fear and uncertainty spreads through the stock market -- as the crisis builds in syria. in our cover story..the ripple effect -- from transportation stocks to filling your gas tank.. plus.... a government cure for america's drug problem. and... the heat is on .. how the late summer burst of sun is affecting u.s. crops. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas good morning! it's wednesday, august 28. i'm angela miles.

in today's first look: the market in crisis mode over syria. the volitility index raced up 12%.. as fear and anxiety strike stocks. the dow plunged in a triple digit fall. the nasdaq had its worst point drop of the year.. and the s&p broke through technical support. gold futures pushed up $23 and oil spiked close to $109 dollars per barrel. jcp posted a record trading day with near 100million shares changing hands. it follows a report-- activist investor bill ackman sold his entire stake the retailer. the stock closed down 18 cents around $13.00. and walgreen is accused of overcharging customers and using false advertising. the lawsuit was filed yesteray by the attornery general of missouri. walgreen will fight the charges. for more on the market reaction to syria, larry shover of sfg alternatives joins us. good morning larry. what is the market telling us about the situation. > >the market is saying they don't know what's going to happen. yesterday the news reports really didn't change

that much. 24 hours of recycled news and the market just didn't like it. again, markets just do not like uncertainty we have right now. > >it looked like money was going into gold. gold holding that $1400---- > >a big spike in gold yesterday. some of it, most of it, syria. the other part of it is the fact that people are starting to realize that maybe their won't be as much tapering as we first thought. the foot will be on the pedal a little bit harder than they thought keeping gold prices nice and high. > >clearly it was a bad day yesterday for the u.s. stock market but emerging markets were falling as well. are there any buy signals or will that selling persist. is there pressure there? > >i think right now we need to see stability in the united states. we need to see stability with the middle east. that said, last week we started to see some stability in the emerging markets, etc. they're just following us right now because of all the problems in the middle east. so as soon as we see that we'll see stability elsewhere. > >thank you larry. > >thank you.

with warships moved into position off syria, it didn't take long for sectors in the market to get nervous. our cover story looks at the syria spike affecting oil and transportation in a big way. four u-s destroyers have been moved into position off syria. defense secretary "we have moved assets...wishes to take." (i don't think we have the destroyers) (uss mahan, uss gravely, uss barry and uss ramage) chuck hagel telling reporters: "we have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill whatever option the president wishes to take." all of the warships off the syrian coast are based out of norfolk, virgina. each with ballistic missile capability. "there must be a response." "regime change..syria" "putting boots on the ground" white house press secretary jay carney says "there must be a response" but reportedly, the white house is not mulling regime change in syria or putting boots on the ground." this, after secretary of state john kerry said washington is certain that the syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians in a

damascas suburb, last week. "chemical weapons were used in syria." the situation has led oil prices to spike. "it's because all the producers and users of oil have a stake in what happens in syria." ¤triple-a says the rally in the futures market may be a threat to prices at the pump over the labor day holiday. it's renewed the call for alternative energy sources. "any time there's a hiccup in the middle east, oil prices go up because of uncertainty." and as oil topped 109-dollars a barrel, its highest point in 18- months, transportation stocks such as fedex, ups and a dozen other air freight companies closed "down." "when jet fuel spikes, it causes problems because companies can't tell what their overall fuel cost is going to be. and that's why you see weakness in those stocks." unrest in the region is having repercussions elsewhere. scandanavian tour operators say they've cancelled 60-thousand trips to egypt through next spring due to unrest. its a ten billion dollar industry that employs one out of eight egyptians. major tour operators in finland, sweden, norway and denmark say they have canceled at least 60,000 trips to egypt through the winter season that lasts until april due to recent unrest.

last week, charter companies and travel organizers flew back hundreds of scandinavian holidaymakers from resorts in egypt and halted all tours there until mid-october. the move came in the wake of nordic governments' revised travel advisories warning against all non-essential travel to egypt. denmark's largest tour operator, spies rejser, said tuesday it will refund or find alternative holiday breaks for some 3,000 customers. torben andersen of spies rejser says egypt "remains a rather big player" in the danish tour industry, representing more than 10 percent of all winter destinations. check on u.s. us defense secretary chuck hagel quote: " we have moved assets in place to be able to fulfull and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take." "there must be a response." white house not considering: regime change in syria 'boots on the ground" president obama is making it clear he will not negotiate on the debt limit. obama and congress "file" that includes any conditions congresses attaches to the vote. in remarks this week- treasuryi secretary jack lew told reporters--congress appropriated the money and therefore it is a congressional responsibility to now pay its bills. the u.s is expected to hit the debt limit in mid-october. the gop has talked up demanding spending reforms or cutting funding to obamacare in return for raising the country's borrowing limit. the sec wants answers soon on recent technigal trading troubles. officials at the nasdaq and the new york stock exchange have been asked to provide a timeline of last thursday's three hour trading halt on nasdaq stocks. nasdaq and nyse reuters reports that the rival

exchanges have been unable to agree on that timeline and are apparently blaming each other for the glitch. sec chair mary jo white has called a meeting for septemeber 12th with the heads of both exchanges. the sec has asked both nasdaq and the new york stock exchange to provide a timeline of last thursday's three-hour halt in trading. reuters reports that the rival exchanges have been unable to agree on that timeline and are apparently blaming each other for the glitch. now comes word that sec chair mary jo white has called a meeting for septemeber 12th. the heads of both exchanges will attend. in spain-- police have arrested a former jp morgan trader-- in connection with the london "whale" trade. reports say javier martin artajo supervised bruno iksil the trader known as the london whale. iksil put on large trading bets that cost jp morgan more than $billion dollars. spanish police say martin artajo turned himself in. he's charged with hiding the bank's lossess. and remains free in spain while the u.s. requests his extradition which could take months. activist investor daniel loeb has a collector's eye for stocks. loeb's third point hedge fund revealed this week it has a 5.7% stake in auction house sotheby's. the stock rose 3% on the news. loeb, who's ranked among the top 200-art collectors in the world by art news magazine, says he plans to engage in a dialogue with sotheby's board. rival auctioneer christies is revamping itself to conduct business in the digital age. he's been known to acquire a large stake in a company, and then fight to make changes in the boardroom. the summer heat is helping some crops around the nation.. while causing others to whither away.. jack scoville of price futures group joins us this morning... what's the latest on corn prices.? prices at the grocery store? thanks jack

tiffany and company is able to shrug off tepid u-s sales thanks to robust buying in china. reuters says thanks to luxury jewelers in china reporting a 13% sales increase -- tiffanys has raised its profit forecast for the year. this despite no uptick in tiffany's same store sales in the americas there had been concern that given the weakening in china's economy, luxury spending might tighten there. new numbers are out....revealing more about the state of the housing recovery. the case shiller index shows home prices increased in all major metropolitan areas, along with surges in las vegas and san francisco. home prices rose 0.9 percent nationwide in june. year over year prices are up 12.1%. overall -- prices are rising, but at a slower pace. that was jed kolko of real estate site trulia.

the case shiller report out this month also notes there is a risk of momentum weakening in the housing recovery due to speculators n the market. attorneys for george zimmerman--are asking the state of florida to cover his legal fees. zimmerman was handed a not guilty jury ruling in the shooting death of trayvon martin, an african american teen who was walking through zimmerman's neighborhood. usa today reports-- ziimmerman's lawyers will file a motion to recoup up to $300,000 in legal fees to be paid by the state. florida allows defedants who win cases to file motions for

money. when it comes to prison time, raj rajaratnam is far from roughing it. the former trader is currently serving 11-years in a massachusettes prison for an insider trading conviction. reports in the new york post say rajaratnam's white-collar prison cell includes a servant, who cooks for him, along with a shared balcony, private toilets, and televisons. to say the least, that's been described as "special treatment." a federal judge is speeding up detroit's bankruptcy hearing process. the judge is determining whether the motor city "is eligible" for protection from creditors. arguments in the case will begin september 18th, which is much earlier than the october 23rd date the judge originally scheduled. detroit''s emergency manger kevyn orr will have to prove the city is insolvent. city employees and retired workers will argue to protect their pensions under michigan's constitution.

starbucks is set to start selling its evolution fresh juices in whole foods stores. the coffee giant acquired the cold-pressed juice maker in 2011. a big part of its plan for the selling juice in retail outlets with an eye to gaining a bigger foothold in the $1.6 billion premium juice market. evolution fresh snacks will also debut in whole foods stores and come to starbucks locations this fall. as early as september you may be able to trade in your old i- phone to get an upgrade. apple is reportedly planning to unveil the plan next month. sources told all things d that the company is expected to make an official statement at its september 10th event. that's when it's anticipated apple will showcase the next generration i-phone. perhaps taking a cue from all the negative feedback on its own facebook page -- cvs says it will shorten its store receipts. the drug store chain says it will stop attaching coupons to the end of receipts and will instead send savings directly to customers' membership cards.

the result will be a considerably shorter proof of purchase. cvs shoppers should see relief within a few weeks. still to come ways traders prepare for rising tensions in the middle east. plus...could hiring just one employee do wonders for the unemployment picture in america.. and, . overdose. a look at the hold the prescription drug market has on children and adults. that's next.

perscription drug abuse-- is said to be the leading drug problem in america. the state of new york is out with a possible cure. every time a doctor issues a perscription and its filled by a pharmicist.. it will be tracked by a new internet database. dr. dominic gaziano is on set with us this morning.. does this law go too far? what is your reaction? > >no, i don't think it goes to far. if you're prescribing properly you shouldn't have to worry number one. i'm already use to this and other opffices and reps coming out. i was intially surprised they would know my prescribing habits as they would start talking to me.

do you think drug companies are pushing some of these drugs? > >yes, i think that they awant to show the doctors the effectiveness of the medication they will try to push the drugs and try to blur the lines when needed. now, recently dr.phil has been talking about how many kids are diagnosed with a.d.d and its overly diagnosed. what do you think? what has been your experience > > well, i think it stems from parents wanting their kids to get better test scores and when you have a squirmy kid in class you want to control that, and teachers want to control it as well. there has been a height of awareness by the therapist in the schools and etc. there is criteria for adult a.d.d that adults want to perform at their jobs, so they may take medicine. the risk of it can raise the blood pressure and the pulse enough that the higher number getting on is more likely to get in a blood pressure problem and several other side

effects. now there is no doubt that some people who take these drugs absolutley need them. there is no doubt about that but, what do you see is as far an alternative of what they can do if they fall into taht category? > > i think, when you look at a problem you look at a problem, you look at all the psychiatric problem such as a.d.d.. you look at what modifications you can do such as a diet . more complex no sugars, more exercise. even to children you get them hooked on medicine they can't see the euphoria to exercise. there are other thing other activities, maybe someone can think of of entrepreneurial thing for activies after school for this big rising thing with the kid problems. maybe an idea has just been born. dr. gaziano thanks for coming on set with us this morning. > >thank you. do some drug companies play a role? how do yoy know when a patient

needs the presciption.. and when alternatives life stye changes could work> thanks dr... coming up.... .why small businesses adding one employee could change the employment landscape. and later... on more on stock market implications to an attack on syria.... stay with us.

i'm going to pass chemistry, and i'll take it from there. i'm going to do what makes me happy. i'm going to work hard. be independent. live large. make the most of every opportunity. i knew i wanted to go to college. but figuring out how to pay for it? i didn't have a clue. the u.s. department of education has over $100 billion. and that's a lot of money. to help students pay for college. and the free application? you mean the fafsa. i did it online. it was easy. i'm never giving up on my goals.

i will make a difference. i'm going to find out how to pay for college. i'm going to college.gov.

here's a novel idea. if a million small businesses in america hired just 1 additional employee - the country would be a full employment. far-fetched? the association for enterprise opportunity is trying to make that happen with the smallest of small businesses - those with 5 or fewer workers - microbusinesses they're called. connie evans is president and ceo of the association. they're small but they're a powerful part of the business landscape. the association for enterprise opportunity, you're trying to create a business environment that would encourage microbusinesses to hire 1 more.

here's a novel idea. if a million small businesses in america hired just 1 additional employee - the country would be a full employment. far-fetched? the association for enterprise opportunity is trying to make that happen with the smallest of small businesses - those with 5 or fewer workers - microbusinesses they're called. connie evans is president and ceo of the association. they're small but they're a powerful part of the business landscape. > >they're incredibly powerful. in fact, 1 in 3 main street microbusinesses hire just one employee this country would reach full employment. just think about it. we're talking about main street microbusinesses. they literally represent 92% of all businesses in this country. and i bet you pass them everyday. on the side streets, cross streets, and main streets of america. they are the backbone of this country and they will bring us to full employment if we make the right investment in them. > >investment is the key word. you're helping create a seed bed where these businesses have more access to capital. > > that's exactly what we're doing. they need fairly priced capital and coaching and products that will help them move forward. we like to talk about it as helping these businesses to thrive, grow and hire. every single day in this country, more than 8,000 business owners get turned down for capital by banks. we have to change that. aeo, our association---we're working with members across the country to make that happen. we're getting capital, coaching and other services directly in the hands of these businesses. > >what is it that you're doing to encourage banks to be more

generous with their lending? > >it's not just working with banks, although banks have a role to play, what we need to understand is that there are non-profits that provide capital to these small businesses in every state across this country. that's who our members are. non-profits who have capital and the business services that these companies need. > >very briefly, you've been doing this about 6 months now. results to point to? > >of course, not only are we having results now where new businesses are popping up, people are getting the capital they need and they're hiring. but we have a bigger goal that we're on the road to reaching---a half million new jobs over the next 3 years to be created by these businesses. we're excited about this. > >i'm excited to have talked to you about it connie evans. thanks so much. > >my pleasure. thank you bill... just ahead-- how one trader is playing the spike in oil futures.. as tensions rise in syria.. chart talk is next

critic alan knuckman joins us now. his eyes are on the charts of oil and oil stocks. good morning to you. good morning to you angie. now oil futures crossed the 109 yesterday at trading, what we participate for today? well energies been strong it's got up to the highest level since 2011 looking at energy in general looking at xle, which is the etf that tracks energy

sectors. it's had a sharp move above 80. the 2008 high's were avbove 90, so we're getting within striking distance and that was before this additional volatility and this uncertainty, there is always price shock potential in the energy world. for someone who doesn't want to go out and buy an oil future contract, what would be a play here that just an average person could do? it doesn't have to be a trading person. well, xle is the energy etf. i'm looking at an individual play that i think has good rewards to risk at these level. slumber j which is in the information service side of the oil and gas business, that is trading around 175. it has made a nice and techinacal pattern, that's why we are doing chart talk here. we're seeing bull flag pattern it's trading between 85 and 80 here. a break above 83 could target a technical move up to $92. now when you say 92 how long would you give this to move that high? well i'm an options player so i want to buy enough to be right with the options so, i'm looking at some february options play. the february 70's call which is deep in the money. i would act like the stock. the

stock had a breakout at 70 back in january, that was also the low back in april and june. so there is a significant price support ant 70 but, what i'm looking to do is buy back call for about 13 right now so the break evens a dollar away. most importantly i'm going to exit the position whether its a stock or the option if this slb closes below 80 on a weekly bases cause that's the key support level to lean on; and that's only a couple of dollars away. got it.so you're getting out if its below the 80 mark but you'd like to stay in if... right, on a weekly basis... but you would like to see it go above $92 before february? right! thank you alna. tahank you angie. that's a wrap for today.. coming up tomorrow-- the butler dished out another win at the box office over the weekend.. find out what's cooking at the box office for this weekend. from all of us at first business.. have a wonderful wednesday.

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