the motor city's financial emergency. why the governor of michigan is stepping in to help detroit. in today's cover story, a look at a renewed push for automatic sprinkler systems in large buildings as the fight heads to congress. road block: the challenging task of fixing our nation's infrastructure. plus, go for the gold: what stars may be going home with oscar at this sunday's academy awards. a preview of the glitz and glam. first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's thursday, february 21st. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: traders are on fed alert. traders shifted into sell-off mode yesterday. the dow is back below 14,000 and the s&p 500 had

its worst day of the year. much of that had to do with a sign from the fed its bond buying program may be winding down. we'll take a closer look at the slides in gold and oil later in the show. and sony took the wraps off a new product last night: playstation 4. it's intended to compete against games on the web and mobile devices. and electric car company tesla is set to turn a small profit in the first quarter. however, the stock sold off 3% last night after the company revealed losing $90 million in the 4th quarter. if you're wondering what traders think about yesterday's sell-off, todd horwitz is here to tell us. he's with the adam mesh group. hi todd. > > hello. we are making dramatic moves, and technically there is no damage to the market. the trend in the market still remains higher. just look for us to come down for some support here around 1500 or 1505 in the s&p. > it sounds like investors shouldn't worry too much about

the fed ending q/e. what do you think? > > you know, i think that the fed artificially built this market. for the average joe, i don't think the fed has any effect one way or the other. what they are doing is more helping the banks in bailing out toxic assets and more helping the big companies where they can borrow money at cheaper rates. for the average guy, i don't think it really matters what the fed does. > people are concerned about the big budget cuts, the sequester. what is the market telling you? is the vix giving us any signals there? > > the market is not worried one iota. as you looked yesterday, the vix was up 15% the first big move, but we were coming off of six-year lows. the market says that they are going to cover and be able to solve all the problems. as they always do, they will come walking in arm-in-arm at the 11th hour and say, "see, we solved your problems once again."

> the market is very smart. thanks for being on the show today. > > thank you so much. it could be a name changer for jp morgan ceo jamie dimon. a public pension fund is attempting to strip dimon of his title as chairman. administrators of the public employees' union afscme's pension plan are asking shareholders to consider voting dimon out of the position. he would keep his role as ceo, however. afscme wants an independent board chair to take over due to concerns over the bank's massive 2012 trading debacle. "in light of the london whale, the financial crisis of 2008, the libor crisis, the municipal bid rigging crisis, we think there is a problem with risk management at jpmorgan and we

want an independent person running the board on behalf of shareholders." last month, dimon's compensation was cut in half. we reached jp morgan chase, but a spokesman declined comment. banks for a while have been criticized for not lending, but that's changing. commercial loans to business were up 16% in 2012. banks are benefitting from a lot of cash on hand. deposits have surged to $9 trillion, up 29% since 2008. in our cover story, it has been ten years since fire killed a hundred people and injured hundreds more at a rhode island night club, the tragedy made worse, many believe, because the building did not have automatic fire sprinklers. yet even after ten years of trying, the push for more sprinklers has been largely unsuccessful. it resumes next week in congress. when fire erupted at the station, a nightclub in west warwick, rhode island, rob feeney thought there were sprinklers. "i was talking with my fiance

when the fire broke out and i said, 'don't worry, sprinklers will put this out.' i just assumed they were there. but they weren't. you think you're going to be safe." feeney's fiance, donna mitchell, was one of a hundred people who died. feeney suffered third- degree burns in a fire investigators say two sprinklers could have extinguished. now, feeney and "common voices," a coalition of fire safety groups, supports rhode island congressman jim langevin's efforts to reintroduce the "fire sprinkler incentive act" next week, a bill to provide tax breaks to building owners who retrofit their properties with fire sprinklers. "this particular piece of legislation is not a mandate but a tool to help business owners protect the people they're trying to get into that same building." but opponents have balked at the cost - well over a hundred thousand dollars for a small business.

"at this point, for me, that's a cop out. they're in denial if they think it could never happen here." the bill would allow building owners to deduct the cost of installing sprinklers with a shorter depreciation schedule - 15 years, not 39 years as in earlier bills. "it's always an incentive for business owners to make a capital investment if they get a bigger deduction up front." according to the national fire protection association, nfpa, sprinkers increase survivability rates in fires by more than half. the governor of michigan is threatening to take over the motor city. he claims detroit is in a state of financial emergency. governor rick snyder has 30 days to decide if an emergency manager needs to step in to run the city's finances. detroit is currently spending more than it's taking in, and pensions for retired workers are reportedly underfunded by $14 billion. while business is

booming for the automakers, fewer people are living in the city limits to help the motor city. the governor has taken over other michigan towns since taking office. surging gas prices have some analysts thinking 2013 could be a record year at the gas pump. the average cost of a gallon of gas nationwide currently hovers around $3.72. prices have increased sooner than anticipated, rising 47 cents since january. gas prices hit an all-time high in july of 2008 - $4.11 a gallon. some analysts predict we could see record prices as we head into spring. boeing may be closer to solving its dreamliner battery bungle. according to reuters, the jet- maker may increase the space between battery cells. the closenss of the cells may have caused overheating which sparked the fires onboard 787s. the jets have been grounded since last month. meanwhile, the union representing boeing techs hopes to resume contract after

authorizing a strike. boeing engineers accepted a 4-year deal tuesday. veggie prices are on the rise. following a cold snap that damaged crops this winter, vegetable prices are up 39% from december. broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower saw the biggest price increase. wholesale costs increased due to the uptick for the first time in four months. a college degree is now considered the equivalent of a high school diploma. the new york times calls it "the new minimum requirement" for menial jobs such as file clerks and runners. it's the concept of "degree inflation" and it isn't something new, but there is new evidence it is pushing those without a 4-year degree into a world with fewer opportunities. foxconn is freezing hiring at its china factories. following china's lunar new year holiday,

many foxconn employees have returned to work, something the company did not anticipate. many workers remain at home during the holiday break, and factories typically face a worker shortage. no word on when the freeze will end. it's official: office depot has agreed to buy officemax in an all stock deal worth $1.2 billion. it's something that has been rumoured for years as the number two and three chains struggle with declining revenue at retail stores and intensifying competition from staples. following the merger, office depot and officemax will close stores, save on advertising and streamline supply chain efforts. a redesign at yahoo.com: new ceo marissa mayer is putting her stamp on the company with a new look for its home page. it includes content that users may customize and a simpler, streamlined design. yahoo has seen the loss of revenues, and users leaving for competitors, for several years. the main aim of the new design, the first in four years, is to lure them back and entice all eyes to linger longer on the new page.

here's one to slurp on: a new record may have been set at starbucks. a man ordered a coffee drink with 48 shots of caffiene in a venti mocha frappuccino. the price is an eye-popping 47 dollars. still to come, oscar gold goes green. why this year's best picture nominees are so in-the- money. but first, an infrastructure wake-up call. why more focus is turning toward the safety of america's roads and bridges. that's next with bill moller.

i bet you remember the collapse of that interstate bridge in minneapolis a few years ago. 13 people died. well, barry lepatner - he's a construction lawyer in new york - he's written books about this, and he has this interactive map where you can actually see where the structurally deficient bridges are, and it's rather alarming as it looks like we've got thousands of bridges that need to be repaired or replaced. > > there are actually nearly 8,000 bridges identified on the saveourbridges.com website that are truly dangerous and will fall at a moment's notice, just like the i-35w did 5 years ago in minneapolis.

> we know local governments and the federal government are all broke. where would they ever find the untold billions of dollars they would need to repair these bridges? > > we are going to have to find several methods. number one, we are going to have to raise the gas tax, however untenable that may be. two, we are going to have to turn to hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of private equity to form public-private partnerships to fund these repairs. and three, we are going to have to have a national infrastructure bank to seed these projects and give them the authorship and the sponsorship we need to fund them. > public-private partnerships - what would be the advantage for companies to be putting up money for this? > > it is a great return on investment. the thing we have to make sure is that the public is protected, we are not undersold or oversold these investments, and we've got to make sure that at the end of the lease they are returned in very, very good shape.

> now barry, this isn't just you saying all of this. what are road managers, road departments- is it common knowledge that things are in as dire a shape as you say? > > i have only reported in my book "too big to fall" all of the facts that i have learned from the people who are in charge of these bridges. there are dangerous bridges, we have to fix them, and we have to get the political will to correct them. > all right, barry lepatner. thank you so much. > > my pleasure being here bill. thank you bill. still ahead, it's the mother of all awards shows. we kick off our official oscar preview next in movies and money.

before the stars walk the red carpet, we are dressed and ready for an oscar preview. our movie guy is here, and erik, you are looking quite dapper this morning. > > and you are looking quite wonderful yourself. > since it's an oscar show, who are you wearing? > > i am wearing a j.c. penne'. > i am in filene's. let's go. let's talk about who is going to win an oscar. you took a look at who should win and who will win. starting with best picture, what is your pick? > > pick for to win i believe is going to be "argo." it seems that this is going to be the one year to remember the oscars screwed up by not nominating ben affleck and they have been trying to correct themselves ever since. so i think "argo"

is going to win. what should win, my personal pack, "lincoln" was the best film of 2012. so i wish that would win. > best director. > > best director i think will win and should win is both going to be steven spielberg. this is going to be their sort of, not consolation prize, i guess, for "lincoln" since it is not going to win best picture. he is a clear favorite to win. > best actor. > > best actor, again, daniel day-lewis. > it is his to lose. > > it is his to lose. i don't think anyone has even a chance. > i agree with that. best actress. this could get interesting. > > best actress could get interesting. as we talked about, it could be jennifer lawrence vs. jessica chastain. now people are saying that emmanuelle riva, over 80 years old, might steal the award from her. i still think it is going to go to jennifer lawrence. > the numbers have been astounding at the box office, because it has been such a special year. > > lot of good movies. > which is one of the reasons why we got dressed up for this. > >that's right. > all right, let's look at the box office boost here. $83 million going to "zero dark thirty" after getting the nominations. that happened on

january 10th. "silver linings playbook" coming in second at $64 million. that one really caught an oscar buzz. "django unchained" at $44 million, "les mis" at $37 million, and "lincoln" at $31 million. but the overall winner from oscar nods and from the audience, "lincoln." > > "lincoln." a really surprising $176 million at the box office. a historical biopic film that people didn't think was going to do that well at

the box office, and it really inspired people to go. a lot of great word of mouth from just average people going to see the movie, and it is my pick for best film of the year, so i have no problem with that. > and look at these numbers! > > six movies over $100 million in the best picture category. last year we only had one, "the help." and "zero dark thirty" is approaching $90 million, so, it's a tremendous year at the box office for the best picture nominees. > all right, the behind-the- scenes gossip. > > what have you got? > definitely "zero dark thirty." a lot of controversy. will it hurt come oscar night? > > yeah, i think it actually has. there was sort of a surprising surge when the movie

was finally shown to people that it was going to be the film that kathryn bigelow might win again. up until the snubs, that bigelow got snubbed, that affleck got snubbed, it was sort of a "lincoln" vs. "zero dark thirty" race. and i think the politicians have spoken out about it, the actors have even spoken out about it. actors who aren't really working, but they chimed in anyway. so i think "zero dark thirty" might go home empty-handed sunday night. "argo" might not be the best one, but the oscars are never about what exactly are the best movies. > we have something special for you. this is an oscar for you. > > it's wonderful. > he's made out of chocolate. > > that's fantastic. > enjoy. > > thank you very much.

th a deadly disease. i was one of them. i'm a nurse and i knew how damaging the disease was to my life. nothing i tried seemed to work. my brother died. from complications of the exact same preventable disease and i knew i had to do something to get healthy. my disease was obesity and after consulting with my doctor, i received the effective treatment i needed. obesity is a second leading cause of preventable death in the united states. but it's a treatable disease, and there's effective treatment options available. now is time to get help. please join the obesity action coalition and acknowledge obesity as a disease for acceptance, for access to all effective treatments, including diet and exercise, pharmacotherapy and weight-loss surgery for obese adults with at least one obesity related comorbid condition. visit obesity action dot org and sign an open letter pledging your support and for more information about how to talk to your doctor about your weight and your treatment options. together we can make a choice to end obesity now.

a public service from the obesity action coalition. in chart talk on this thursday, we are calling in ben lichtenstien of tradersaudio.com to give us an audible on gold. good to have you on the show, ben. > > good morning, thank you. > everybody is talking about this death cross in the charts

for gold. what does that mean to investors? > > yesterday we saw a lot of energy. i think it really just means we are going to see continued energy, and potentially heightened. again, there was a lot of talk about this big move the we have seen from gold. after it failed to get back above that 1700 level, we saw a energy to the downside through 1680 last week. the 1660 level did not hold. there was supposed to be support there. and then even more so there were a lot of bears that were talking about the fact that we would see a bounce off of the 1626 level. again, if you look, that clearly didn't happen. high-energy move to the downside, sustained participation, energy, conviction to the downside right now. gold breached that 1600 level, and, for the most part, again, it is in vertical development to the downside right now on multiple different timeframes. we are talking across-the-board in the daily and in the weekly right now, so potentially more energy to continue. > that must be interesting for traders as you see more participants, more volume coming in behind these trades.

what will it mean for oil prices, ben? > > probably more participation as well. again, yesterday a huge day in the crude on wednesday. we saw that rumor that we had a fund blowout and they were selling crude huge, that was in the midday trade. we also had circuit breakers kick in because there was a 2500 contract order that came through, and it actually stopped an apparent larger order that was behind that, so there was a 10-second shutdown due to the activity, the, as you said, heightened participation, which, yes, we do love to see. we saw that in the s&ps here today, but again, for the most part, we are really looking at crude right now potentially going to test that $80-a-barrel level. > thank you ben. we'll hope that same thing for you. > > my pleasure. thank you. that's it for now. coming up tomorrow, there's been a ton of talk about herbalife. find out friday if this is a stock you should buy or run from. we'll break it down with traders unplugged. from all of us at first business, thank you for watching!