are stocks on cruise control as the s&p 500 races to a near record-high close. in today's cover story, bullish businesses expand in china in the midst of a slowdown. plus, are rising oil prices a rising threat to consumer spending? and, an offbeat career path that is in shockingly high demand. first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's wedneday, march 27th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: the dow does it again. the blue chips skyrocketed more than 100 points to a record close yesterday. today traders will closely track the s&p 500,

which is just a couple of points shy of a record session ending. gold added 3 dollars, while oil topped out at a 5-week high during the session. the irs steps it up: tax refunds delayed by a filing error for an education credit may go out in 2 to 4 weeks instead of 6. h&r block reportedly is to blame for some of the mis-filed tax forms. and a fraud alert on medical devices. the goverment is warning patients that physician-owned groups get kickbacks from recommending and pushing medical devices. time now for trader talk, and mark sebastian of options pit mentoring joins us now. mark, the market felt as though it had some momentum going yesterday. it just wanted to go higher. is that true? > > absolutely angela. this is a short-at-your-own-risk market. there has been money stuck on the sidelines. any time we get a sell-off, people are seeing that as an opportunity to step in and get some return and

yield out of the s&p 500. > oil moved up to a five-week high. will that slow down the economy? > > i think it could. once you see gasoline break that $4, $4.25 level, people start to touch their pocketbook. so that is one thing to be worried about in the near-term. > once again warren buffett makes a wise move. he now will own a lot of goldman sachs stock for nothing. he took a bet during the financial crisis and has, what, 9 million shares now worth about $1 billion. is it time to own goldman sachs stock? > > you know, goldman's a great company. they are kind of the best of the best. it is a great long-term hold, it is a great long-term company. financials have done really well, but if you are going to buy financial, goldman might be the best one to own. maybe j.p. morgan. > ebay has an analyst meeting coming up this week, and already there is a lot of buzz that has been generating on the trading floors. it's a darling on wall street. is this stock a buy? > > i think so. we have seen visa and mastercard, big

payment processors, really rally. ebay is less an auction company and more a payment processor, and i love this stock, and personally, i am long it right now via call options. > thank you mark. > > thank you. china's economy may be slowing, but the brakes aren't being applied at caterpillar. the american heavy-equipment manufacturer announced it's opening its 24th factory in china, near shanghai. our cover story takes a look at a business still very bullish on china. the expansion in china means caterpillar, the world's largest maker of monster-sized earth-moving and mining equipment, continues its focus building infrastructure in developing countries. but there is competition from within. "china wants to make that equipment." "they want to sell those products in south america because they want their natural resources from south america, so they want to maintain a balance of trade." and the u.s. chamber of

commerce says there's reason to believe china is still a good place for business investment. a survey of more than 400 u.s. companies in china found 73% profitable in 2012, though that's down from 78% in 2011 and 79% the year before. still, rising wages means more money in consumers' pockets. starbucks wants to nearly double the number of stores it has in china to 1500 within two years. "the starbucks in china are huge. lots of glass windows. it's a place to be seen with your friends. it's a prestigious place and it's really catching on." at starbucks' annual shareholders meeting, ceo howard schultz predicted china will be the company's second- largest market after the u.s. "ten years ago, no one there drank coffee. now it's growing by double-digits and everyone is trying to get cofee cafes

established." already, starbucks has control of more than 60% of the marketshare in china, and that makes china, starbucks' fourth- largest market behind the u.s., canada and japan. tension is building in cyprus. authorities there are said to be making superhuman efforts to make sure banks re-open thursday. the cash-strapped nation was forced to shut down banks about a week ago to avert a run on the banks. this week, european officials agreed to a $13-billion bailout fix, but the country needs to come up with more than 5 billion euros. the plan is to tax people who have savings accounts with more than 100,000 euros. yesterday, the chairman of the largest bank on the island resigned. he says he was railroaded into the deal.

citigroup failed in its due dilligence to thwart money laundering, according to the federal reserve. the nation's third largest bank must now submit to the fed how it plans to do a better job. under the bank secrecy act, all banks are required to report large cash deposits. doing so helps track and catch drug dealers, terrorists and other criminals. more evidence is emerging that the housing market recovery is real. single-family home prices rose 1% in january according to the closely-watched case schiller composite. that translates to average home prices back at 2003 levels. prices are up 8.1% in 20 cities measured by case shiller. among the highlights: in new york, homes prices rose for the first time in two years. in phoenix, sales soared 23.2%. meanwhile, new home sales were down 4.6% in february. however, january's rate was the storngest since september 2008.

housing regulators are attempting to bring down the cost of home insurance for many americans. the federal housing finance agency has filed a notice to stop a practice in which banks force homeowners to buy insurance at a higher cost. insurance companies give banks monetary incentives for selling that insurance at a premium rate. the wall street journal reports the change would impact half of the current housing market. the carnival cruise company made waves following a series of mishaps, including its "triumph" ship that was adrift in the gulf of mexico for five days. yesterday, the fbi called a death aboard a royal caribbean cruise ship "suspicious." desite the incidents, cruise ships continue to attract passengers and the stocks stay afloat. however, critics, including lawmakers on capitol hill, are becoming concerned as the cruise industry is exempt from federal taxes. "it's also ports and all the infrastructure that the federal government pays for that cruise

lines take advantage of, but they're not paying for it, because they don't pay taxes." that was gwynn guilford, who writes for digital magazine quartz. senator jay rockefeller recently sent a letter to carnival's ceo, asking the cruise line to reimburse the coast guard for the $4 million spent rescuing carnival ships and passengers. carnival cruise lines has announced a fleet-wide comprehensive operational review. u.s. regulators propose a $1.7- million fine against exxon mobil. the federal agency that oversees pipeline safety says exxon should have done more to prevent a 2011 pipeline leak. that leak spilled 1500 barrels of oil into the yellowstone river in montana. exxon says it is "disappointed" with the report's findings. a "seed settlement" has been reached between monsanto and dupont. both companies are in the business of developing genetically-modified seeds. under an agreement, a $1- billion jury verdict against dupont for infringing on monsanto's patent will be dropped. dupont will be able to use monsanto techonogoly in its

own corn and soybean seeds, but will pay $802 million in royalties. supervalu is letting go of 1100 employees. the grocery store operator will cut positions after competition from wal-mart and target's grocery sections resulted in slower sales. last week, supervalu sold off five grocery store chains, including jewel-osco and acme, in a $100- million deal with cerberus capital managment. the company said the deal will help supervalu be more competitive going forward. a new nike ad featuring tiger woods is causing uproar. monday, tiger shot his way back to being the top-ranked golfer in the world with a win at the arnold palmer invitational. nike pounced on his renewed position with an ad reading "winning takes care of everything." critics were dissapointed, saying it's insensitive to the golfer's extramarital affairs. according to forbes, tiger is the third- highest-paid athelete with $55 million in endorsements.

singer dionne warwick has filed for personal bankruptcy. the grammy-winning sixties and seventies mainstay reportedly has debts of more than $10 million and assets of just $25,000. warwick's publicist blames "negligent and gross financial mismanagement" during the 80s and 90s for the singer's filing. if you are feeling taxed, there are some "interesting" ways to get tax breaks. one estimate shows 2 million taxpayers overpay by not taking advantage of roughly 200 tax breaks available. those deductions include some cases of betting on horse and dog races, the cost of shipping your pet when you move for a job, and producing a film in the u.s. what's on tap is what's on tap for beer connoisseurs from around the nation gathered in d.c. this week. it's the annual craft brewers' conference, a chance for industry innovators to serve up a new idea or taste in food and beer pairings. it's also an opportunity for brewers to share insight in their

industry, and it's become a crowded field. in the u.s., more than 2400 craft breweries opened in 2012. exports globally increased 72% last year. still to come, song sales: why corporations are investing in new tunes written by the not- so-famous. that's later on. but first, charity check: how non-profits are struggling to recover from the great recession. that's next with bill moller.

the recession hasn't just been tough on all of us, it's also been hard on charities that depend on our generosity. stacey stewart knows this. she is the u.s. president of the united way, the national organization overseeing more than 1200 local organizations. let's first talk about the giving side - high unemployment, the recession that we're still recovering from. what has that done to charitable giving in this country? > > in many cases it has devastated some parts of the charitable sector. we saw giving decline as much as 10% or more - some organizations experienced even greater declines. and we haven't seen a complete recovery from the worst of the economy in 2008. > i assume exacerbating all of

this is the fact that there have been cuts in state budgets and in the federal budget as well. > > we are all living through a disaster of a federal fiscal situation, and that is also showing up at the state and local levels. not only is that impacting some nonprofit organizations that rely on government funding, but it has also put additional pressure on social services, and that is the whole reason why so many charitable organizations are feeling so pressured right now, because not only are they receiving less money coming in, but they are facing greater need. > so it really compounds the problem. you have more people who need their services, and less support for those services. > > absolutely. the good thing at united way is that while we did experience a little bit of a decline during the worst part of the recession, we have actually began to see a little bit of a turn-up, and we have been able to raise, in this country, around $4 billion, around the world, $5 billion. we are still the largest nonprofit

in the country and in the world, and we are really actively using that money to invest in the areas of greatest need in this country so that we can help all families and all communities recover from the devastation of the recession. > do you depend mostly on companies that you work with and partner with to carry the message forward to spread the word? because you don't do a lot of advertising. > > and one of the things, too, is that we actually don't receive a lot of government funding, so at least we didn't have to deal with the fact that we were seeing reductions in government funding coming to support our work. our corporate partners are our lead funding partners in many cases - not only the companies themselves, through corporate gifts, but it's really the strength of employees. we have about 10 million people who give to employees, and many of those people are in the workplace. stacey stewart, what do people need to think about in terms of charitable giving in this time right now? > > there is no more important time to give than now. people are still struggling. we have 47 million people who are relying on food stamps, not because they want to, but because they have to. and it is our responsibility as non-profit organizations, and we are relying on the goodness of people to give to areas of greatest need, and united way is a great place to channel that giving. > stacey stewart, the u.s. president of the united way. thank you. > > thank you.

thank you bill. still ahead, why more unknown song writers are jingling all the way to the bank. details on comerical jingle jobs are coming your way next.

in our continued quest to keep you up-to-date on who's hiring, we uncovered job growth in a very unusual area: jingle writing. joining us now via skype to talk jingle jobs, adam harriman, partner and managing director of mophonics. good morning to you!

> > good morning. > what is happening in the jingle industry? why is the demand there for jobs? > > there is a massive increase in content as people are digesting digital content from many, many sources, there is a need for music to be added to that content. so companies like ours that cater to that need are very busy. > are you noticing it as well with big ad agencies that don't necessarily want to buy pop music? > > yes. we do. most of our clients are those large ad agencies. they are the primary source of our income. > are there certain companies that are more likely to go with an independent jingle writer over somebody who is well- known? > > well, the real well-known composers, or artists, i should say, will always come at a premium. but most budgets for advertising work can't afford

those types of artists, like household names. so they are looking to use smaller, more agile companies that can create similar types of music with authenticity, but without that high of a pricetag. > gatorade and j.c. penney are just a couple of the companies that are using independent guys. what companies are on your list? > > we work for almost every brand that is out there. we have done work for cadillac, for apple, for gatorade, you name it. most of those types of brands are very active in broadcast and digital work, and there is always a need for music, so the phone rings a lot. > i'm curious, how much does one make when selling a jingle? > > there is quite a range. for a non-exclusive license, meaning that other people can have access to that same piece, and it wasn't created specifically for a campaign, it could be anywhere from $5,000 for a license upward. and then for a custom song can go into six figures. it just depends on the usage, how often it is

playing, and the territories of that usage and what went into creating that piece. > do people use this as a career starter? barry manilow wrote jingles for mcdonald's and state farm. > > yes, yes he did, and we had a composer of ours that was here about two years ago named mark foster, who you might know his name from foster the people. he has a triple platinum album out right now, and he has become a very big star. his first job was working for us, just writing on campaigns similar to what we just spoke about, and he wrote that record at night in his free time, and he honed his chops. it's actually a very great creative exercise for any writer or artist to work on these types of projects, because they force you to get out of your comfort zone and work quickly and hone your craft. > thank you for your time and happy jingles to you. > > thank you. it was a pleasure. coming up, as the s&p 500 pushes to a record close, what traders are saying from the floor. chart talk is next.

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.

on to chart talk now with dan

deming of stutland equities. he has been trading on the floor of the chicago board options exchange. can you believe this market dan? > > i tell you, very resilient angie. really an amazing rally yesterday, kind of shrugging off the news from europe, feeling like things are going to be resolved over there with no major consequences for mainland europe or the eu proper, ecb. so, the market kind of gathered itself and pushed its way back up toward near-all-time highs in the s&p. > do you think it is likely that the s&p will have a record close today just based on action you have already seen this week and the fact that it is the end of the quarter? > > right, exactly. the momentum is there angie. right now, you have to say that it has a very good chance here to push through that 1565-ish area, i think, of october 2007. right now we kind of had a little bit of a consolidation over the last few days, but now it looks like the momentum has shifted back toward the high side. and a break-out above that, i think you are going to see it hit some

sell stops, which is probably going to propel the market higher. > what is going on with the so- called smart money or the institutional players and the vix? > > you know, the vix under pressure yesterday - the cash level was down about 7%, back down at that 12% handle. the futures actually held in there pretty well most of the day yesterday though. you saw kind of that ebb and flow where you had that rubber band effect where the futures actually kind of held firm even with the market pushing up. so you have some protective buying going on. again, you see some allocations coming into the s&p or the spx, and then i think they hedged some of that allocation with a small exposure to the vix just in case something might turn sour over the next week or two. > dan, good to have you on the show. have a good trading day. > > thanks angie. you too. that closes out our show for today. coming up tomorrow, crude awakening. dreamworks springs to the top of the box office with its new animated hit film "the croods." but will the "g.i. joe: retaliation" commondeer audiences this weekend? from all of us at first business, thank you for watching, and have a wonderful day!