lawmakers head back to the hill, as the president releases what aides call: a mind blowing budget. in today's cover story...the new cab app that is becoming a driving force in the venture capitol world. and... if these walls could talk....a look at the booming hotel business, plus....earnings season kicks off today. why one trader is predicting "things could get ugly." first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas good morning,it's monday, april 8th.i'm angela miles. in today's first look a new round of corporate earnings starts today and expecations are low

on friday, stocks stumbled on word only 88 thousands jobs were added to payrolls...the market expected 200-thousands. the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.6% the dow, nasdaq and s&p all fell.. while money rushed to a gold as safe haven and oil had a slow drip. bank of america will pay $2.43 billion dollars to settle with investors. merrill lynch shareholders including some teacher retirement funds accused the bank of hiding critical info when it bought merril lynch during the financial collapse. and fed chairman ben bernanke will speak at an atlanta fed confrence. he will highlight findings from bank stress tests. well, the market sold off on friday on that disappointing jobs number but then bounced back. ben lichtenstien of traders audio.com joins us now. good morning to you ben. > > good morning. > > and do we see some follow through this monday from that rally momentum? > > that's a great question right now. again, we did see an enormous amount of energy coming out of the late day trade on friday. but for the most

part there was a lot of energy basically off the open to the upside. the energy that we saw was all in the overnight to the downside. basically, when i came in on friday morning about an hour ahead of the number, we were already about 9 handles lower. after the disappointing number we sold off another 10 handles but bounced off some major support. that 1533 level. right now i think as long as we're below 1552, which i think was the low for monday of last week i think we're still somewhat under pressure at this point. now don't get me wrong, i was aware, i was here for it. i saw the strength. i saw the activity come in late in the afternoon friday. but that's normal. we're used to seeing that rally come in late but what i'm talking about is the fact that we have been seeing sell side participation on behalf of institutional players and that's something that we haven't been seeing until recently so this market's still under pressure pricewise. > > so we have to see if they're going to buy on the dips as has been the theme of this market. moving on to treasuries. what do you see there?

> > that's been on the move as well. for the most part, treasuries were the leading indicator for the downside activity that we saw last week on thursday and initially as we've already talked about on friday. the bonds are catching a nice spin up to that 148 handle friday they actually traded 3 handles in the range. the 146, 147 and 148 handle. i think friday they closed up about almost a full point from the pit session open so there was a lot of energy in that trade as well. definitely there's been some money coming out of the stocks and i think it's been going into the bonds. normally we're used to seeing it go into the dollar but for the most part that dollar has just been sideways, right around 83. on friday it was even trading mostly below 83. > > ben, always a pleasure. thank you. the white house says president obama's budget out this week -- will blow your mind. white house spokesman jay carney is promising the budget proposal is full of details. officials admit the budget is "not our ideal policy" as democrats attempt to compromise with republican lawmakers. with that in mind, here's what its got: more cuts to medicare and social security along with fewer tax increases. house speaker john boehner

criticized the budget proposal in a statement friday. he says the plan would not balance the budget, and accused the president of holding entitlement cuts hostage. the budget will be released on wednesday. congress is back in session today. and aside from the nation's budget, two other issues are looming large: immigration and gun control. democratic senatof chuck schumer and republican senator john mccain -- memebers of the so-called gang of 8 appeared on sunday morning news shows to talk about progess and pitfalls on bi-partisan immigration legislation. as for gun control laws.. time magazine reports the tough background check bill.. could come up on the senate floor within the next week or so, but doesnt have enough votes to get through the gop controlled house. the effects of sequestration are starting to sink in. state programs are beginning to feel the pinch of the 85 billion dollars in budget cuts that began in march. education program head start cut 5% of its budget due to the lack of federal dollars. universities and foundations will also soon see government- funded research and grants disapper.

unemployment benefits are also taking a hit. in some states such as kansas and oregon, the benefits have already started to shrink. meanwhile the f-a-a is delaying the closures of 149 air traffic control towers until june. travel season is likely to go-slow this summer, as security and air traffic controllers are furloughed. lawmakers on capitol hill are blaming the effects of sequestration for the latest disappointing jobs data. as fewer jobs were created -- some republicans including house speaker john boehner placed blame on recent budget cuts. boehner said the president's policies were making it harder for americans to find work. meanwhile, senate majority leader harry reid called the sequester, a self-inflicted setback and said republicans and democrats need to work together to stabilize the nation's debt. anaysis says more visable sequester impacts will be 'measurable' after this year. general motors is considering a move out of south korea. gm's chief executive dan akerson tells cnbc if political tensions between north and south korea escalate, the company could move workers and production out of the country. gm has about 17 thousand employees in the eastern nation. akerson also noted that any problems in south korea would affect the entire auto industry. need a taxi? there's an app for that.in fact, there are roughly a dozen of them--in london alone. our cover story looks at "e- hailing" as it's called-- spreading to cities where gps, smartphones and stranded passengers are providing the

next opportunity for mobile money making. hailing a cab is probably the most obvious business application of gps technology with smartphones. there are several of them. but hailo--an app launched a year and a half ago, is now in six cities with plans to more than double that by the end of this year. "it's growing like a weed. we have 37% of cabs in chicago-- thousands of jobs and we just launched lhere in november of last year." it works this way--- customers download the app. then, when you need a cab, hailo finds your location and directly alerts cabs nearby---bypassing a dispatcher. bills and tips are paid through a pre-arranged credit card. drivers are paid by direct deposit. it short, everything moves faster. "the waiting time that i used to spend outside--i don't have to do that anymore." "everytime hailo is called we take a dollar and the driver takes 50- cents for using the service fee from us." a year and a half ago, it was the 12th company in london to enter the business of

e-hailing, as its called. now, it dominates the market...attracting more than 30-million dollars in venture capital from investors including union square investors--early backers of twitter, foursquare and tumblr. entrepreneur richard branson and tom barr, a former executive at starbucks, "my bet is that most of it is for marketing and branding to make people aware so they use it." for now, hailo is privately held and seeking millions more in venture capital. with just 200 employees and a former top executive of shazam econometrics behind it, a lot of people think hailo's meter is off and running. hailo is now the world's largest e-hailing network and may be particularly useful to travelers.once the app is downloaded, it may be used to hail cabs anywhere hailo operates. a new electric car is charging up to take on tesla's roadster. the detroit electric car company is reviving an electric

car brand that sold in the early 20th century.its two- seater sp:01 is set to go on sale in the u-s in august for 135 thousand dollars.the company plans to roll out more electric vehicles starting next year. it's up to the faa whether boeing's dreamliners are fit to fly. boeing completed a second, two- hour test flight on friday in washington state. once the federal aviation administration reviews the test data, the agency will decide whether to certify the fix, and if the jets are ready for takeoff on a routine basis. transportation secretary ray lahood believes boeing has a "good plan" to fix it's battery problem. ubs is in legal trouble with the federal housing finance agency over mortgage losses at fannie mae and freddie mac. the fhfa won the right to sue ubs over the quality of loans in $6.4 billion in mortgage- backed securities. ubs tried to appeal the suit, claiming it was filed too late under federal law. but the court rules that the housing and economic recovery act of 2008 extended the filing

period. millionaires in america made a staggering amount in unemployment benefits "during" the financial crisis. new data reveals they made a grand total of "80 million dollars" . in 2010, about 32 hundred millionaires received benefits -- a jump of about 44% from 2009. the congressional research service reports that several bills have been introduced in congress to limit jobless benefits to the wealthy, but so far the proposals have not gained traction on capitol hill. bad behavior is still prevelant on wall street despite a crack down on insider trading. a recent study found 35% of people working at hedge funds admit to felling pressure to break the rules. mostly because its tied to their compensation plans. 28% said the fund manager was not likely to contact law enforcers if a top trader was involved in insider trading. 13% the boss would likely

ignore the problem. an executive director of the hedge fund association called the survey "troubling". jon corzine is on the defense after being blamed for the collapse of mf global. last week... an mf bankruptcy trustee acussed corzine of using "risky strategies that ruined the company. corzine tells reporters... "the trustee's report, with its allegations of negligent conduct, is a clear case of monday morning quarterbacking."corzine adds that his strategy was approved by the board. samsung is giving wall street something to talk about. profits rose 53% from the first quarter of last year as consumers keyed in on its tech gadgets, especially lower end and mid tier smartphones. samsungs new galaxy s4 smartphone goes on pre sales april 16th in the u.s. meanwhile-- analysts and traders are eagerly awaiting apple's earnings due out april 23rd which could show samsung slicing into sales of apple products. zynga's leader is asking for a game changing "pay" plan. c-e-

o mark pincus is requesting that the board cut his annual salary to one dollar "and" to skip bonuses or equity awards. pincus reportedly is worth $800 million dollars. the struggling stock is around $3. salaries of other top-level execs will not be cut. interest in yankee candle is lighting up. the popular candlemaker is reportedly worth $2 billion dollars - ten times its annual earnings. it's drawing interest from private equity firms across the u-s. the company is not commenting, but reports say the sale process is in early stages ans should be made public in a few weeks. downzing is happening at disney. despite its blockbuster hit "oz the great and powerful".... disney is laying off staff from its studio and consumer product divisons. reuters reports it is unknown how many people will be let go. its disney's latest effort to cut costs, now that advances in technology have made some positions obsolete.

kfc is bone free. the fast food chain is frying up a new concept by selling buckets of white and dark chicken chunks-- minus the bones. it's food focused on millennials. and the president of kfc says it's the biggest product change in the company's 60 year history. still to come why the key in the hotel industry is to sellthe building. the ceo of starwood which owns the westin and sherton will be here to share his secrets to success. thats later on. but first..... more reaction to the drop in hiring and why it has investors nervous about a spring swoon. thats next with bill moller after this in the know message. i wanted to be in the military since i was a kid.

i served a total of 16 years. and at 19 years old, that's the first time i ever saw somebody die. coming back, i was raging. i started having pretty horrible nightmares. i started drinking a lot. i guess i never recognized it in myself. 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. fer with a deadly disease. i was one of them. my disease was obesity and after consulting with my doctor, i received the effective treatment i needed. please join the obesity action coalition to acknowledge obesity as a disease visit obesity action dot org to sign an open letter

pledging your support and for more information about how to talk to your doctor about weight loss and treatment options. together we can make a choice to end obesity now. a public service from the obesity action coalition. we learned last friday the unemployment rate went down. great, good news right. well, that comes from one survey but there's a different survey and in that one we learned that employers added about 88,000 jobs and that was not such good news. come on economy! we need more than this. let's talk with brent schutte, market strategist at bmo global asset management. the unemployment rate we know is a lagging indicator but i think we were expecting maybe not such great numbers as we first saw but certainly better than this. > >if you look at some of the datat early last week, it did point to the fact that friday's employment report was going to be a little weaker than expected. it did not point however to the number being as weak as it was, which was quite

frankly the big surprise. 88,000 was pretty light compared to the consensus expectations of somewhere around 175. > > you wrote a paper not long ago about the participation rate and it's down something like just over 63 percent and it hasn't been that low in decades. that is a worrisome trend. > >that's the most worrisome trend for me. the other stuff is kind of noise. the 88,000, that number will be revised two or three times before we get the final number and i've mentioned before on the show that the margin of error around that is huge. just as an example, january and february revised up 61,000. so there is quite a bit of noise. what is troubling is that longer term growth of an economy is determined by how many people work, how hard they work , and how efficient they are. the labor force participation number is how many people are actually working or participating in your labor force. 63.3 is the lowest we've had since 1979. > > that compares with some european countries that are on the ropes right now. > >right. if you look at the paper i wrote, it suggested that as your labor force particpation rate comes down your growth rate is quite frankly morbid. the three lowest participation rates on that chart that i presented were italy, france, and japan. three economies who are having some troubles.

> > what about this spring swoon that people are talking about? that maybe there's a trend developing here this time of year. > > that's the fear that people have in the market and the economists have. that over the past couple of years we've kind of been fooled into thinking that the world was getting a little bit better in december, january, and february the numbers came in good. and then in march you actually the economy fall and the market fall. it's really a big question to whether this happens this year. the numbers aren't as weak on the other stuff as what they were in the prior years. > > they currently still have all this uncertainty. with sequestration, with what the government is supposed to be doing but isn't doing and that's a damper on all of this. > > it's a damper but on the opposite side of the equation you do have positive things occuring. the housing market looks a little stronger. the fed is actually, whether you believe stimulus is good or bad, they're not doing the stops and starts. they're actually just

pouring on the medicine---85 billion a month. whereas before there were final dates of when the stimulus would end. some of those times were around now. > > brent, thank you so much. still ahead checking in with the hotel industry.....what major changes are happening worldwide...thats next.

investors are closely watching major changes happening in the hotel industry. this morning..we have starwood hotels and resorts president and ceo frits van paasschen with us no and who knows better about the industry than you sir. good to have you on the show this morning. > > thank you. > > to start with, you're planning to sell $3 billion

worth of your hotels. why make that move? why now? > > real estate investing and developing is inherently local. so we're focused on bringing great returns to real estate developers---people who want to own hotels in markets around the world. > >starwood stock has been trending with the economic recovery. what do you plan to do to keep shareholders happy? > > in many respects, our stock prices tracked with the performance of the world economy and confidence. i can't forecast where the stock's going to go but i can tell you that we're very much focused on creating shareholder value. coming up... a new round of earnings gets underway this week.trader andrew keene will be here with his trade on the leader of the pack.. after the break. we're growing our footprint of hotels like we never have before. in addition to that, the hotels that we have are performing better and better. so as long as we do

that we think we'll generate great returns for our shareholders. > > what do you view as your biggest challenge? > > the biggest challenge now is continuing to find ways to grow particularly in north america and in europe. so in europe the opportunity to find distressed hotels and convert them to our brands. and in north america in particular, even though interest rates are low, construction lending has been almost non-existent. and what that means is hotel supply in the u.s. for example is very tight. occupancies, even though we are still relatively early in the recovery are very high. what we need to do is see construction lending become unleashed so we can start to meet some of that demand and build some hotels, which by the way will create jobs, both in the construction as well as the operation of those properties. > > nice to have you here and best of success to you. trader andrew keene, president

of keeneonthemarket.com joins us now for a closer look at alcoa which comes out with earnings and leads off that earnings parade. good morning to you and happy monday andrew. > > good morning angie. > > so what do you see in the charts for alcoa? > > unfortunately its nothing good. everytime i look at a chart and everytime i look at earnings i look at the daily first then i look at the weekly then i look at monthly. the only thing i can rationalize that alcoa can do is find support at this $8 level. that has previous support on the weekly chart. however, this year on the daily chart, this stock looks really poor from the top left to the bottom right i think this stock is headed lower. six of the last eight times alcoa has reported earnings the stock has sold off. right now its trading 822. we have all the moving averages converging together around this 866 level. so it seems like there's this rock and this wall at this 866. alcoa's going to be talking about the global growth story. how 50% of their growth is from china and china is slowing down. we see all the stocks that are linked to the global growth story. we

see us steel, we see the aluminum prices all headed lower. if alcoa breaks this $8 level it could get ugly. > > back in the day, alcoa could move the market. does it still have that power? i'm not seeing as much options action going into the earnings tonight. > > i looked at the options and i'm going to be playing something right before usually when i trade the earnings i usually like to trade it right before. so i had 230 today, i'm going to put a position on. i'm either going to be selling call spreads or buying puts outright. the volatility is relatively cheap . it's a very cheap name. it's $8.22. so the puts don't have much premium. like i said, the stock has sold off 6 of 8 quarters on earnings. i think it's headed lower but keep an eye on $8 when it's support becomes a resistance. so if it breaks under 8 that will become the new resistance level. > > thank you for your insights. have a good day. we are out of time for today.. coming up tuesday, tips on how to set aside your emotions and find the right direction for your investments. from all of us at first business.. have a great start to your week!