investment buzz. what a takeover deal is signaling about global trade. in today's cover story, an airline merger could mean shutdowns in some of the nation's smaller cities. plus, why more employers are hunting down your credit background. and, our summer box office preview continues. are more record-setting weekends ahead? find out first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. it's thursday may 30th. i'm bill moller, in for angela miles. in our first look at the news this morning: ouch! traders are staggering in this morning hoping this won't be another whip-saw session. from the opening bell yesterday

the markets were in a selling swoon. tesla motors lost a lot of juice yesterday. the 5% sell- off tripped short-sale circuit breakers. some analysts have said the stock is way over- inflated. still, the company plans to expand its network of charging stations for its fleet with a "big supercharger" announcement coming soon. it was pretty much red across the board including energy stocks. oil dropped below $94 a barrel - the lowest it's been in a month. crude for july delivery fell almost 2%. the worry here is global growth. the imf lowered its estimate for china's expansion. one commodity group did well: precious metals, especially gold. for the first time in 3 sessions gold closed higher - nearly 1% up. all right, so what does all of this mean?todd horwitz knows. he is the man at averagejoeoptions.com. todd, is this what traders are thinking, that this is the stage being set for the final curtain call of qe-3? - good morning bill. i think

there is rumor about that, but i think the picture we have to look at deeper is that the market actually seems to have made a top in here. so, i think what we are starting to see, is we are starting to see the profit-takers come out, and any attempt to buy is now being bought by the late money, the last to get in, the ones that usually are the last to buy. so, it looks like we have actually put a top in. maybe it is because the qe is going to stop, maybe not. but it does appear that there is a top in the market right now. - so you are saying basically it's a standard, garden-variety correction? - that is what i think. i think we are going to have a standard-variety correction here, and i think that you want to take a look at that 1650 in the s&p as a pivot point, 1670 as a top, below 1650, it looks like we probably go to about 1620, and maybe lower. i am personally looking for maybe a 10 to 15% correction. - and you think things are going to turn around pretty quickly? because you are looking for some tops that are still pretty high from where we are. i think that we are going to have the sell-off. i think you saw it with the key reversal

last wednesday, and then you saw a double top the other day on tuesday. so, it looks like the market is poised and ready to go down, and now it looks like the strong hands are on the short side of the market. - every kind of a sell-off has its own personality and character. did you see anything in yesterday's performance that let you read deeper into what might be going on here? - yeah, what i saw is the market opened a very hard down, made lows down about 180, and then made a nice charge back, which indicated to me, it was light money, but was unable to fulfill, and actually ended up closing lower again. so, it looks to me like we are making lower highs and lower lows in this sequence right now. - all right, todd, you got pretty battered yesterday. you have a better day out there today. - thank you so much. have a great day. in our cover story, at the nation's busiest airports, airlines are assigned "slots" to prevent the airline equivalent of traffic jams. the slots are coveted because they represent access to some of the most profitable routes. but u.s. airways' aquisition of american airlines may actually lead to cutting the number of slots u.s. airways may keep. u.s. airways and american airlines are lobbying the justice and transportation departments to keep all of their slots at washington's reagan national airport. the airlines are concerned regulators may require

relinquishing slots to other carriers to ensure competition. "the fear is that the airline industry has stopped growing, and if you give one dominance, that will last awhile." if the airlines have to cut slots, they've said they'd choose from among the least profitable flights, to or from small- to medium-sized cities. that led more than a hundred members of congress, many of whom fly between washington and a lot of those small to medium cities, to support the airlines' efforts to keep all of their washington slots. "one of the challenges is that the airline industry is deregulated, so it would be very hard for a lawmaker to say to airlines, 'we want you to be a public service.'" "i think it would be a stretch to have dot mandate that you will run these routes. that's to be avoided." but there may be an opportunity for deal-making. "american could make a non- binding agreement to provide service in exchange for the feds giving them slack on slots." another reason smaller cities care about this business growth

depends on air travel. joe schwieterman says many of those cities may be passed over if flights are cut. "small towns are already hit with higher prices, but if they're hit with that and they lose their non-stop service, they're going to cease being attractive for conventions and corporate travel." antitrust observers say the justice department could ask for divestitures at another u.s. airways hub - charlotte, north carolina, and american's hub at dallas-forth worth. $10 million - the largest penalty ever against an exchange - levied against nasdaq because of its bungling of facebook's ipo. the sec announced the settlement yesterday, citing nasdaq's "poor systems and decision-making during the ipo." the offering last may was marred by technical

problems. earlier, nasdaq said it would pay $62 million to trading firms that lost money that day. it was a record quarter for u.s. banks. banks brought in more profits than ever before, thanks to higher fees and fewer losses. profits reached $40 billion, up 15% from the same time last year. however, the chair of the fdic says there are a few caveats. bank lending is down after rising for several quarters, and, due to lower interest rates, banks' profits are expected to drop going forward. meanwhile, across the pond, the european central bank is on alert because of new concerns over that region's banks. many borrowers are unable to repay loans, and those losses are weakening the already fragile banking sector. lending to both individuals and businesses has continued to decline, while an assessment by a european think tank details the need for banks to build up capital. the latest evaluations come as the ecb begins to supervise all europe's banks. in a move to appease the united states, swiss banks may become

a little less secretive. u.s. authorities have been pushing the swiss government to allow its banks to reveal more information about american customers. those customers often bank in switzerland in order to avoid paying taxes. until now, banks were prohibited from revealing any such information. the swiss parliament will vote this summer on new governing rules. the u.s. had indicated to swiss authorities that it was no longer willing to wait and would take action against the swiss banks. with its country farm name, smithfield foods is america's largest pork processor. shuanghui international could be its new owner. the chinese company says it will bid $4.7 billion for smithfield. it is one of the largest prices a chinese company has paid for an american business. lincoln ellis is with strategic financial group. he says the buy could have a postive impact for consumers on a global level. "it's an ownership in one place and a production in another, with a consumer base that is truly global in nature, and that really is the promise of efficiency in the marketplace. and hopefully transactions like

this make winners out of sellers in this case and hopefully drive prices further south, which makes winners out of consumers. and that's the benefit of globalized trade." the news pumped up smithfield shares by 25%. student loan giant sallie mae will split into two separate companies - an education loan management business and a consumer banking business. the separation does not require shareholder approval and could be completed within a year. sallie mae also announced president and chief operating officer john remondi has been promoted to ceo. he succeeds albert lord, who retired earlier than expected. all the buzz before the debut of "google glass" doesn't seem to impress apple's tim cook. he was speaking at the "all things d" conference, and he called the computerized glasses a "difficult product" for the mainstream. he also questioned whether people would be willing to spend $1500 for a pair. google glasses have reportedly been sent to the first group of

beta testers in the general public. dell shareholders, be prepared to be persuaded. reports say mich, under, and silver lake partners will contact shareholders directly to persuade them to vote for selling back their shares. that deal would allow shareholders to receive $13.65 a share. but activist investor carl icahn is expected to persuade shareholders to vote against the buyout plan. he holds a large stake in the company and has railed against the deal, calling it undervalued. it's expected that shareholders will vote on this in july. after several headline-making hacks, it seems twitter users are willing to fritter away their chance to protect themselves from future intrusions. with twitter- directed phishing schemes and the recent hacker break-ins into several media accounts, twitter came out with a 2-step login procedure. experts advise the twitterati to do it. but since it's optional, analysts say most people will think it's too much of a hassle. and with twitter being a first responder with news reporting, might it get into the news business? twitter's ceo yesterday said no. and nothing about a rumored ipo.

amazon.com debuts five original tv series - all chosen by viewers. amazon posted - for free - 14 different pilots it produced and asked viewers for feedback. based on what it heard, amazon chose five shows worthy of full seasons. this new venture puts amazon in direct competition with hulu and netflix. each of the series will debut on amazon later this year and in early 2014. a new study illuminates a big shift in how american women work and how much they earn. the pew research center released the study. it shows that 40% of american women are the primary or sole breadwinner in their household. that's a new record and a massive jump from 1960, when only 11% of households had a woman as the primary earner. still to come, "fast and

furious" sure raced to the bank. just how big was its memorial day weekend opening? you will find out later in movies and money. but first, why more prospective employers are peeking into your financial past. that's next.

when you're buying a car, when you're putting down money to qualify for a mortgage to buy a home, when you're getting a job - your good credit is everying. yeah, you heard correctly: credit, specifically your credit score, can really have impact on your chances of getting a job. let's talk with paul oster. he runs his own credit business called better qualified. paul, how so? - well, nowadays credit is used for almost every decision. certainly financial transactions, but it's now also being used in determining whether or not somebody actually gets a job. - now is it because if you have a bad credit history, they think that somehow reflects on what kind of employee you might be? - well, it is not that they think, they know. that's why the huge h.r. companies and departments started using credit reports, because they saw the correlation. and i am the first person to disagree with the use of credit reports and credit information. but, the correlation does exist. it's the same thing with auto insurance. why would somebody's

credit score affect their insurance premiums? but, again, they did show some positive correlations there. - what if i do not get a job. how would i ever know it was because of my credit score? - the one good thing, under the fair and accurate credit reporting act, any time someone takes an action against you, and they are using your credit information to come up with that decision, they have to disclose that. but, part of the problem is it's so new, and employers and h.r. departments are not as savvy as the banks are at this point. they are not always disclosing that information. - what part of my credit score or credit report do i need to most worry about, and perhaps work most assiduously in improving? - i would say the big-ticket items: public records for sure. any judgments, any defaulted debt, collections. again, judgments, charge-offs, profit loss write-offs are the big- ticket items that most employers are looking for as the red flags. certainly, if there is a bankruptcy, foreclosure, a

short sale, that is also a big ticket item. - so in the short-term, i guess the advice would simply be, be sure to pay your bills on time, and don't pay the minimum on your credit cards. - that's right. paid down your credit card debt first and foremost before you do another thing, before you put another penny into a savings account. pay off your credit card debt and keep those balances as low as possible. - paul oster, thanks so much. - thanks for having me, bill. still ahead, the memorial day holiday weekend is usually a banner weekend for movies. it's also a bellwether for the summer ahead. that's the path we'll take in movies & money - next.

this is a little thing we call movies and money. the first big movie weekend of the summer is now behind us. how big was it? how big?! erik childress, with the chicago film critics association - lay it on us. - biggest memorial day weekend ever. - coming in at $316 million. - yes. - and that beats from 2011. - 2011 did it $277 million. yeah, so it was a very good weekend. - all right, let's take a look at the movies that actually made all that money: "fast and furious 6," obviously, has been doing so well. that is number one at $117 million. "the hangover part 3" at $50 million. "star trek into darkness" at

$47.1 million. "epic" at $42.8 million, and "iron man 3," $24.6 million. and "iron man 3," that opened a few weeks ago. - yeah, it really kicked off the summer at the beginning of may. it's done over $1.1 billion worldwide right now at the box office. it is the fifth- highest-grossing film, globally, of all time. and the "fast and the furious" franchise from universal is a monster for them. three of the top highest four openings in their history are "fast and furious" films. - it was a pretty big weekend, simply because the studios do that by design. they are looking for films that they know are going to have some early- season pop. - you get easy-to-market: sequels and family-oriented film always the easiest thing for studios to put out there. - all right, that's the good. let's look at the stinky, which is what's opening this next weekend- - that's right. - -including what you think is a will smith movie. - yeah, what is actually a jaden smith movie. it's a project, "after earth," conceived by will smith for his son, pitched to m. night shyamalan, who- - not my hero. - not mine, either. i think he is a horrible director. and he proves it very much with this science-fiction piece of garbage that's coming out. - so somebody is investing a lot of money, and if not for overseas sales, this could be a real bomb.

- it could be. i mean, $130- million-budgeted film. i don't think the film is going to do $100 million here domestically. so they are really kind of counting on probably at least $250, maybe $300 million overseas to turn a profit on this thing. with will smith's name it's doable, but i think this one is going to be a real black mark. - it's interesting, because overseas sales can really clean up a lot of messes that directors make. - they certainly can. easily. - "now you see me," which is a movie that, again, looks terrific in the trailers. - it looks like a lot of fun. i mean, it's magicians who rob banks on the side. sounds like a really fun promise, an original premise even. but this film, like "after earth," is kind of going to make you dumber having seen the film after you walk out of the theater. it just doesn't really come together. it doesn't make any sense, the prologue, there's a prologue that kind of hints you into how these things are being done that is sort of a kaizer soze mystery at the front of everything that pays off in such a ridiculous fashion that you kind of just want to boo the screen afterwards. - it's funny, because you were telling me that they basically let you peer behind the curtain and reveal the magic.

- a little bit. yeah, morgan freeman is a character that, that's his whole job, is exposing magicians, exposing the tricks, as if people really want that done. and he is doing that throughout the course of the movie. so just avoid that. go see "before midnight," go see "mud." go see "stories we tell." - "mud." i highly endorse that one. i loved it. - yes. - all right, erik childress, thanks so much. - thank you. its back! why volatility is creeping back into the market. we'll find out why next, in chart talk.

this segment we call chart talk. let's talk about some charts with dan deming. he's with stutland equities. one of the big charts is the vix. it was a very vix-y day yesterday, wasn't it? - it was, bill. we did see some activity in the vix the last couple of days. we are seeing a pickup in activity as we roll into june. i can tell you right now, after the vix being fairly dormant for the first part of may, we are seeing a pickup. we saw the vix close at 14.83

yesterday, trading up over 15 at one point yesterday. so, as we roll into june, we are seeing a pickup in the vix underlying, as far as the vix index itself, as well as the activity in the vix, where we are seeing june options - we saw big buys in the june 1620 call spread yesterday. so again, that would indicate, at least short-term, there is some concern about this market. - dan, let me ask you about the spx. that whole thing seems to be moving down,. both the high and the low are dropping. - exactly, and they've got the correlation with the vix there as well, bill. so what you are seeing in the spx, we are seeing now a lower high and a lower low. we saw the spx yesterday close around that 1648 level. previous closing low was 1649. so, not too significant yet, but we have not seen the spx take out that high from basically a week ago now. that is something we are watching very closely. if we start to slip below this 1648 level and break down, and we see any kind of pop that doesn't get us back up to the highs from two days ago, that would indicate further deterioration of this market. - so you're keeping your finger on the order button pretty closely? because in a volatile

index, it is hard to know what to do because there are so many moves. - exactly. i mean, right now, you are seeing a change in the sentiment, at least short-term. now, it will be interesting to see if it plays out into the june month, but, like i said, right now, as far as the short- term activity, we are seeing a lot of hedging going on. so yes, we have to be very careful here as far as potential for a short-term pullback. - all right, dan deming, you have a good day out there. thanks. - thank you. and that's our show for today. coming up tomorrow, it's traders unplugged. the boys are back covering all the market action, including whether now is the time to shift money into a hot auto stock. we hope you'll join us. from all of us at first business, have a great thursday.

>> the following is a paid presentation for supersmile, brought to you by guthy-renker. none of the testimonials or dentists in this show have been paid to share their opinions. >> a bright and healthy smile can be your biggest beauty asset. it's one of the first things people notice about you. but if you're embarrassed by your smile because of your stained, discolored, dull teeth, it's hard to feel good about yourself. now you can turn back the clock on your teeth and safely get a naturally whiter, brighter, sexier smile thanks to an astonishing new teeth whitening system. it's time to turn your smile to