car sales zoom ahead, as americans shift into buy mode. in today's cover story, generic drug makers score a win - why it may mean losses for investors. plus, with the bp oil spill nearly three years behind us, a shocking update on the state of the gulf coast today. and, a new plan to create innovation in america that's "out-to-sea." first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's wednesday, april 3rd. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: stocks are back on the fast- track to new highs. yesterday the dow and s&p 500 closed at record levels. the nasdaq also

made strong gains, while gold plunged 25 dollars and oil sank 21 cents. the sec is giving corporate america the okay to tweet major announcements or post on facebook as long as investors know which site to find the news. and trouble is brewing for anheuser bush inbev. an ex- employees claims the company waters down its beer. now he says the beer company is attempting to silence him with a lawsuit claiming he revealed trade secrets. we are starting off our day with tim mulholland of china america capital on this wednesday. good morning to you. > > good morning angela. > should investors be worried at all about threats coming from north korea over nuclear power? > > you know, i think it is always a concern, because you never know with such a young, unproven leader, an inexperienced person, what can happen. but i doubt that even

he is that stupid to try and do something crazy. but nonetheless, it is not something to totally dismiss, but i don't think it's anything we need to worry and stay awake at night, because it is one of those known factors out there that i think is being watched pretty consistently. > it doesn't seem to be rattling the market. > > nothing rattles the market when the fed buys $85 billion a month in securities. > and with oil, have we seen the end of high oil prices here for a while? > > i'm not so sure i would say that. i remember, it doesn't seem that long ago we were trading in the $80s in oil in west texas, so, i think right now, if we continue with, again, the monetary policy is as easy and friendly as it is, and if the economy were to continue picking up, the global economy and so forth, i think that it is going to fluctuate, but i certainly wouldn't want to be the first to call a top here. > coming up later in the show we will be talking about another strong month for car sales. but the implications are much wider when you are trading commodities. what do you see out

there? > > it is definitely another bright spot in addition to the housing. i think the fleets of cars have been aging, so i think there is a cycle that looks like it is really starting to come into- i wouldn't say mature yet, but i think on the way to maturing, so we are probably in the midst of a new cycle. it is going to have implications on some commodities. you wouldn't know it from copper, because of what has been happening in china with the housing market and so forth, and the measures there. but nevertheless, i wouldn't look for, unless we get a total economic contraction, for commodities to turn and go south. i think any pause is just going to just be that, a pause, and i think the trend will still be up for most commodities. > "the trend is your friend," as traders like to say. thanks for helping us out today. > > sure. india's supreme court ruling that denied drug giant novartis from extending patents on a cancer treatment is seen as a victory for impoverished patients who'll just barely afford generic versions of the drug that'll be made. our cover story examines patents versus generics elsewhere and what it means to the global trillion- dollar pie big pharama hopes to devour. the u.s. still spends more on meds than any other nation, but emerging markets with rising per capita incomes such as india, china, brazil and more than a dozen others are growing faster. "as much as 30% of the growth could be there." that's one reason why swiss- drug maker novartis fought to extend patents in india on its improved cancer-treatment gleevec. novartis claimed it had made the drug more effective and thus warrented a new patent. india's supreme court disagreed. the ruling allows indian companies to make copycat versions.

"if the drug companies aren't able to have patent protection, maybe not in every country but in most countries, they're not going to be able to make back the sums on money it takes to develop drugs." pharmaceutical researchers and manufacturers of america, a trade group, says, "the indian courts have come down on the side that doesn't recognize the value of innovation and the value of strong intellectual property." however, analysts doubt the ruling will influence decisions beyond india, nor do they think it will affect the overall profitability of large pharmaceutical companies. "overall, we still think the pharmaceutical fundamentals look quite good. from a valuation standpoint, a lot of stocks have run quite a bit, and there aren't a lot that we think are extremely undervalued." nonetheless, novartis claims the ruling discourages it from introducing new drugs in india, despite a market of 1.2 billion people there.

the mad dash for healthcare stocks continues. after shooting up 9% monday, humana gained another 5% tuesday, while united health and aetna also moved higher. the stocks soared after the government revealed medicare advantage rates will jump 3.3% next year, as opposed to a 2.3% reimbursement cut to the insurer that was predicted. however, humana warned investors yesterday that reimbursements could take a hit from payment rates resulting from the healthcare reform. president obama will lay out his full budget agenda next wednesday, but until then, he's offering bits of his budget to the media. part of the plan calls for $100 million in research to cure brain disorders such as alzheimers. recently, the wall street journal reported president obama is leaning toward limits on social programs, which were first offered to republicans back in december. members of the gop are already saying the budget won't win approval of the republican-controlled house.

americans are shrugging off the nation's economic drama and buying lots of new cars. gm sales were up 6.4% in march, ford up 6% and chrysler 5%. toyota's gains were a little more anemic at just 1%. despite news headlines about the fiscal cliif, sequestration and budget shortfalls, car sales in the first quarter beat expectations. edmunds.com says it is raising its auto sales forecast to 15.5 million cars in 2013. 'i think that there's growth potential to go beyond this year as well. we're still not back to pre-recession levels in terms of the number of sales per driver. we've had driver population grow, but sales have shrunk since the recession and there's still room for growth there." the main reason for zipppy new car sales: pent-up demand after years of economic struggles for consumers.

it's a new day for fannie mae. six years after the housing market's collapse, the agency has turned a record profit. fannie raked in $7.6 billion in the fourth quarter, and made $17.2 billion in 2012, while taxpayers took home $11.6 billion in fannie dividends. the ceo of the mortgage giant says he expects earnings to remain strong over the next few years. a new trend among recent law school graduates is to sue the schools. the l.a. times reports dozens of grads across the country are now part of class- action lawsuits. the suits contend that law schools inflate both salaries and job placements. "it is pretty clear from the commonality of these allegations that these law schools are indeed manipulationg their employment data." law schools have responded saying their data is correctly reported. online resources render many law jobs obsolete, and that is one reason there is a glut of lawyers looking for

work in their field. unemployment in the eurozone continues to reach record highs. the jobless rate hit a new high of 12% in the first two months of this year. an estimated 26 million people are without jobs. other grim numbers show european manufacturing slowed last month, signaling further contraction. the wall street journal is reporting that apple could release an iphone 6 as early as this summer. the journal quotes a source that says the next generation phone will be similar in shape and size to the iphone 5. the sources went on to say that apple is continuing to develop a less expensive iphone, destined for developing markets. apple declined to comment. a small airline wants passengers to "pay as they weigh." samoa air is catching flack for its pricing structure. flyers pay based on their weight per kilogram, along with the weight of luggage. the rates range from $1 to $4 per kilogram. the airline's ceo chris langton defends the structure, calling it the "concept of the future."

the annual list of the best and worst states to make a living is out, and this year moneyrates.com ranks washington, virgina, and colorado as the best places to live and work, while rhode island, mississippi, and hawaii ranked last. the findings were based on wages, unemployment, cost of living, environment and state tax rate. hbo series "game of thrones" has attracted a record number of scene-stealers. more than 1 million viewers illegally downloaded the much-hyped series premiere on sunday. 163,000 users simultaneously shared a single file of the show, a new record for online piracy. "game of thrones"' co- creator recently said in an interview that the show could afford to amp up special effects, if only viewers coughed up money for the download. still to come, news that may

shock you about the bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico. stand by for the surprising details in a new report. but first, why would you put a ship off the california coast and pack it with a thousand of the world's smartest minds? it will make sense, next.

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the bi-partisan group of senators known as the "gang of eight" has reportedly reached a deal on immigration reform. legislative language is yet to be set and will need to be approved by both sides. one key provision, agreement by both labor and business leaders on a temporary-worker program, has been accomplished. the group says it is hopeful a full bill will reach the senate floor by may. one member of the group, florida senator marco rubio, a potential 2016 republican presidential contender, distanced himself from the optimism, saying full agreement on a legislative proposal is "premature." so here's the problem - the u.s. government issues a limited number of temporary work visas every year. they are about to announce the cap for this year. and the result is that many of the world's best & brightest tech minds can't get into the u.s. to start the next google or apple. get this, as the workaround, put a ship off the california coast and fill it with hundreds and hundreds of the top minds, foreign-born entrepreneurs, and turn them loose to create start-ups. dario mutabdzija is is one of

the two silicon valley entrepreneurs trying to make this happen. it's called blueseed. dario, how did this idea first pop into your head? > > thank you for inviting me. this idea is a merger of my personal background and my co- founder's personal background, and our professional background. we realize that there is a huge problem in silicon valley as far as the start-ups are concerned, which are led by foreign cofounders. i am an immigrant myself. my co- founder is the son of immigrants. so we have seen on a personal level how awesome it is to come to a place where opportunities are much, much better, and silicon valley is one of the best places. however, me and my co-founder, we are lucky. we came here legally, we were able to stay, but that is not the case for many, many extremely talented and extremely bright people who create numerous jobs and awesome new products and services. so we wanted to solve that problem in the way we know. we are the entrepreneurs in silicon

valley. we are not politicians. so our solution is an entrepreneurial one. > it is a fanciful idea. i think it is fascinating. however, you have got to deal with politicians to be sure it is allowed. now it is going to be in international waters. any response from the u.s. government as to whether they would give you a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down on this? > > absolutely. we will have to deal with the u.s. government in many different ways. we will actually have to establish partnerships with numerous agencies from the coast guard, homeland security, etc. so you are absolutely correct in that sense. we have approached certain government agencies. however, for some of them, this is still too early of a stage for them to give us an official go-ahead. but as far as we can tell, response so far has not been negative, and exactly what we are working on i think is a positive for the united states, because our goal is to create

jobs and create new sources of revenue. so i think it is up to us to properly position this with the u.s. government, and i think because primarily what we are trying to do, i don't think it should be a big problem. > dario, give me a sense of the demand for this. how many people have signed up, or at least told you it is a great idea and they want to be part of it? > > over 360 start-ups from 66 different countries around the world expressed desire to be on our ship. i think it is safe to say that the demand is not going to be a problem for us. the response has been overwhelmingly positive. people want to come to silicon valley and people love this place, and they would do anything they could in order to achieve their goals and objectives, achieve their dreams. so, demand is not a problem. > it is very exciting. i can't wait to see what happens. dario mutabdzija. the ship is called blueseed. good luck to you. > > thank you very much. still ahead, we're checking in with the gulf coast three years after the massive bp oil spill. that's next.

it's been nearly 3 years since the massive bp oil spill disaster in the gulf of mexico. the accident aboard the deepwater horizon oil rig is considered among the worst in our nation's history as it wiped out wildlife and destroyed businesses. a new report out this week outlines the fallout. joining us via skype is sara gonzalez-rothi with the national wildlife foundation. good to have you here. > > thank you. nice to be with you, angie. > we would love to have you start by telling us, what does the gulf look like today, three years later? > > sure. i guess that is the fundamental basis behind our report that we released today. the national wildlife federation has been involved in the gulf for decades, even before the oil spill, and one of the most devastating impacts has certainly been to the coastal wetlands in the gulf region of the mississippi river

delta. one of the things that we do see as a remainder of the oil spill is that those wetlands have eroded into open water. in addition, the oil is still there. in fact, as recently as september of last year, hurricane isaac washed of 565,000 lbs. of oil material. so the disaster is ongoing, even though it has been three years since the explosion. > the oil is still there. what is bp doing about that, or even halliburton or trans ocean? > > it is interesting that you ask that. i think they would like us to think that the oil is gone, the disaster is over, and the gulf is open and ready for business. and while certainly, hopefully, folks are going to visit the region and enjoy the beautiful beaches, the oil is still there, bp has not been held fully accountable, trans ocean has pleaded guilty to some of the criminal charges and paid $1 billion in civil fines for their portion of the

disaster, but the trial is now entering its sixth week, and it seems at every turn that bp continues to shirk responsibility. > at the same time, bp contends that all the money it is spending, some $37 billion already, it will actually harm bp. is that true, and do you actually see some of that money siphoning into the community? it sounds like not at all times. > > what i can say is that bp's bottom line has not particularly suffered from this disaster, and they have certainly rebounded three years later. and as their shareholders are receiving dividend checks, gulf residents continue to suffer, and they see this in the inability to really market their seafood, they see this in the inability to have their beaches clean, and in addition, they see this in the fact that the ecosystem is not yet being restored and has not rebounded. bp's claims that what it has paid thus far is enough are simply untenable under existing federal law. bp is liable not only for every damage that it caused, but in addition, every damage to natural resources and also civil penalties for every bit of oil that it spilled. so, although they may claim that they have paid enough, federal law says differently. > good to have you on the show.

we will have to see where the next page of this story goes. this is an ongoing story, as you mentioned, with, of course, bp still claiming that they have paid out enough money already. thanks for being on the show. > > thank you angie. if you bought shares of facebook on ipo day, reasons to hold on to that stock are coming up after the break.

trader alan knuckman of optionshop has decided he wants to be "friends" with facebook. we will find out if that is going to be a worthwhile relationship. good morning to you alan. > > good morning angie. this is a stock that has seen a lot of turmoil, but i do like it at these levels. it has treated roughly between $32 and $18 for the last year or so, so $25, where we stand right now, is about the midpoint, and it has held as a support level for the

last four months and looks like a good my area. > what would be your options play on this one? > > i am looking at a long-term options play, a january option, a $20 call which is in-the- money, the stock is trading at around $25 or $26. that option is going to cost about $675, and my break-even is only $1 higher with plenty of time for this market to recover and make a push to this upside resistance at $32. > what is your reasoning for giving yourself such a long- term horizon on this one? do you feel like facebook is an iffy stock? > > no more so than anything else, but i always like to buy enough time to be right. time is important asset, so i want to take that out of the equation by buying an option that has plenty of time for development here. it has got a solid base at $18, it has had a healthy recovery, 80% off its lows. i think this latest break is a good opportunity to buy it at that halfway support, technically, which on the charts looks very important. > which could be good for people who are already long this

stock who bought on that ipo day. what is your best recommendation here as a trader? do they hang on to the stock? do they maybe do an options play? what do you think alan? > > i think this stock still has a lot more upside. it has really recovered well from its difficulties. i think it can push above $32, and if it does that, $39 is the near-term target, and that should be right about where most of the people bought in at the highs, if they did so, so they can get back to where they started at least. > alan, good to have you on the show. have a good trading day. > > thank you. that's a wrap. coming up tomorrow in movies and money, why the lionsgate film studio has reason to celebrate tyler perry's new movie. thank you for watching today. from all of us at first business, have a great wednesday!