very affordable health care less than they thought would cost under the new health care plan. take a look here. these are examples of the white house and administration saying, 27-year-old in dallas making 25 brandied paying $75 a month for the law's level plan, the bronze plan, 139 for the silver plan, one above that, basically you have lower deductibles, a family of 4 in dallas with an income

would pay $26 a month, family of 4 in fort lauderdale with an income of $50,000 would pay $24 a month for bronze plan, these are with tax credits, the government hoping to subsidize, in charlotte, a plan could cost $36 a month, st. louis, missouri the same braun's plan would cost $32 a month. republicans point to analysis by the wall street journal that a 27-year-old living in tennessee could get a bare bones plan for $41. under obamacare the plan would be better but would cost $114 a month. same scenario in cheyenne, wyoming, $82 under the -- $271. democrats republicans arguing over obamacare's costs. >> as we learned this news they're coming in lower-than-expected.

and the option of affordable health insurance and have it available to them. >> it needs to be repealed. and focus on the dangers explaining all of us on this side of the aisle overturning it. >> republicans try to defund or delay this law. it is a full-blown push to get those enrolled in this. full benefits paid out january 1st. tracy: thanks for keeping it all straight for us, confusing. ashley: for more on the actual cost of obamacare we are joined by fox news health dr. dr. manny alvarez in the medical dollars segment. doctor, thank you for being here. we heard jay carney, a spokesperson saying premiums are coming in lower than expected

and millions of people who had no access to health care can now afford it. that is one argument. what is your response? >> it is a lie. it is propaganda. it means nothing. what don't you say it costs a penny? it will mean the same thing. all these numbers don't mean anything to anyone right now because you just don't know. is the same argument we had when he implemented, putting it together saying it would cost x, and it costs much more money than that and they still don't know how much will cost. whatever numbers they come of with means nothing. it is political propaganda to convince everybody this is going to be a good thing october 1st. one thing they don't tell you they give you different numbers and say if you go for bold plan will be $240 or if you go for a silver platter will be 163 or if you go for a bronze it will be 1 -- $75. they don't tell you what the plans include.

what do i get? i know what i get on american express as a gold member, they tell you up front. same for platinum, same for basic green card. these people are not telling you anything. we also know this is going to be predicated on what choices you have. in some states you have many choices. in other states you only have one choice from insurance companies that would take everybody and so therefore each market is going to predicate what those bold plans, silver plans and bronze plans will include which at the end of the day the patient which was never taken into consideration because the mandate was get them insurance but nevermind what it costs. give them insurance never mind what it costs. ashley: how can the medical community prepare for this when there's so much a know? >> i wrote an article you can watch on foxnewshealth.com, october 1st will be the end of the private doctor and the

beginning of socialism. any individual, the backbone of america for centuries has been a private doctor, in the private communities took care of their folks and they were there always. there will be no more private doctors in small communities around america because they have to work for a big corporation. they have to work for a hospital or they have to work for a health system or an insurance company and they will be 9-5 employees and they will be taught how to practice, what tests to do or else, here is the big thing, or else, because this is a punitive law and that is the backbone. october 1st, the backbone of health care will be broken in half. ashley: many of these doctors -- >> they're going to retire, they're going to retire. those that have to feed their families will have no choice to succumb to this mandate and that is the end of that. individualism out the door.

socialism in. ashley: on that note. thank you very much. tracy: not happy at all. it is a quarter till, time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes we head to the stock exchange. allen vowed as joins us. so good to see you. dr. manny alvarez -- walmart dragging this market down. you would think that would mean the economy is still pretty crabby, capering continues. >> that is usually how it is, bad news for main street, good news for wall street that is getting kind of old and traders are so nervous over it that debt ceiling may not come off, so there is trepidation not here but overall the market is flat. not like there's a lot of selling going on. there are no bys around. they look very light. tracy: you make a great point about the debt ceiling. the market is more concerned about the debt ceiling then this

silly budget debate. you are great, thank you. ashley: regulation pushover, the cigarettes, not regulation, dozens of states want the fda to take action. attorney general from lord will tell us why next. tracy: you thought domenique strauss-kahn's career in high finance was over, think again. we will tell you who hired the guy next. craziness. look at today's winners and losers on nasdaq as we head to break. we will be right back. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us.

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tracy: 40 bipartisan is in state attorneys general banded together saying the fda letter

urging to begin electronic cigarettes saying it regulates tobacco products. joining us, tom horn, arizona attorney general, one of the 40 the signed the letter, thank you for being with us. you are referring to the october 31st deadline the fbi opposed on itself to regulate these ecigarettes. >> yes. you should know in my state arizona is one of the few states where we cannot sell these cigarettes to minors, people under 18. something i have been pushing for for three years and got passed in the last session, they're banned from minors as tobacco cigarettes are. tracy: the ceo of invoices there should be regulation against this. and reasonable regulations so people have confidence that what they are buying is what they think they're getting and there's regulatory certainty in the environment and he said he asked his vendors to check each

prove before they sell to minors. a lot of companies want this regulation. >> yes. it is importance is not be sold to minors because the cigarettes deliver a dose of nicotine and 22 chemicals that can be toxic and nicotine is highly addictive. is believed to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine. is important that kids not to smoke ecigarettes and not only have we got our legislature to pass a law banning it but we have volunteered teenagers who go into the stores and we have been doing with tobacco and adding ecigarette trying to by the end of their sold under age is a $300 fine personally and a thousand dollar fine for the store so powerful incentives not to sell these to my ears. tracy: is that accurate? there is no tobacco, no

additives, no chemical carcinogens, but there in the regular tobacco cigarettes. e cigarettes are liquid nicotine's so it will have the same rules and regulations on ecigarettes is that fair? >> recent studies find there are 22 harmful chemicals including three that are highly toxic and some that come in equal doses as you would get from cigarettes and nicotine itself is highly addictive so this is something that must be kept away from minors. cheryl: once the government start regulating this we will start taxing it. is that part of the incentive here? >> i don't know. i don't know if it is fair to tax tobacco and not becigarettes if they do something similar. of the distant additional restrictions on advertising the way there are 4 tobacco. it seems like the restrictions

and taxes that apply to tobacco should apply to ecigarettes. the biggest issue for me took me three years working with the legislature is to be sure these things are not sold to minors and there are only a few states that have done that but i am urging all states to ban the sale of ecigarettes. tracy: we estimated 1 billions of sales to these so where exactly is the fda? will they make their october 31st deadline? >> i joined with 39 other attorney general's asking them to regulate ecigarettes. they should be regulated. they deliver harmful sid -- chemicals including the highly addictive nicotine. tracy: will they make their deadline? are you in touch with them enough to know this will happen? >> i have no insight communications with the fda. all i can do is urge that it be deregulated and other states to ban the sale to minors as we

have done. and incidentally you mention the size of the sales. sales of these products to high school students have doubled in the past year. tracy: keep them away from the kids. thank you, thanks for being with us. ashley: sex scandals are not keeping this guy down. domenique strauss-kahn getting another chance with a new job. french investment firm has hired him to run its investment banking. the firm will even change its name to l f k, domenique strauss-kahn was behind the rescues of many debt-ridden countries at the imf but was forced to quit after sexual assault charges in 2011. those charges were later dropped. he is awaiting trial in france on pending charges from a separate incident. tracy: ridiculous. stay with us. "countdown to the closing bell" is next, the dow down 45 points. don't go anywhere.

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♪ >> good afternoon, everybody. i'm liz claman. welcome to the last hour of trading. it is "countdown to the closing bell." you might not know it, but we are all a little more wealthy today. american's net worth rose to $74 trillion in the april-june quarter, up nearly 2% from the first quarter. it is all largely due to an increase in stock and home prices, and that is benefiting more affluent americans but apparently everybody gets to participate in this according to the fed. speaking of von's, americans stepped up purchases of new homes. the commerce department says the sale of new homes increased by a just below 8% in the month of august of 421,000 homes at an annual rate. i