thank you very much. if you take a look, the dow is off of its lows of the day, so right now down about 330 points. better than 350. liz claman, over to you. liz: happy tuesday. happy september. thank you so much. hook, even hercules might not be able to contain this three-headed monster that's driving markets mad on this first trading day of september. stocks underwater not only as new 15% tariffs on chinese goods kicked in over the weekend, but now there is an economist at a major bank who says china is hunkering down and preparing for the trade war with the u.s. to last up to a decade. trade-sensitive stocks are getting pummeled as the schedule for new talks with the chinese is still up in the air, and then there's the deadly hurricane. dorian leaving destruction in in its path. we are going to tell you exactly where it's centered right now

and perhaps more importantly where it might go existence. across the pond, an all-out battle in parliament ranging at -- raging at this hour as a no-deal brexit is now challenged by e a break member or two of prime minister boris johnson's own political party. they've defected to the other side, to pro-e.u. side. we'll show you more on that. and add in manufacturing activity here in the u.s., so weak that it is contracting, we've got a full-blown selloff to start the month historically known as one of the worst on the calendar. as you heard deirdre say, well off the lows of 425 points, the nasdaq down 107, it's the russell that's getting crushed by 1.75%. plus, huawei sues the u.s. for the very thing the u.s. had accused huawei of doing. what facebook now doesn't like, and charlie breaks it on overstock's stubborn troubles after controversial ceo patrick

byrne quits in a hail of glory or whatever you want to call it. we're less than an hour to closing bell. happy september. let's start "the claman countdown." ♪ ♪ liz: and we are just getting this dismal breaking news. the u.s. coast guard has just announced that it has called off the search efforts for survives after that boat packed with scuba divers caught fire near an island off the southern california coast early this morning. officials said 34 people died while 5 crew members jumped in the ocean and did manage to survive. while california copes with that tragedy, we will get to the markets and get you any breaking news on that story if it becomes available. in the meantime, this first trading day of the month of september starting on a decidedly negative note. right off session lows at the moment, down 328, the s&p down 26, the nasdaq lower by 105. but is what's happening today

sort of a precursor for a september swoon? according to data the s&p 500 has historically delivered its poorest return of the year in september with an average loss of just below 1%. not a good start for boeing which, of course, is a dow component, piling onto the problem today. it is the biggest loser on the dow jones industrials, down about 2.75% or $9.91 as fears about the return of the 737 max will be further delayed. u.s. regulators say they actually need more time, possibly just a few more weeks but still more time, to finish their review following the grounding of the 737 max jet after two fatal crashes. let us get to technology. the chipmakers, these are the semiconductor makers which have huge revenue exposure to china, they are down for the count. look at all of these. it's a multiple 3s as in 3% losses for everything from broadcom to analog and qualcomm,

the philadelphia semiconductor index down 2% and of course, why? well, we got the new 15% tariffs that kicked in on about $180 billion of chinese goods coming in. it's not necessarily the semiconductors are involved in that, it's just the fact that there is no end in sight or real clear strategy for the u.s. to end this trade war with china. we need to add this bolt of lightning to the three storms we're watching, manufacturing activity in the u.s. in august contracted for the first time in three years. the institute for supply management, which is that index that captures national factory activity, dropped to 49.1. the expectation was something like 51.1, so it's below that. and, by the way, any reading below 50 means contraction. let's get to our floor show, guys, in keeping with the hurricane theme right now, how do you view this? are we starting to feel the economic outer bands, if you will, of a storm that's been

soaking the rest of the globe? john corpina. >> hey, liz. back to school, back to work, summer's over, but the headlines are still all the same, right? u.s./china relations and how those conversations are distancing themselves. last week and the week before that we talked about the inverted yield curve and what those implications are. ism number today below 50. this whole storm, like you said -- and i like your vage there, the market historically, as you said, does not perform well in september and leading into october, and i think starting off the month like this is not a good tone. liz: okay. i know, not a good tone but, alan, it is a little hard to get too worried by this manufacturing number because, you know what? personal consumption, meaning what we all buy here in the u.s., was up 10% -- >> right. liz: -- from december to july. but the market, which is sort of a gigantic voting machine, is voting to be worried about this, and does that mean that stocks aren't the place to be right now whether you think the economy is

in trouble? >> yeah. it's easier to worry e than be optimistic a lot of times, and if you look at manufacturing, it only makes up about 11% of our economy. it's not as big an issue as it has been in the past, and the more concerning number for me was the fact that the export numbers dropped down to a level we haven't seen since april of 2009. now, that was obviously a very bad time. but i did love the way things looked coming into the weekend. if you looked at the close on friday, we had a breakout of the s&p, that august range. we were making higher highs in the markets, and we were only 3% off. today is one day that's given back half of our gains last week, but overall i want to see follow through from what happened last friday. liz: scott bauer, brexit seems like yet another sort of groundhog day situation, although it does seem like things are ramping up there.

not to mention the tariffs that kicked in. china has tariffs on u.s. energy, u.s. crude that's coming in. again, no end in sight for the trade war. give me your sense of where stocks go in this month. >> you know, liz, the market just like anything else does not like uncertainty. so if we start with brexit here, now there's even more uncertainty about what's going on. what was the final deadline of october 31st now has possibly come into question. so that's why you're seeing just a ton of pressure on the pound here versus the dollar. with china, this is not going to be resolved anytime soon, and i think going back to the conversation now about the manufacturing sector, now we're actually seeing what has happened globally start to seep into the united states here where the manufacturing sector here, forward-looking, is now extremely concerned about these tariffs. so does that mean? -- what does that mean? it means volatility is not going away anytime soon.

that being said, yes, the dow is down 300 plus points, s&p is down 25 points, but look at the vix today. the vix is not up that much. you can say it's up 4%, whatever it is. on a day like this beginning of september, if we've sold off this much, i would have expected it to be up a lot bigger. >> that's a great point, very good point. liz: right, john? metals here, guy, we did have gold coming down because as we look at gold at the moment, now it's up about -- well, it was up about $27. so that fear trade is still kind of in play, right, john? >> absolutely. i think, you know, it is there, and i am supportive of this market. i think this market does run higher, and as alan said, it's easier to be pessimistic than optimistic. friday's activity, it was the end e of the month. i know it wasn't tend of the quarter, but we did see a little bit of window dressing considering all the volatility of the prior two weeks.

i am a believer in this market, and the vix point is very good. that should be up another 2% in this type of -- liz: great to see you all. thank you so much, john, alan, scott. american airlines stock is moving higher on somewhat of a solid sign that parts of florida are going to dodge the worst of hurricane dorian. american airlines is just announcing that it will resume service at fort lauderdale and nassau airport in the bahamas, this as hurricane dorian finally moves away from the bahamas after dumping rain over the islands for 36 hours straight. let us get you exactly where the exeberts say it is -- experts say it is centered, 105 miles east of fort pierce, florida. i don't know why we're looking at -- [laughter] alaska here, but dorian's outer bands soaking the sunshine state. states of emergency spreading along the east coast from florida now all the way up to virginia as the hurricane's precise path remains unclear. more than 1,600 flights have

been canceled in the u.s. today on top of the 1,500 flights that have been canceled. so you're compiling some 3,000 flights plus. now yesterday half of today's canceled flights coming from orlando. right now hurricane stands at a category two with winds of around about 110 miles per hour. that's what theveee clocked at, but the beast itself is moving at a speed of just 5 miles an hour. more than 12,000 customers without power in florida, and we are hearing that florida power and light has warned customers outages may be longer and more frequent than they usually are during hurricanes. ubs has put a price tag on it, estimating the cost of hurricane dorian at at least $25 billion of losses, and that would be for the insurance policy industry. insurance city. industry. it appears florida may be spared that direct hit, but that's not the case further up the coast which is where doug mckelway, who's fox's news reporter in

wilmington, north carolina. i'm looking right now, i see blue sky. what's coming though, doug? >> reporter: that's right, blue sky on this side of the beach as we look northward with, but if we swing around to the south end here, you can see that the skies are looking a little bit more ominous. no sign of any hurricane and, in fact, people are still in the water even though lifeguards are flying red flags indicgd hazardous swimming conditions. there are still a lot of people in the water, in fact, i went for a dip yesterday with evening, and it was delightful. the waves were big and powerful but not overpowering. that is obviously going to be changing in the next 24-48 hours. most of the hurricane models that we have been looking at have shown close brushes with hurricane dorian in the continental united states, but many of those models show the first direct contact with the united states to be right about here. we are in carolina beach just a little bit down the road from wilmington, north carolina. we've just gotten word that the governor of north carolina has closed off all barrier islands,

all barrier islands are under mandatory evacuation right now. but as you can see, people are not heeding those evacuations. it takes effect tomorrow, but nobody's in any hurry to leave, they want to enjoy the last remnants of the sun and the surf. the water's absolutely delightful. that will change. we did speak to some people in local taverns around here, bars and restaurants during the lunch hour today, and several locals told the us they're planning on staying put anyway. of course, that's a hugely risky decision, beam know that very well -- people know that very well from hurricane florence which hit this area directly last year. came over this region of the coastal north carolina area and just sat still over the top of it, resulting in flooding. and what makes carolina beach where we are so vulnerable is not only the atlantic on the east side, but cape fear river on the west side. cape fear river overnodded its banks -- overflooded its banks

last september, and as a result of that, many of the businesses here are still closed down. they suffered water damage and were unable to open this summer, so the revenue's down considerably here. further up the coastline to the outer banks, also a mandatory evacuation that area, especially vulnerable because it's such a thin thread of land. and the main road there often times get washed out in hurricanes. no reason to stay there whatever because if the road is washed out, route 12 is washed out, you're stuck, nowhere to go. liz, that's the late from carolina. things will be deteriorating. liz: and cue the hurricane flag that just went behind you on that atv. doug, thank you for keeping us posted. with the closing bell ringing in 47 minutes, u.s. casino stocks sliding along with the markets at this hour after weak gambling revenue mecca in the chinese giant of macao showed revenues were down 8.6%

there in august. why? hello, chinese economic growth is slowing. the trade war's dragging on, and fears related to the hong kong protests are not helping the situation. las vegas, mgm and juan, they all have exposure, and they are down anywhere from two and a third percent, for wynn down 4, nearly 5%. up next, china's biggest smartphone maker and telecom giant crying foul amid the trade war. former state department official bob hormats is here first on fox business on huawei's new accusations of cyber warfare and intimidation. "the claman countdown" is coming right back with that story and much more. the dow is down 322 right now. ♪ ♪ this is the age of expression. everyone has something to say. but in a world full of talking, shouldn't somebody be listening?

so. let's talk. we are edward jones. with one financial advisor per office, we're built for hearing what's important to you. one to one. edward jones. it's time for investing to feel individual.

to the wait did fr we just win-ners.rouders

everyone uses their phone differently. that's why xfinity mobile let's you design your own data. now you can share it between lines. mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. it's a different kind of wireless network designed to save you money. save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. plus get $250 back when you buy a new samsung note. click, call or visit a store today.

♪ ♪ liz: if you can't beat 'em, accuse them. after months of accusations by the trump administration, the chinese telecom giant huawei has been installing spyware into its hardware that it sells to american clients, now huawei is attempting to turn the tables on the u.s. china's largest tech company says the u.s. government has done everything from, quote, threatening to menacing, to launching cyber attacks against it in a bid to infiltrate huawei's information systems. is and that's not all. china plans to file suit through the world trade organization to make its accusations official. to former undersecretary of state and former goldman sachs vice chairman bob hormats who joins us first on fox business. well, the list is long of huawei's accusations. you know, i pulled this and i highlighted a bunch of things, and they're saying that the united states infiltrated and put some type of malware,

spyware or is at least trying to infect the internet that huawei has in china. so it's just unbelievable now. we're getting this he said/she said type of situation. what does that tell you about the trade war overall? >> i think the trade war overall when you look at the latest tariff moves by the united states which were implemented in part over the weekend and china responding, but responding with a much smaller response than they could have conjured up. and the fact is that china has been relatively restrained in its response to the tariffs that the united states put on over the weekend which indicates that they would like to sit down at the negotiating table again. liz: but they can't get a schedule -- >> they can -- that's what's so troublesome. the fact is the trust has been badly e eroded -- eroded, and now we're seeing the united states escalating and then china responding in part but not to the same degree as the united

states, and they can't even get an agreement on a time to get together. we're really on a course in the markets -- and the markets have picked this up as you've been reporting, we're on a course toward mutually assured disruption; disruption of our economy and of the chinese economy. and big american companies are going to be hit with big supply chain relationships with china. but more and more of the goods that are going to be taxed under the new administration's revenue efforts, in fact, increasing the tariffs -- which will increase revenues -- are at the expense of american consumers. liz: well, you talked about erosion in trust. you can't just blame the united stat for that. >> no. liz: or president trump. you have to blame china which moved the goalposts when they had an actual draft which seems so long ago, and suddenly xi jinping said, no, we're not doing that. so now you've got this note by a deutsche bank economist who understands asia, and he is now

saying that china no longer sees resolving the trade war as the top issue in the u.s./china relations, they see economic resilience in the, in light of the situation. they are also -- he's also saying, this is the economist at deutsche bank, that the chinese are predicting this to last a decade and they will see it through? >> i think if they can't reach agreement in the relatively near future, this could last a long time. it's not clear what the administration's goals are. do they want a quick agreement? probably not. do they want an agreement before the election? do they want to have this decoupling, the severance of economic ties between the united states and china, or does the administration really want to badly weaken the chinese economy and hurt particularly its high-tech companies? if the chinese perceive that

there's not an agreement anytime soon, they're very dependent on the united states, on the u.s. market and on the u.s. for particular inputs, marley high technology -- particularly high technology inputs. they're going to have to figure out a strategy and not be so vulnerable to trade or supply disruptions with the united states. that may well be if they've concluded there's not an agreement coming, the united states is going to weaken their economy, they're going to have to be more and more resilient themselves and find other markets and suppliers themselves. liz: october 1st is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china. that's the day president trump intends to jack up to 25% some of the tariffs on chinese imports to this country. that's a symbolic finish. >> yes. liz: -- very touchy, sensitive the, soft spot for the chinese, is it not? >> yes, it is. liz: how will that go over? >> first of all, badly. but second, president xi, there'll be a big ceremony

commemorating the 70th anniversary commemorating the founding, and it'll give him the opportunity to say we're now under pressure from the united states economically, and we have to strengthen our unity -- liz: but look at the shanghai stock market, down 10% since the tariff wars began. >> yes. liz: shenzhen down 4%, hong kong, the hang seng is a different story with all of the protests, that's down 17%. somebody's going to cry uncle. make a prediction. >> i don't know at this point. it's not going to be -- the chinese are not going to make con educations that they think are -- concessions that they think are going to undermight be their system -- undermine their system. i don't know who's going to make concessions or who's going to blink first, but at some point they both have to sit down or both economies are going to be badly weakened. the chinese do want to strengthen their resilience, and i think you'll see this on october 1, president xi's already said we went through the long march, we can go through

this. he's going to try to pull the country together economically and politically behind an effort to deal with this problem if he has to. liz: bob hormats, former undersecretary of state, thank you so much. >> pleasure. liz: for coming on. when we come back, accusations of deep state ties and then, of course, romances with red-headed russian operatives. patrick byrne of overstock leaving the e-commerce if world behind in a blaze of glory or notoriety, but guess what? overstock's stock cannot recover, at least for the moment. charlie gasparino has exclusive details next. ♪ ♪ that's why, your cash automatically goes into a money market fund when you open a new account. and fidelity's rate is higher than e-trade's, td ameritrade's, even 10 times more than schwab's. plus only fidelity has zero account fees and zero minimums for retail brokerage and retirement accounts. just another reminder of the value

you'll only find at fidelity. open an account today. you'll only find at fidelity. there's a company that's talked than me: jd power.people 448,134 to be exact. they answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. and when they were done, chevy earned more j.d. power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. so on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say "thank you, real people." you're welcome. we're gonna need a bigger room.

- in the last year, of cybercrime every second. when a criminal has your personal information, they can do all sorts of things in your name. criminals can use ransomware, spyware, or malware to gain access to information like your name, your birthday, and even your social security number. - [announcer] that's why norton and lifelock are now part of one company, providing an all in one membership for your cyber safety that gives you identify theft protection, prdevice security, a vpn for online privacy, and more. safety and if you have an identity theft problem, we'll work to fix it with our million dollar protection package. - there are new cyber threats out there everyday, so protecting yourself isn't a one time job,

it's an ongoing need. now is the time to make sure that you have the right plan in place. don't wait. - [announcer] norton 360 with lifelock. use promo code get25 to save 25% off your first year and get a free shredder with annual membership. call now to start your membership or visit lifelock.com/tv ♪ ♪ liz: when ceos step down, this is what they often cite: wanting to spend more time with the family, is the reason. but overstock's ceo patrick byrne broke the mold with his excuse. he claimed that the fbi pushed him into a romance with a flame-haired russian agent as part of a deep state issue.

following the incident, interim ceo jonathan johnson gives fox business an exclusive on what is and is not happening with regard to ongoing investigations into overstock's t0 unit. charlie, explain what that is. >> you want to hear about deep state and all this great stuff -- liz: yeah. but the redhead and the operative -- >> and the fbi agents, yeah, not really going there. i give kudos to mr. johnson because a lot of times companies hide, they don't tell you what's going on, and i is asked him point blank is patrick byrne's resignation related to this maria butina stuff, this crazy deep state the stuff, or what everybody knows is going on if you follow the stock the last couple years, they are under investigation in terms of public statements made for this block chain technology they're doing, t0. so i asked him, did patrick resign because of that investigation which is going on

difference december of 20 -- since december of 2018? he said no. and so i went through and drilled down with him today, earlier in the day, what is going on with that investigation? because a lot of people are thinking this company is really under the microscope because of this investigation, and it mainly involves public disclosuresabout like who's investing in t0, this block chain technology. they want to create, essentially, a stock exchange. this is what he tells me, it's basically dormant, in his words. he described it as dormant. the sec enforcement hasn't requested information since december 28th, he said. he said he met with the sec on his own volition in late june in hopes of ending the investigation. they said they would come back to him at some point with more narrow, a more narrow focus of what they're looking at aside from the broad context of we're looking at your public statements, whether they're truthful about investors putting money into t0.

so that's where we are right now. i asked him point-blank did they give you a wells notice? have they sent patrick byrne a wells notice? liz: a wells notice, of course, is a notification that you may -- >> right. that is sec enforcement staff said it has concluded it wants to charge you, it's now up to the entire commission to vote on it, and you have a chance to talk them out of it. he said, no, there's been no wells notices. now here's the interesting thing, he blamed himself for, you know, he says that misstatements by the company conflating two things led to the impression that they're under the gun with this sec investigation into the public disclosures. because at the same time as they are, there is obviously an active investigation, he described it as dormant, the sec's also looking at this block chain technology. and this is a technology that is going to be used in the securities business. liz: let me just say about the

one-year chart here, the stock is down 4% since patrick byrne resigned, but it's down 46% year over year. >> right. there's no doubt that this investigation's problematic for the company. they want to transport themselves into a block chain company, they would like to sell the retailing arm of it. they can't feel it. they do have an investment banker, they've hired guggenheim, i understand. they're having a very difficult time selling the retail side so they can transition fully to block chain. so the overhang of the investigation's hurting them, that's why mr. johnson told me he wants to end it. to be real clear here -- and like i said, this is coming from them. now, there are people that are shorting the stock that say, well, of course, they're going to say that. by the way, making a public comment that's false problematic. you can get charged with that. just ask elon musk at his 4 clash 20 claim on -- 4/20 claim on selling the company. you can't just say those things. what they're saying is they are

under investigation. they describe it as dormant. they're trying to end it. they said they haven't had a request with for information since december 2018, which tell is you something. mr. johnson met with the is sec in june, and and he wants to end it. ball's in their court. liz: charlie, thank you very much. i still wanted the russian operative spy angle. >> i did all that last week. liz: where was i? look at the dow, it's now down 298. it had, i remind you, been down 425. >> that's because of me. liz: all right. we're coming right back, don't go away. ♪ ♪ we call it the mother standard of care.

it's the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated? that's exactly how we care for you. with answers and actions. to hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. that's the mother standard of care. this is how we inspire hope. this is how we heal. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now.

cancer treatment centers of america. a cockroach can survive submergede guy. underwater for 30 minutes. wow. yeah, wow. not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home. the world is customized to you. built for you. so why isn't it all about you, when it comes to your money? so. what's on your mind? we are edward jones, a 97-year-old firm built for right now. with one financial advisor per office, we're all about knowing what's important to you the one who matters.

edward jones. it's time for investing to feel individual. ♪ ♪ liz: reaching for the american dream appears to be crediting some bumps in the road to retirement. a new survey shows that 52% of savers are have admitted to cracking hope their nest eggs early for a reason other than retirement. mostly due to that desire for home ownership costs. second reason, paying down personal debt. but millennials make up more than half of workers who have broken into their retirement piggy banks as they face down payments on first-time home purchases. experts say these are savingsings missteps, and it makes company matching programs an even more important feature of your 401(k). but the same survey by magnify money also reveals that on top of raiding savings early, nearly one out of every five employees across america is making another

mistake, not saving enough money from their salaries to earn their company's maximum match, a move professionals say is akin to missing out on free money. free money. try and do it, be a little disciplined. all right, wild market swing certainly not helping savers either. major indices currently still down, you could call this deater. off the lows, but i don't know what's happening on the floor of the new york stock exchange, but we still see the nasdaq down9 0 points. ♪ gerry: yeah, liz, it's not pretty. thanks for that. the proposed reboot of cbs and viacom getting bad reviews, cutting the price target on shares as it becomes increasingly fearful that a combined larger company won't be able to deliver on promises of being a stronger competitor to the likes of disney and netflix. cbs shares are currently lower here marginally, viacom down almost 2%. a thumb's up to social network

facebook confirming it is considering hiding the number of likes that a post gets in the hopes of lowering the competitive atmosphere of social media. falling, as you can see, down 1.7%. apple, netflix, alphabet losses accelerating this hour on reports of a new state attorney general antitrust probe. the one bright spot in the markets, investors jumping out of their armchairs after the furniture retailer reported a surprising beat on both profit and revenue in the second quarter. new store openings and online options hoping to boost sales, the retailer also confirming plans to enter florida this year. 40 new locations. that stock on fire. conn may want to wait out the storm, up next, hurricane dorian bearing down on the region's biggest cash crop.

"countdown" is coming right back. ♪ i'm off to college. i'm worried about my parents' retirement. don't worry. voya helps them to and through retirement... dealing with today's expenses ...while helping plan, invest and protect for the future. so they'll be okay? i think they'll be fine. voya. helping you to and through retirement. you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase. quadrupled their money b12? and even now many experts predict the next gold rush is just beginning. so don't wait another day. physical coins are easy to buy and sell and one of the best ways to protect your life savings from the next financial meltdown. - [narrato today, the u.s. money reserve announces the immediate release of u.s. government-issued

solid gold coins for the incredible price on your screen. these gold american eagles are official gold coins of the united states and are being sold for the price on your screen. - pick up the phone and call america's gold authority, u.s. money reserve. with nearly two decades in business, over a billion dollars in transactions, and more than a half a million clients worldwide, u.s. money reserve is one of e most dependable gold distributors in america. - [narrator] today the u.s. money reserve is releasing official gold american eagle coins at cost for the incredible price on your screen. these government-issued gold coins are official u.s. legal tender made from solid gold mined here in america and fully backed by the united states government for their gold weight, purity, and content. do not delay, call now to purchase your gold american eagles

for the amazing price on your screen. gold is now on sale at prices unseen in years and this year could be one of the greatest gold-buying opportunities of all time! call now while vault inventory remains. as one of the largest u.s. gold coin distributors in the country, the u.s. money reserve has proudly served hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide. don't wait another minute, call now to purchase your american eagle coins at cost for the amazing price on your screen.

♪ ♪ liz: we are having some breaking news at the moment. we are looking at an orange crush at this hour. orange juice futures are actually plummeting, not jumping. orange juice futures, the price of global u.s. grade frozen concentrated orange juice for physical delivery, falling to a four month low at this hour as minute by minute it does appear that florida, the nation's biggest grower of the fruit, will avoid a direct hit by hurricane dorian. so we're just about 95 cents per pound here, but from citrus to cotton, to other soft commodities, we are not out of the woods yet, or forget woods, how about the whirlwind? william henneberg is the meteorologist for commodity weather group which helps manage energy and food commodity risks

and price volatility. we've got price volatility, but let's each it with oj for the moment. what is the risk assessment for the citrus groves in florida at this hour? >> they look to be largely unscathed with the storm. winds just aren't going to be strong enough to cause much fruit drop, and the citrus belt in florida, so, in fact, a lot of these rains will be beneficial. a lot of areas in central and northern florida and into the southeast are drying up a bit, so the winds just won't be strong enough to cause damage. liz: we've got this investor audience that not only wants to know about their a glass of orange juice and the cost of it, but certainly how they can trade it. last week futures jumped 9% because it appeared florida was going to get hit. so if you went long orange juice, it hasn't played out well for you. could we see these prices spike again, and what do you see as a meteorologist? >> i don't see much in the way of affecting the citrus belt in florida. it's going to stay well to the east.

if it tracks 50, 100 miles farther west, we'd have issued, but they seem to be i unscathed. liz: as dorian moves up the coast, which commodities do you see now in danger? >> so soy and cotton could see some localized flooding, but less than 1% of national production is at risk of seeing the higher 5-10 inch totals. cotton probably has the biggest risk right now, about 5% of national production is at risk, but luckily, only about a quarter of that is open bold when the crop can actually be damaged more. really, all in all, there's not a whole lot here, but i'd say cotton is probably the worst off. liz: wind damage is one thing the, certainly, but flooding is another. when you talk about the commodities that are most vulnerable, are there any in particular beyond cotton that might be completely hammered? because we know certainly from the flooding out in the midwest that soy and corn are down for the count. >> yeah. those are the big ones, definitely soy and corn, and it's not just flooding, but this

whole season has been really rough for a lot of areas. we had a really wet start to the season, a really wet spring, and then it went dry and hot really fast. so it's been volatile, and there's been a lot of back and fort. a lot of these crops are definitely susceptible to these swings. liz: you predict weather for the energy industry as well. what kind of effect do you see from dorian? talk about liquid gas terminals being built, some of them might be hit by the atlantic hurricane season. >> yeah, not in this area so much. the biggest thing in terms of energy right now is power outages and demand destruction. i just looked before coming on, and right now in florida they have about 20,000 homes without power, but that's not a whole lot compared to other hurricanes they've seen historically, but that should rise as we continue to go through the next couple of days and increase as we go up into the carolinas as well. liz: what do you see further out across the atlantic? any new storms forming? >> it's getting active. we're approaching the peak of the hurricane season. we're already watching another

system developing out in the far eastern atlantic that should turn into a tropical storm in the next few days, and it does look like we're going to be active the next couple of weeks. liz: i think i see it to far right of the radar. william, thank you very much. >> thank you. liz: so while waves pound parts of the east coast, across the pond there's another different type of pounding taking place. with the closing bell ringing in 15 minutes and the dow down 278 right now, brexit9 is the biggest storm -- brexit is the biggest storm slamming into london right now, and it is driving the united kingdom's currency mad. details on state of play in the divorce with the european union and what it means for the u.s. dollar when "the claman countdown" comes right back. don't go away. ♪ ♪ i'm really into this car,

but how do i know if i'm getting a good deal? i tell truecar my zip and which car i want and truecar shows the range of prices people in my area actually paid for the same car so i know if i'm getting a great price. this is how car buying was always meant to be. this is truecar.

here, hello! starts with -hi!mple... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! [ camera clicking ] wifi up there? -ahhh. sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today.

♪ ♪ liz: we've got new brexit drama boiling over. they're working late right now, to a live picture right now of the british parliament where in london british lawmakers are debating in an effort to try to wrestle control of parliament and its legislative agenda away from prime minister boris johnson. and they wanted to do this with a house of commons vote. now, if that vote is approved and it does go through, then johnson will be forced to ask the european union to delay brexit til 2020, giving them more time. boris johnson wants to exit the e.u. october 31st, much earlier. let's look at the pound sterling. it is flirting with some of its lowest levels is seen since 1985. earlier it dropped below $1.20 on brexit fears. it's right there now at about $1.20 per u.s. dollar. to floor show part deux, traders

at the new york stock exchange and the cme. i mark the dow jones industrials right now down 275. tim anderson, it's not just brexit, it is a stronger dollar. the u.s. dollar has certainly been quite muscular, and when you have problems in the european union and, obviously, the united kingdom, that only strengthens the greenback, which the president doesn't like. what does it mean for stocks? >> well, clearly, the whole brexit issue just brings a whole other issue of uncertainty in addition to trade and in addition to a couple of other issues going on. and, of course, there's nothing that the market hates more than uncertainty. so i think that boris johnson is highly motivated to execute on brexit one way or another by october 31st because i just think that the constituency e in britain would just find it totally unpalatable for another delay. and he is going to do anything

he possibly can to avoid the wrath of the public in the u.k. having them go through another delay like they did numerous times under theresa may. not only he, but i think other people in his party see their big concern is that would just open the door for the nigel nigel farage brexit party. liz: iens that but, chris robinson, when you have big multi-national companies here in the u.s. facing a strong greenback, they view it as a negative. a tourist looks at it as a positive. it was unbelievably much lore, again, it's $1.20 for the british pound. if we can cycle through to euro and see where that is, i think i was in france in december, and it was about $1.19 per euro, and that, to me, seemed pretty fair. but i think it's much lower --

look at it, $1.09 right now. so it only takes $1.09 to buy a single euro whereas in december it was $1.19. we like it but the big knows like minnesota mining and manufacturing, the general electrics of the world, the ibms, they don't like it. >> right. i mean, that's the whole idea of the stronger dollar can hurt our exports. at the end of the day though, the dollar' gotten stronger. it could still get stronger. when the president first took office back, you know, in 2016, the beginning of 2017, we were four and a half cents higher than where we are now. that be where we're going, squeeze out whoever's short the dollar. these markets tend to trend. it's like a battleship. it doesn't turn around like a jet ski. looks like the dollar wants to continue grinding herer, and that's something that's in the mix certainly over the next months. and this friday we've got our first unemployment number, that could really make its it move some more. liz: big as in important. i think the expectation is to

see a gain of 158,000 jobs. july was 164,000. todd colvin, while we're talking about that, if it's a weak number, we probably see the fed funds futures odds for a rate cut of 50 basis points go up. right now as we look at it, it has been 0% chance this morning. and now we are look at it at 7% odds that we will see a 50-basis point cut. that's not a huge number there but what do you think, todd? >> i think the fed's going to have its hands full come september when this fomc meeting sits down. obviously, the jobs number's going to be a key part of that, but this ism number we got today has to be a little bit alarming. we got a little head's up in last month's beige book, they did talk about granting data, this week as well before the employment report. obviously, manufacturing's been sort of holding steady. today's ism number really shows the true colors that things are

slowing due to trade talks. and i think cutting 25 or cutting 50, look at the ten-year note, that's 66 basis points below the current fed effective. it isn't going to make a matter of difference overnight. of it's going to be how are we going to get the economy back on its feet. is the fed going to use the rate cuts, i think they're going to have to use both if the global economy doesn't recover. liz: to see that at 1.47 when, you're right, todd, we were at 1.429% earlier this morning, that is a three-year low. chris, i'll give you this final question. we do need to talk a bit about oil for the moment. we've got, certainly, increased opec output mixed with trade tensions that could dent demand and now the chinese are putting a tariff on u.s. energy or u.s. crude. what do you think happens here with oil? what is the bet to make? >> well, if you look at the big picture, oil has been contracting in this bit of a

triangle formation. so it can't get above 60, can't get below 52. i think that's the breakout. and it looks right now we're moving back down to retest 50, and that's a bellwether for the worldwide economy. copper making new lows, so that may be many of an indication of a worldwide slowdown now. so the key level to watch, obviously, for crude oil's going to be that $50 level. the silver lining? if we drop below 50, it's going to be a lot cheaper to fell up your suburban. [laughter] liz: exactly, or no matter what you have. we like that. good to see you guys, tim, chris, todd. always at the ready on those floor show trader segments. we really appreciate it. closing bell, we are now, mark it, four minutes away from they aring that bell d hearing that bell. look at the dow. and when you hear it down the 287, the low of the session was a loss of 425. the high of the session was a loss of 205, so we're getting closer to the high of the session, if that makes any sense, even though we were in the red. but the small cap russell 2000

is under the most pressure. you could say that along with the transports. the russell down 1.5%, the transports we're looking at these names battling energy and trade. for the russell, less exposure to small and mid-caps to a lot of international trade. airline components, grappling with dorian, deciding whether to open-air ports or close other ones depending where the storm is going. storm clouds literal and figurative for the moment let's get to amazon shares. they're bucking the broader markets after rbc raised price target, are you ready for this, $2600 a share. right now it is 1792. the brokerage anticipates that jeff bezos behemoth will gobble up more of e marketplace due to

rollout. one day shipping initiative set to be available nationwide next year. globally two or three years. amazon delivering this game, 1% gain as we head into the close. not only retail giant. walmart is taking action in rise of shootings in the united states. gerri willis on what the story is doing. reporter: liz, this is a fascinating development by walmart in a letter to associates by ceo doug mcmillan. he described it as the next step in response to tragedies in el paso and southaven of the essentially boils down to cutting back on sales of ammunition, specifically. discontinuing sales of short barrel rifles ammunition. while some of this is commonly used in hunting rifles it can also be used in large capacity clips, military-style weapons. walmart will also sell through and discontinue handgun ammunition. they will discontinue handgun

sales in alaska. marking a complete exit from handguns. big move by walmart. big announcement right from the head of the class, from the ceo. back to you, liz. liz: gerri, thank you very much. dow jones down 293. no end in sight for the tariff wars. no discussion when both sides are going to speak again. what does that mean? smead capital management cio bill smead. bill when it comes to investing are you in? what are you doing? >> wouldn't it be a great day to be a fly on the wall in warren buffett's office? liz. yeah he is buying. we look at it the same way we always look at it which in economics for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. incredibly low interest rates are a boon. corelogic did a survey, over 25% of millenials want to buy a home. we like homebuilders.

we like the banks. [csing bell rings] we think people way overdoing the negative. everything closing to the downside. first day of september ends in a sour note. there is always tomorrow on "the claman countdown." connell: trade tensions, weak economic data we had dragging on major averages. the dow settling in more than 280 points to the downside. we were down 420 plus earlier in the session. look at it that way. melissa: better than it was, i guess. connell: good to be back with you. i'm connell mcshane. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is "after the bell." s&p 500, nasdaq, also ending in negative territory today. plus the east coast is on high alert, waiting for hurricane doriano make its next move. unless of americans under mandatory evacuation orders from florida to the carolinas. how residents are preparing for an unpredictable