traders are stocks on a winningw traders are reacting as the market continues its record run. in today's cover story, tiger woods gets back into the swing and advertisers are crawling back. plus, how close is too close? is the president's pick to run the sec too buddy-buddy with bankers to police wall street? and, younger students are investing in an education abroad - does it pay off? first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's tuesday, march 12th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: the record run-up in stocks. once again the dow closed at a record high, while the s&p 500 is just about 9 points away from a record level finish. stocks are on a 7-session

winning streak. new game plan for zynga? reports speculate yahoo may be ready to take over the social gaming company. the ban on large sugary drinks sold at restaurants and cafes was supposed to go into effect today in new york city. but a state supreme court judge declared the ban "invalid." mayor bloomberg plans to appeal. the stock market is already up, up and away to start the week. trader talk now with joe cusick of options express. good morning joe. what do you make of this march madness? > > you know what, that is what is in the headlines. there is a lot of excitement in this new trading month. all day yesterday you saw the headlines, "if you were not long, you're wrong." well, with the 11.8 vix that we saw come in yesterday, which was under 12 for the first time in six years, i would be very, very careful about getting

too complacent about this move to the upside. not to say that the trend isn't solidly in place, but be very careful getting too complacent with this move. > what is not participating in this rally? where are some places maybe an investor could put money to work? > > you know what, take a look at some of the energy segments. energy was rallying going into this, but is now lagging this recent move up, especially yesterday. specifically watch gas stocks. gas stocks, even though we have seen the price at the pumps go up, that is more of a fundamental issue of a transition from heating oil to actually refining gasoline again. but the supplies are there and those have been beat up. i would also start looking at some of the emerging markets. pay attention: i know japan has been on fire because of, actually, the currency

manipulation that's going on there - well, you can call it what you will - but look at china. china has been beat up, and last session, yesterday, was getting beat up, so we are going to watch that action there and look for some names potentially there as well. > and in earnings after the close, urban outfitters reported in. the stock was down about 3% after the close. is that stock a buy today? > > you know what, i am not going to give buy-sell-hold recommendations on here, but what i will say is this: they had it priced in about two times the front-month vol in there on the options that are expiring this week in the march weeklies. it missed on earnings- per-share, it did beat on revenues, and my kids are still shopping there, so i can tell you right now, the outlook in the retailers in general has been a very positive one, and at this juncture, i don't know if it is going to be in the best interests of an investor. > it might win in the popular vote. thanks joe. > > you bet. excitment is growing from wall street to main street as the dow trades at never-seen-before highs and the s&p 500 nears a record. the surge in stocks may

even start to generate interest from average investors who were burned by the market when the financial crisis wiped out $16 trillion in stock values. "me, personally, i haven't invested in the market, but i have friends who have. i think it is a good time to invest in the market." "so far i'm staying in, but i'm nervous that we might be headed for a repeat of what we had in 2007." behind the scenes, money managers say the run-up in the stock market is happening because it's the best place to get a return on investments. "so you want to get into the market? do so cautiously. be diversified. a key: why is the market going up? because there's no place else to put your money." the dow is up 10% this year, and the s&p 500 is up 9%. next week, traders will get a clear read on what's happening with the housing sector. early acounts show the number of available homes is shrinking. that means people attempting to sell their homes during the spring season have the advantage of a tight supply. in

some states, homeowners may even be able to raise the listing price on the house they want to sell. "it is a very competitive market, and as you know, inventory is low. and, because it is low, you've got to be ready to compete and ready to have that pre-approval letter, your earnest money, everything, put together." economists estimate the supply crunch could last all year as the construction of new homes moves at a slow pace. inflation is on the rise in china and it's causing alarm among economists. consumer prices rose 3.2% in february, good for a ten-month high. higher prices on food and energy have put a crimp on consumer spending. there is also concern that rising inflation might tempt beijing to tighten monetary policies, and that, in turn, could hurt the country's growth. a controversial natural gas pipeline connecting pakistan and iran is moving forward. pipeline consruction on the pakistani side started monday. it's nearly complete in iran.

pakistan wants it to deal with growing power shortages. there are concerns whether pakistan can cover the $1.5-billion price tag. the u.s. is considering sancations and is also promoting a different pipeline linking afghanistan to pakistan and india, as well as hydro-power dams. a budget battle is heating up on capitol hill. paul ryan reveals his 2014 budget plan today. the proposal hinges on a repeal of "obamacare." ryan told fox news that he believes both sides of the aisle can reach a consensus on a budget. senate democrats are also expected to release a budget this week, headed by senator patty murray of washington. murray says the plan would replace sequester cuts with tax hikes on the wealthy. at least one senior boeing executive is confident the company has a permanent solution to the dreamliner's battery woes. boeing's vp of marketing told a group of aviation financiers that the company's proposed fixes for the

new jet will be just that - permanent. he was also bullish on the prospects for continued growth in the aircraft market. ipo news may soon flood the market. a new study by kpmg finds that, due to a rise in mergers this year, more companies are expected to go public. as more smaller companies roll up into one, analysts expect to see a lot of ipos from software and telecommunication firms as well as those in healthcare, especially pharmaceuticals. the popular prediction website traders used to make bets on major events failed to see this coming - intrade has abruptly shut down this week. in a note on its site, the board of directors cited "circumstances recently discovered" that caused them to immediately cease operation. it also notes the problems may include financial irregularities. the trading site became famous for letting people take bets on just

about anything, including political races. dell is attempting to dial down the chatter. billionaire investor carl icahn has signed a confidentiality agreement. icahn will now have to keep his comments about dell under wraps, after he threatened to challenge the deal. dell is trying to take itself private in a $24.4-billion buyout plan. some investors, including icahn, say that deal undervalues the company. starting today, at&t customers can pre-order the new blackerry z-10. the redesigned smartphone will cost $200 and require a two-year commitment. the phone is considered a "do or die" moment for struggling blackberry. the stock jumped nearly $2 yesterday. for the first time in five years, tiger woods has two wins before the masters. his golf game appears on track, but as our cover story explores, it may be a little too soon for the wave of endoresement deals that left him to come flooding back. tiger woods' victory of the wgc cadillac championship kept woods ranked second in the world behind rory mcilroy. as recently as 2011, woods' ranking had fallen to 58th. he's also

climbing the endorsement ladder. > > would you buy something endorsed by tiger woods? "yes. everybody makes mistakes." "tiger woods' stock is on the rise." nike stayed with woods, paying him $35 million a year. so did video game company electronic arts - another $9 million. but a lot of others left. a sex scandal revealed in 2009 was bad for corporate image. tiger became toxic to accenture, at&t, buick, gillette, and watchmaker tag heuer. "if you're a sports performance company, he's a 'buy.' if you're a role-model image company, he's a 'hold' - 'wait-and-see' at best." pepsico never officially cut its ties, but its gatorade line of woods-endorsed sports drinks was discontinued. in all, tiger woods' endorsement deals went from $92 million in 2009 to $60 million a year later, and $54.5 million a year after that. the slide seemed to stop in 2011,

when rolex handed woods $15 million to join its list of rolex ambassadors. and there are others. "fuse science and a japanese pain-reliever company, they all want the endorsement of tiger woods." "i think tiger woods would be great paired with an underdog rather than a leader trying to reinforce its success." it's also been a tough winter for dick's sporting goods, with shares down 10%, partly because lance armstrong's doping scandal has hurt sales of the store's "livestrong" fitness and workout gear. that label accounts for half the store's fitness clothing inventory. it has since discontinued the line. starting today, the european union is banning the sale of

cosmetics that contain any ingredients tested on animals. the e.u. hopes to be a leader in protecting animal welfare and is expanding its earlier ban. it's a step that cosmetics industry representatives say could keep certain new products off of shelves in europe. nap time isn't just for preschoolers anymore. usa today reports that more employers are responding to weary workers by setting up designated spaces for catnaps. according to the national sleep foundation, 43% of americans claim they rarely or never get a good night's sleep. that lack of sleep affects worker productivity. still to come, study abroad programs - is the adventure worth the large price tag? that's later on. but first, a former wall street insider makes a major move into a watchdog role. thats next, after this "in the know" message.

i wanted to be in the military since i was a kid.

i served in the united states air force. i served a total of 16 years. i was deployed 13 times. on my second deployment four bombs hit my vehicle. and at 19 years old, that was the first time i ever saw somebody die. coming back, i was raging. i started having pretty horrible nightmares. i would wake up in middle of the night sweats. i started drinking a lot. i felt worthless. i guess i never recognized it in myself. eventually, one day i just walked into the va hospital and said i'd like to see somebody. don't suffer alone. you've got to find that link with somebody that will make you let it go. it all starts with going to the va. there's a whole community of veterans that just want

to help you out. it's for the guys who couldn't come back, you owe it to them to live well. because they're not here with their families. general electric has asked former sec chair mary schapiro to join its board of directors. schapiro headed the sec during a turbulent time. she took over in 2009 as it weathered criticism of not having done enough to thwart the financial meltdown. she was also there when the agency won its largest penalty ever - $550 million against goldman sachs. g.e.

says schapiro's understanding of corporate governance will greatly benefit the company and its shareholders. on to capitol hill, where the senate banking committee is set to review the nomination of mary jo white as the next chair of the sec. the job is a change of pace for white. she's going from defending wall street firms to serving as prosecutor. david zaring, assistant professor of legal studies at the wharton school of business at the university of pennsylvania, joins us via skype. good morning. great to have you on the show today. > > thanks. happy to be here. > ms. white seems fiesty to us, but some are saying she is too enmeshed with wall street to do this job. what do you have to say? > > i don't think she is to enmeshed to do the job. she is a well-respected former prosecutor. she had a reputation in manhattan as being a pretty fierce united states attorney, which is the job she held before she went to debevoise & plimpton, that fancy law firm where she headed up the white-collar practice. > we recently heard from eric holder, the attorney general, that banks are "too big to jail." will she have any success, or is this job just becoming some sort of figurehead position?

> > i don't think she will be kept by big banks. she is used to working with them. she won't be afraid of them and the people who work for them. i think the problem of "too big to jail" banks is a real problem. banks, when they get to be such important parts of the economy means you can't throw them out of business, i think the government regrets what it did to arthur andersen in the wake of the enron scandal, where it shut that company down, it threw a lot of people out of work. but that doesn't mean that mary jo white won't be able to take on individual offenders, even high-level offenders, and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. i expect her to do so. > what kind of problems could she encounter? > > she may be conflicted out of some cases just because she has worked for those clients in the private sector, and so she may have to recuse herself from some matters, for at least a little while, assuming she gets confirmed to the job.

> how likely is her nomination? > > it's hard to speculate. political observers know better than me, but everything i've seen makes it sound like she is a likely shoo-in. > > thanks for your thoughts today. > happy to do it. still ahead, investing in experience. some students are finding it pays to study abroad early on. find out more next with bill moller.

there's nothing like giving a teenager a new perspective about the world by having them actually live abroad. i'm not talking about just breezing through and seeing museums and historic sites on a vacation, but a multi-week stay can really immerse them in the culture and the history. american collegiate adventures specializes in arranging such stays for families. jason lubar is the founder. and nikki bredt, you actually went, we're going to talk to you in a second. but jason, how'd you come up with this idea? were you a frustrated teen wanting to go to europe and nobody would send you? > > not exactly. i just, interestingly, was studying at the university of wisconsin when i was in college, and i had this incredible idea, i guess, one day that you could marry the concept of culture and travel and education all together for teenagers in a very structured and safe environment, and that is what we have been doing. > nikki, i want to ask you, a

lot of parents would think, "hey, this is just a lot of fun. i am not going to send them over there to party." did this change you? did this have a strong impact on you? > > it definitely had a strong impact on me. to start, i have lifelong friends from the trip i went to in barcelona. i also took community service classes, business classes, and i was a part of community service and i got to work with kids from barcelona myself. and also the language component, of course. > you were speaking spanish. even though they don't speak it there, they still use it as their second language. so, did you want to do this for the fun, or was the purpose the whole way through just to add credits to your academic studies, but also to learn some things? > > definitely both. being a high school student, i am in a bubble at home. going to a different culture was a really big wake-up call that all these things are taking place and kids really don't know about them. so i got to learn about myself a lot as a person and a lot about other people around me. > i would like to do this. jason, is that the idea as you

sell it, that it's more than just fun? > > exactly. it is an educational enrichment experience. it is an opportunity for these high- school kids to be overseas in a group dynamic, very safe, structured, and supervised, all the while getting a chance to experience another culture and meeting people throughout the world. > typically two to four weeks is the time? > > typically two to four weeks. i would say four weeks is generally the baseline though. > what is the average cost? > > it runs probably around $1,500 to $2,000 a week. > sounds like a lot, but certainly parents are realizing they are getting more than just meals and a few visits to a museum. > > exactly. it includes everything from all of their courses and activities, their meals, their weekend travel and excursions and so on, plus all of the safety. > nikki, you would like to do it again i bet. > > yes. i would. i did it twice, but i would love to go again. > nikki, jason, thank you both. > > thank you. thank you bill. still ahead, don't be blue if you missed the rally. a stock that could stay in the green is next.

matt shapiro, president of mws capital, joins us now for chart talk. i have to say, you have been on the show, and you have been warning people that it was time to get in. you mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. but do you have to say to those people now? > > well, you have to take a look, and you still have to consider getting into stocks. the train seems like it has moved out of the station, but i want to get to the situation where you are not running after it. there is still time to get in. this is one of the strongest rallies we have seen since the early '90s, and it is not second- and third-tier stocks that are rising, angie. it is big blue chips: procter and gamble, kraft foods. the fabric of america is going up. let me tell you about a stock i am buying in the dow at an all- time high: travelers. insurance company. conservative, boring, going up. so, there are lots of stocks you can still get involved in. > what could go wrong with an insurance stock, matt? > > well, any stock like traveler's is exposed to catastrophes. they paid out almost $1 billion with hurricanes sandy. but that is part of the business. guess

which big investor made all his money in the insurance business. > uh...warren buffett? > > yes. and geico. so, number two and three behind aig is travelers. classic, large company, and also an amazing ceo, jay fishman, that has really managed this company brilliantly through the financial crisis, changed its culture, and it is a stock i want to own as a core holding. > thank you matt. > > you're welcome. that's it for today. coming up tomorrow, how some americans are skipping obamacare and instead are using the barter system to get medical attention. thank you for watching today. from all of us at first business, have a terrific tuesday.