companies based in the usa are catching the eyes of investors. why the sudden interest in being "all american." in today's cover story.....jcpenney fallout. what's next for the company now that its ceo savior went from hired to fired. and....a growing tax scam targets children in an attempt to ripoff a refund. plus....why mechanics are charging more for a checkup on your car.. first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas good morning.it's wednesday, april 10th.i'm angela miles.in today's first look new highs for the dow and s&p helped by better than expected earnings news from alcoa..the blue chips

broke through to a record high close yesterday.the nasdaq added 16 points. the s&p had an intra day high, but fell shy of a record finish.gold rushed up $13,oil edged up 67 cents, first solar stole the spot light with shinning earnings expectations that stock soared 12 dollars..as the solar panel company clued in wall street ser sales will come in hotter than anticipated.and, the high flying blue angels are grounded from air shows.the navy was forced to cancel performances due to federal budget cuts. let's get it started with larry shover of sfg alternatives. larry, with all the new highs in the market it's starting to feel like a broken record. good morning to you. > > good morning. the thing that surprises me is that we've had this shift. we just saw it yesterday where everybody is rushing back into cyclical

stocks out of safety. let's keep in mind that for the past month it's been the exact opposite where we have really had a correction without a crash. we've had people just pouring into safety stocks looking for yield and safety and dismissing tech and financials and materials in the process. > > money was also going into oil yesterday on concerns about an earthquake in iran and production. do you think that will cool off today? > > i think it will. however the disclaimer is depending on the u.s. dollar's direction today because that's really what's going to drive the oil price and given the numbers we had come out yesterday in china that kind of spurred everything with the cpi making oil more attractive but really at the end of the day it's the u.s. dollar. > > and as earnings season is underway, what stocks will you watch for this week that report in with earnings? > > two of my favorites are jp morgan and wells fargo. both of them reporting on friday and we've seen the financial sector the last three weeks really take it on the chin so i'm really looking forward to seeing these reports.

> > any idea what we will hear? i know a lot of traders are watching those two stocks. > > they have been dialed down so much. the expectation are so low forming a low base. i'm looking for both of them to beat on both lines however it's going to have to be a big beat for the stocks to go higher. i do think we're gonna get that for wells fargo. > > it's going to be interesting. thank you larry. > > you're welcome. filed under "what were they thinking?"---jc penny thought ron johnson would bring the magic from apple to penny's. as ceo, johnson's vision was to freshen up the store's staid image and go after younger, more brand-conscious millennial shoppers. as our cover story explains, it wound up turning into a retail disaster that alienated its customer base before the new one had been lured in. ron johnson's tenure as penny's ceo was short--just 17-months and by many accounts--not at all sweet. his strategy to stock higher-end merchandise and lose the discount coupons drove away the store's value- conscious customer base well before sought-after millennial

customers knew the 110-year-old department store chain even existed. "you can't be someone's #5 store on their shopping list if you're trying to reinvent yourself solely through that customer base." sales fell 32% in last year's 4th quarter--when holiday seasonal shopping is at its peak. company stock dropped 53%. the company may have been boring before but analysts say johnson drove it toward the rocks too soon for his vision to catch on. without revenue, penny's didn't have the funds necessary to remodel its stores and remake its brand. "i think a lot of creditors and suppliers went to the board and said, "you have to get rid of this guy, we don't think you can pay your bills." whether jcpenny stays publically traded or goes private has not yet been determined. "i do think the company survives. it could go lower, though. its stock is very undervalued . it could be a tough call for an investor to make." there were other missteps--- trying to lure martha stewart's

line of products away from macy's without the deeper pockets macy's had to fight it...a battle still underway in court. penny's has reinstated johnson's predecessor, myron ullman as ceo, for now. ullman's return to jcpenny is viewed as a stabilizing factor..but how long he'll stay there isn't clear. the sec is investigating an insider trading scandal at kpmg.kpmg does auditing for high profile companies. according to the kpmg website a partner was providing "non- public" client information to a third party, it was rogue action, and the partner was immediately separated from the firm. kpmg then resigned from working with herblife which sold off 3% on the news,and from skechers which bounced up 2%,kpmg affirms there's no

reason to believe financial statements for either company was materially misstated. president obama's budget -- out today - faces pushback from both sides of the aisle. some democrats held a rally outside the white house yesterday in protest of proposed budget cuts to entitlement programs. the budget reportedly proposes 305 billion dollars in cuts to medicare over ten years. the white house says the budget is not "ideal" but is part of a compromise. the washington post reports 235 million dollars is being proposed for new mental health programs....following the newtown, connecticut school shootings in december, mental health issues are in the national spotlight meanwhile on capitol hill -- the senate is preparing for a vote on new gun legislation scheduled for thursday. an immigration reform bill could also be introduced that

day. millions of people will soon be getting checks in the mail. banks and mortgage service companies will start sending checks out on friday for between $300 and $125,000. all told $3.6 billion will be paid out. this is part of a settlement between thirteen different mortgage servicers and the federal government -- to compensate mortgage borrowers who were wrongfully foreclosed on in 20-09 and 20-10. the u-s labor department says there are four million job openings, right now in this country. that's the most since 20-08 and is seen as a sign of momentum in the job market. however, analysts say the numbers reflect expansion plans before sequestration budget cuts hit. last month the economy added a modest 88,000 jobs. the unemployment rate inched down to 7.6% cambodia could become the next china... the new york times reports tiffany and company is quietly building a factory there and the retailer is not alone. foreign investment in cambodia rose to $1.5 billion last year. that is still dwarfed by the almost $120 billion invested last year in china but it is a sign that manufacturers are looking beyond china for cheap labor. foreign investment is also up in thailand, vietnam, myanmar and the phillipines.

aerospace workers in south carolina are flying high after boeing says it will invest $1 billion in the state. the associated press reports that the expansion will create 2,000 jobs over the next eight years. boeing is expanding its relatively new 787 assembly plant already there. the jet maker is also setting up a research center in brazil. boeing has five other centers for research outside the u-s. when it comes to frequent flyer miles.. .many americans could be making a mistake. a new study finds three out of four americans do not know how many miles they have acquired. an industry insider told us....its largely in part, because of poorly designed airlines' websites. "when you go to redeem miles, most of the time they won't actually show you everything that is available. the biggest issue is with their airline partners. most airlines are in alliances but they won't actually show you if those partner flights are available. so many people

will go online to use their miles and think nothing is available, when there in fact is. that was brian kelly of the website "the points guy dot com." kelly says he personally has saved thousands in airfare due to the frequent flyer program. he suggests trip it pro and award wallet, as two sites to track your miles. more travelers are getting on board amtrak. march was amtrak's best month ever. october, december and january were also record months. amtrak says the increase in ridership proves the need for federal funding for the rail service and demand for it that warrents amtrak's expansion. ford's "focus" model has achieved new world wide status. according to marketing firm r-l polk, the "focus" is the world's most popular vehicle. more than a million of the cars were sold last year. the focus is follwed by toyota's corolla and ford's f-series pickup to round out the top three. if you've noticed a higher bill at the mechanic....you're not alone.... car repair costs are on the rise for the first time in

nearly six years. the average cost is up 10% to 367 dollars. a higher number of older vehicles on the road are pushing up repair costs. meanwhile, car m-d reports hybrid repairs are dropping, and the check engine light is sending fewer drivers to the mechanic. tiger woods appears to be driving up the price of tickets to the masters golf tournament. the tiq-iq is listing prices starting around 13-hundred dollars for tomorrow's practice round. prices for the 4 day badge are averaging more than $13,000 on the secondary market. broll: tiger price up are up nearly 300% mostly because tiger is back in the swing as the world's top ranked golfer at the masters-- for the first time since 2010. we heard it through the grapevine! wine sales hit a record in the u.s, last year. 34 billion dollars -- or 360 million cases, were sold. it's a two-percent increase from 2011. more than half of the sales were from california vineyards. those vineyards also exported a large volume of vino out of the

u.s.to hong kong, canada and even europe. seaworld entertainment is swimming closer to a "splashy" debut on wall street. the home of shamu-- is out to raise $540 million dollars in it's initial public offering. the theme park reportedly wants to sell 20 million shares for around $24 to $27. and, list on the new york stock exchange under stock ticiker symbol "seas" . seaworld could end up among the top 5 most valuable ipos to dive into the market this year. still to come the pride of the market. why more people are choosing american stocks as investments. thats later on. but first....why tax scammers are targeting children.... what parents need to know, next with

bill moller.

everybody's in a hurry to get their taxes done. think about this, your child's social security number is particularly vulnerable this time of year. thieves know just what to do to steal their identity and you might not know it for years. the details can be learned from the book, bankrupt at birth: why child id theft is on the rise and how it's happening

under parents' noses. joe mason wrote it. joe what's the typical story you've seen? > > the first thing is identity thieves really don't discriminate on time of year but they are particularly interested in tax time. there is a lot of sensitive information being shared, a lot of money exchanging hands and what they're doing with respect to children is they are obatining social security numbers of children that are issued typically at a very early age. and they are using those social security numbers to file fraudulent tax returns. and they are the ones collecting the refund checks on behalf of your child. > > why is a child's id so attractive to bad guys? > > the reason why a child's identity is attractive to a thief is because the parents aren't looking out for any suspicious activity. and child identity theft unfortunately can go on for years without being detected. and to put it

in perspective, 1 out of every 40 kids that's like one child on the schoolbus is likely to be a victim of child identity theft before they turn 18. tax time is attractive to thieves for children and also many adults find that their identities are stolen during tax time as well. > > now that you've scared parents, tell us what we can do to prevent this from happening? > > a few things to do: one, just be very vigilant with information about yourself or your child. make sure you challenge whatever information is requested on behalf of your child. it's a good idea to get credit reports periodically on behalf of yourself and your child. and to take it a step further what many parents are doing is enrolling in identity protection services. services like identity guard can provide parents with monitoring of their own identities as well as their children's. > > joe mason, thank you very much. good tips. > > thank you bill. thank you bill, still ahead... now that earnings season is underway-- why investors are paying extra close attention to stocks with roots in america. that's next.

companies selling products in the good old usa are turning into the biggest winners on wall street, especially as china cools off. howard silverblatt, senior analyst with s&p dow jones indices is with us this morning. good morning. > > good afternoon from my side. > > how long has this trend been happening? > > the new emerging markets as they are now reffered to has been happening for a while. the more that the international commotion continues the deeper

it gets as well as the rebound on this side. u.s. markets are the ones---along with japan now---that are dominating the equity markets. the u.s stability has long been the key. we saw recently again another run to u.s. treasuries for safety. so while we may not think that we are in the best of shape relative to the rest of the world we're at the head of the pack. > > just how well have companies with sales heavily based in the u.s. been performing in the stock market? > > they have done very well. the u.s. is now 46 percent of all global indices. and when you look for stability under a risk/reward scenario the u.s. is met with a lower growth rate is very attractive. the dividend yields are attractive, the cash flows are very attractive. regulatory---we may not appreciate it as much but there is solid regulatory action in the u.s. and that permits

outsiders to look at it with some stability. > >does american "loyalty" play a role here? > >i think it is more---this year at least---there has been a lot of inflows. individuals are coming back to the market. we did not have the big negative news. we had no difficulties going over the cliff obviously. the sequester turned out---at least so far--- not to be too painful. budget numbers have come through and we'll get more next week. so we're not seeing the end of the world and a lot of investors looked at last year and stayed out at a lot of people's advice and the markets did 16 percent. > > is it too late for investors to jump in on this rally action? and what could temper the trend? > > it depends on your time frame. if you look at the basic fundamentals and you are a long term player. we're not talking about getting out in 3 or 6 months, we're talking potentially for years. there's a lot of positives on the market. they've got record cash.

this quarter earnings are supposed to set a new record. if they don't they come in second so that's still very good. capital expenditures are up. companies are sitting on a lot of shares which are used for m &a. the u.s. economy is improving maybe not as fast but we've definitely demonstrated some solid growth. the housing market is coming back. which means you're gonna get some underlying buying from the new housing as well as people fixing up. so longer term there's a lot of positives. the negatives are of course that you're not sure where you are going. washington is still not working as efficiently as you want it to be and even though we feel that we've gotten through the last potential calamities there's always another one waiting to hit the front page. > > thank you howard. we hope to have you back soon. coming up in chart talk: how one trader is investing in the economy with stocks that are trading under $40. stick around... i wanted to be in the military since i was a kid.

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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.

certain stocks in the market can actually track what's going on

in the economy. joining me now is tim biggam of tradingblock. good morning tim. > >good morning angie. > > and you are watching the copper sector. let's talk about some individual stocks starting with freeport macmoran. what is this stock saying about the economy? > > the stock has been languishing along with the price of copper until the past week or so. we're finally seeing technically a nice little rebound here. i think that copper which was signaling the economy isn't as strong as maybe a lot believe is finally firming up here so i think that relative divergence will start to close and a stock like freeport macmoran will probably be a relative outperformer. plus you're looking at a well over 3 percent dividend yield to hang your hat on. > > what other copper stocks would you watch? > > looking at a stock like vale has a lot of exposure. brazil, china and a lot of the other markets are actually down on the year. so again that relative valuation i think some of the u.s. stocks may have gotten out of the gate a little

ahead of themselves. some of the worldwide stocks are looking comparatively cheap. vale is certainly one of them. southern copper (scco) as well. another one that has a lot of exposure in latin america. again, both of these yielding well above 3 percent so with the 1o year yielding below 2 comparatively not a bad place to be as well. > > you believe these stocks have put in lows for now? > > absolutely. they look good on the charts. not looking for off to the races given the slow growth environment but i think the combination of a nice yield and the fact that they firmed up and have been really relative underperformers probably will get a little tailwind behind them looking for maybe a 5-8% pop from here. > > thank you very much. that's tim biggam of tradingblock. keep us in focus for tomorrow... in movies and money we are featuring the latest way the ultra - wealthy are viewing box office hits. and it does "not" involve going to red box. from all us first business.. have a wonderful day!