boycotts in the u.s. - to people on the streets of athens. the economic effects of public outcry. in today's cover story, the boeing blues: what lawyers are alleging went wrong on asiana flight 214. plus, timing is everything. why current conditions in the bond market could make it tough to retire. and, the latest earnings from the tech sector show cloudy days are ahead. first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning! it's thursday, july 18th. i'm angela miles.. in today's first look: a fed relief rally. stocks made modest gains wednesday as fed

chairman ben bernanke offered no urgency ending the bond- buying program. gold lost $16. oil moved up 55 cents. also in the session, the fed's beige book noted the economy is growing at a modest to moderate rate. a trio of tech earnings came in after the close: ibm profits fell, but big blue lifted its forecast. ebay's earnings were in line, although its outlook was weaker than expected. and intel earnings fell 29%. and the filibuster in the senate has ended, allowing president obama's nominee to the labor deparment, thomas perez, to move forward with his confirmation. todd horwitz of average joe options is all over the trading market for us this morning. good morning, todd. - good morning. how are you? - i am doing wonderfully well. what about comments from the fed. stocks moved higher as ben bernanke was on capitol hill yesterday. what will it mean for today's trading? - you know, i don't think he

said a lot, and he's still got another full day of testimony today. i think yesterday he accomplished exactly what he wanted - a market that had no volatility and low volume and is really just kind of stuck in the middle here. i think that's what he's trying to accomplish. why the fed is trying to trade the market, i don't know. - ben bernanke has made it clear to all about the labor market. so does that mean you pay extra attention to what's happening with jobless claims out today? - no, i don't think so, because i think that ben bernanke and the fed keep changing what they're looking for and deciding on how they want to taper, and i don't think they're going to be able to taper so quickly, because i think they backed themselves into a corner. i think there's a lot bigger issues to deal with here, and that's why we keep getting the stall, and why we can't get the answers that we want from the fed. - will earnings reports out today be the market movers that could change some of those levels you're watching in the market? - it's possible. but i think good earnings are pretty much priced in. you've got to remember, we're up 12% in the russell and the nasdaq, 8% in the s&p and 6% in the dow, since the most recent bottom, so a lot of this good news is already priced into the market. i would watch for that old print-high of 1687 in the s&p, and then i'd take a look and see what happens from there. - thank you, todd. - thank you. a second day of testimony from fed chairman ben bernanke gets underway in the senate today. yesterday, the fed chief told members of a congressional committee that the fed's bond- buying program that started last september has helped heal the economy. bernanke also reiterated the federal reserve

may scale back bond buying later this year, if there's improvement with the jobs picture. "with unemployment still high and declining only gradually, and with inflation running below the committee's longer- run objective, a highly accommodative monetary policy will remain appropriate for the foreseeable future." bernanke also said in his semi- annual appearance on capitol hill that an average of 200,000 jobs are added to payrolls every month. the fed agency would like to see the unemployment rate decline to 7%. it's currenlty 7.6%. dell shareholders vote today on whether to take the company private. the vote is expected to be extremely close, as michael dell offers $13.65 per share to take the company private. yesterday, billionaire investor carl icahn reiterated his stance that michael dell's offer undervalues the company. meanwhile, bloomberg reports dell's pr director has left the company to pursue "another exciting opportunity." our cover story today explores the first steps toward a lawsuit against boeing, the manufacturer of the the asiana 777 that crashed in san

francisco a week-and-a-half ago. reportedly, passengers describe emergency equipment that may have malfunctioned. passengers aboard asiana flight 214 that crashed in san francisco, killing three people and injuring 180 others, describe seats that tore loose, collapsing onto passengers, and two evacuation slides that depolyed inside the aircraft, pinning two fight attendants underneath. "most of them had fractures and spinal cord injuries." in chicago, kelly's law firm filed a petition for discovery meant to preserve evidence on behalf of 83 passengers, who in part blame boeing for their injuries. in addition, kelly contends a "mechanical malfunction of the auto-throttle" may have to contributed to the crash. "if the instruments are failing to provide the pilot with accurate information, he has no options to save the plane from crashing."

a week ago, looking into the a- throttle but had nothing conclusive. "auto-throttles are used to manage power." meanwhile, a spokesman for boeing said "not to my knowledge have the seats or evacuation slides been called into question before. the auto- throttle is a reliablity-of- systems question, but this has been a very successful aircraft for the 18 years it's been in service." others consider the 777 among the safest commercial aircraft in the world. "for the most part, the plane survived well, and i think the courts will factor that in. but it sure didn't take long for this lawsuit to get on the books." the national transportation safety board has said it will be a few months before it determines whether to convene an investigative hearing on the crash. a06 following the 9-11, attacks congress created a law requiring airlines to install

re-inforced cockpit doors. now, the widow of a united pilot who died in the attack is lobbying congress for the requirement of a second sercuror. ellen saracini wants united to stop removing a secondary barrier the airline voluntarily added. united pilots believe the airline is taking out the second door to save money from having to install them on continental jets. there's no comment from the airline. jp morgan may be getting hit with a shocking fine. the wall street journal reports that jp morgan and energy market regulators are closing in on a record settlement. the bank is accused of manipulating energy markets in california and the midwest. the figure is reportedly close to a billion dollars. meanwhile, the same regulators slapped barclays with a $435 million fine for energy market manipulation. barclays says it plans to fight that fine "vigorously." a top britsh executive from glaxosmithkline is reportedly being barred from leaving china while chinese officials investigate alleged bribery.

the chinese government accuses 4 glaxosmithkline execs of bribing doctors, hospitals and officials to boost drug sales and get regulatory approvals. so far, there have been no arrests. the pharmacuetial giant is coorperating with investigators. president obama will brief the country on the economic benefits of healthcare reform in a speech today. yesterday, new york governor andrew cuomo told residents health insurance costs will be cut in half. he says regulators have approved rates for 2014 that are half of current rates. the new york times reports that individuals buying their own insurance plans may now expect to pay around $300 a month. that's down drastically from the current rate of a $1,000 a month. earnings from wall street continue today with morgan stanley reporting in. yesterday, bank of america released results showing profits soared 70% from a year ago to $2.1 billion. the bank benefitted from reducing its headcount. earnings fell 24% at mattel. however, revenues improved on

strong demand for american girl dolls, which offset declines for barbie and hot wheels. americans are "high fiving" with their ira accounts. according to fidelity, the individual retirement accounts reached a 5-year high as the stock market shot up in 2012. the average ira and roth ira acounts contained $81,000, up 53% from 2008, when balances dropped to a low point during the market meltdown. some studies show it's a tough time to retire as bond yields and stock dividends struggle. joining us via skype this morning, chris kahn of bankrate.com. good morning, and how is this affecting baby boombers who want to retire now? - it certainly is a time for extreme vigilance if you are just about to retire. we run a number of scenarios to look at exactly how successful a retirement portfolio would be. looks like if you were retiring right now, there is a good chance that what you might have, that you might think you have enough money to retire,

it's not enough. compared to a generation ago, it wasn't the case. bond yields are much higher, inflation was different, the market was different, and you could last on much much longer on a portfolio back then than you can now. - what should people do to prepare? - there's a lot of things that you can do to prepare. first of all, you might want to work longer - i know it's not everyone's first choice, but just a few more years can make a big difference in how much money you have in that nest egg. secondly, diversify. don't invest in the same types of things that everyone else is investing in. that's key. seek out expert help. there are a lot of certified financial planners out there that can really walk you through, figure out what your retirement goals are, and help you make the best choices. - chris, thanks for the information. no lack of controversy in the headlines this week. the not- guilty verdict in the trial of george zimmerman in the shooting of 17-year-old trayvon martin is having a ripple effect on the state of florida. music legend stevie wonder and moveon.org are both boycotting the state until its self- defense laws are abolished. talk show "the view" is getting pushback for adding new host

jenny mccarthy. mccarthy has linked childhood immunizations to her son's autism. and, rolling stone magazine's decision to feature boston marathon suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev has cvs, walgreens and other retailers pulling the issue. rolling stone stands by the cover. kfc is testing out a new image. next month, the fast food chain will open a new "test" restaurant called "kfc eleven" in louisville, kentucky. the brand's signature orginal recipe chicken will be sold - mostly boneless - on flatbreads, salads and in rice bowls. still to come, sequels star at the movies this weekend. are follow-ups worth your money? plus, ready to spend: the top countries where corporate america wants to invest. but first, on the frontlines in greece: the outrage over

goverment cutbacks is just after the break.

anger is reaching a fever pitch in greece, where the parliament has just approved a plan to fire 25,000 public-sector workers. the country remains deep in debt and was forced to make serious budget cuts to get a $1.8 billion bailout. liz alderman of the new york times

is skyping with us this morning. good morning. protestors have been on the streets now for a week. what do you expect today? - most likely that's going to trigger even more reaction out on the street - more protests, more voices of people feeling, you know, a lot of despair. there's not a great future for these people who are going to see their jobs cut in a market where unemployment is nearing 30%. at the same time, the measures were considered very necessary by greece's creditors, because in the three years since greece received the first of what has now amounted to, over time, more than 300 billion euros' worth of assistance, one of the things that creditors said was that greece very much needed to reduce the size of its bloated government, and so far they haven't laid off a single person. - how much money does greece need to fill that shortfall in

its budget? - the greek government's coffers are pretty empty. they're supposed to be getting approximately 8 billion euros in the coming months. they're going to need a pretty decent- sized chunk of that fairly soon, basically in order to continue to pay state employees and to keep the state running. - how are banks holding up? we're hearing stress tests are ahead. - the banks have been in a pretty moribund situation for a while. one of the things that greece's bailout does is give those banks effectively more money as a capital cushion to try to strengthen them again after the economic devastation that the country has gone through. that being said, we're hearing a lot of mixed reports about the true state of health of the banks, and the stress tests are probably not likely to show a very pretty picture. - what are some of the ways you're seeing budget cuts change the mood of the country? - it's interesting. a lot of people have asked the question,

"why hasn't there been more of an outcry on the streets? why haven't we seen almost sort of a revolution yet?" when you talk to people, just average people on the streets, many people are very angry at what they see as, first of all, a continued neglect by greece's european partners, but also just a failure to see a light at the end of the tunnel despite efforts that the prime minister, antonis samaras, is making to try and really turn the situation around. - good to have the update. thank you, liz. - thanks for having me. a new study shows the breakdown of how u.s. companies plan to expand overseas. consulting firm kpmg finds that 69% of american coporations list expanding into high-growth and emerging markets as a top priority over the next year. when asked where companies would invest $5 million or more, brazil came in number one, followed by china, mexico and india. it's viewed as a sign american companies are loosening their purse strings as the u.s. economy improves.

still to come, what traders expect from intel, ibm and ebay in today's trading session. and, the 2nd time's the charm as summer sequels sizzle at the box office. movies and money is next.

hollywood is reeling in money from sequels at the box office. our movie guy, erik childress, is here, and erik, if it worked once, they decided to try it again. - yeah, if people stop going, they will stop making them. but that's not been the case. - here's what happened: "despicable me 2" coming up at number one at the box office, followed by "grown ups 2"- [erik groans - "pacific rim," "the heat," and "the lone ranger." by the way, chuck coppola saw "the heat," and he loved it. - it's a good movie. it's a funny movie. - what about this "despicable me 2" and "grown ups 2" making

all the money this weekend? - it's the summer of the sequels. that's the way it has been, and "despicable me 2" is going to be at half-a-billion dollars by this weekend, so it's a big hit of the year for universal. "grown ups 2," you know, adam sandler, pg-13 summer movies, this is the eighth one that he's had. they've all opened between $34- 47 million, and they've all made over $100 million, so, stop going, people. just stop it. - coming up this weekend it's "the conjuring," and you say there's already a green light for a sequel to this movie? - that's what we're hearing, and the buzz on this one has been fantastic. the reviews are fantastic. it's actually my favorite movie of the summer. this is a great, old-fashioned ghost story with an excellent emotional connection. it's r- rated, but don't let that scare the kids away. i think you should take them. i think it's going to be number-one at the box office this weekend. i really do. - also at the box office, "r.i.p.d." i'm hearing it's doa. - yeah. not screened for critics. it's a $130-million budgeted film. this is going to be the first black mark on universal's record this year. - oh, and look, another sequel, "red 2." - yeah. i don't understand why

people liked the first one. i don't know why people wanted a second one. i don't know who wanted a second one. but, here it is, and it's terrible. - what about "turbo?" is that an original film here? - "turbo!" well, it's an animated film. animation has not been strong this year, at least quality-wise - they've been making a lot of money - but i've heard a lot of people think this is actually one of the fresher, more charming animated films of the year. obviously not a sequel, so take the kids, try something new for a change. - and there are some independent films that are getting a lot of buzz, including "fruitvale station." and the timing on this is incredible. - it really is. this is a film that premiered at sundance, was picked up at sundance by the weinstein co., and it did very well last weekend in new york and l.a. it did $384,000 on only seven screens. it's branched out here to chicago and a few more cities, and you're probably going to start to see this rolling out a little bit faster now, with the connection with sort of the racial violence of the zimmerman verdict. so, we're going to start to see a lot of that, and i wouldn't be surprised if weinstein sort of exploits this a little bit, not only for the money and to bring awareness, but maybe even some oscar nominations at the end of the year. - right, because it's about a young man who was shot...

- it's a true story... - -by a security officer at a bart train in san francisco. - that's absolutely correct. - and "20 feet from stardom." i just saw it. it's terrific. go see it. - i've heard nothing but great things about this movie. a film about backup singers and whatnot. it's a documentary. it's playing in chicago right now. you definitely should go check that one out. i've heard nothing but good things about it." - and i think this film will be traveling around the nation. i do. i mean, you see mick jagger in it, bruce springsteen. it's really terrific, and those back-up singers, you cannot give them enough glory. they're awesome. - there you go. movie reviews by angela miles. - my new job. - that's right. - i'll stick with my day job. thanks a lot, erik. come back soon. - thank you. still to come, a trader's view on how earnings after the close last night could move this market this morning. chart talk is next

matt cavanuagh of cmz trading is here to give us a heads-up on trading this morning. good morning, matt. - good morning. - and we had earnings coming in after the close from intel, ibm, and ebay. let's start with ebay. what do you see in the charts for this one? - ebay, this is a real interesting one. it was down about 6% after they came out with their earnings. their cbo said that they were facing some headwinds over in europe and also parts of asia. so, really spooked the people. the stock was down 6%, sitting right at both its 50-day and 200-day moving average, so i don't see a lot of support for this company until we're right around $50. but, it's very

interesting, resistance at $57, support here, so i think this might be a time to dip your toes in. they're doing some good things over at ebay. - you would buy now and hold? - you know, i think it's a good possibility for a trade. we're kind of in a range with ebay. tech has been really strong, but if you get a chance to buy a good company on sale, you do it. unfortunately, i think it could go a little bit lower. - all right, now let's take a look at ibm as well. ibm actually lifted its forecast. it's doing some cost-cutting, and it's getting into the cloud area more. what do you think about this stock and this company? - well, it's a great company. they are really well diversified, and you see that people like when they do things like getting into businesses where they can compete, like the cloud. so, they are coming out with a pretty solid quarter. they are guiding forward pretty well, and people like the results. - shares traded around $202 after the close last night. would you be a buyer at these levels? - you know, i don't think that you'll go wrong over the long term holding a stock like this'i

would wait a little bit. - and finally, intel. a lot of people saw this coming: earnings slid, but then again, everybody knows that pc sales are down because people are buying more tablets. what do you think about intel? - intel's a stock that we've talked about before, and a really great earnings play, i think, because the expectations were so low and people weren't thinking that there was going to be much here. but, this is another example: they are a good company, been around a long time, and they've got a lot of resources. so, if they say that they're getting into a different side of the business, they're restructuring to go after that mobile area, then people take note, and i think that's really why you saw the pop in the stock. people know that if they restructure and put their mind to it, they're going to do something. - thank you, matt. - thank you. that's it for now. coming up on the friday show, it's traders unplugged. costco is the new number-one seller of hearing aids. find out if a buy signal is coming through loud and clear. plus, mid-summer travel deals to get you out of town. we hope you will join us. from all of us at first business, have a great thursday!

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