are you in or are you out of the stock market? what professional traders are doing with their money as politicla tensions rise. in today's cover story...months of speculation end, as the first female becomes the next fed chairman. plus..... are food companies changing our taste buds... and..... a thrilling weekend at the movies for audiences and film studios. first business starts now!! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning! it's thursday, october 10th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: stock selling slows as wall street watches the action in washington. the dow rallied 26 points

yesteday, and nasdaq fell 17 and the s&p gained 1. gold slipped $18 dollars and oil $2.03.in earnings after hours-- citirix systems and ruby tuesday both tumbled on an earnings miss. citrix fell 14% in heavy trading, and ruby tuesday's dropped 12%. toyota is out with a new lower price on its 2014 prius plug in.the hybrid now costs $2,000 less at $29,990. and pc shipments are down 8% from last year--as consumers turn to tablets. todd horwitz- of average joe options joins us now for a peek at what to expect from the market today. good morning. > >good morning angie. > >is it true that traders are bracing and trading exchanges are bracing for the possibility for a default on our bills? > >i don't think that we're gonna see a default. i don't think priced and i think if you look at the vix and the bond

market and the u.s. dollar. if we were really going to see a shutdown or if there was fear, you would see some fear driven in those three spots. right now we're seeing probably at this point traders are pricing zero probability but there's probably an outside chance we could have a partial default. but really it's not being priced in the market yet. > >i still feel like behind the scenes people are worried though, todd. now, are you in or out on this market? > >i am in on the short side of this market. this is dr. doom. > >you are doom and gloom of course. what's the trader reaction to janet yellen being named the new head of the fed? > >i think that the regular traders aren't really concerned. in fact, the market sold off a bit after the announcement yesterday. i think what you're looking at is another dove. so the people who like it are the very wealthy--- the mr. potter's of the world. the extremely rich who benefitted from this program in the first place will benefit from janet yellen being the new fed chair. > >thank you for coming into our world today, todd horwitz. > >thank you.

in our cover story, president obama nominated janet yellen to lead the federal reserve system after current chairman, ben bernanke steps down in january. yellen's nomination follows a public debate for the position, largely because of the extended role the fed has played during the recovery. janet yellen wasted no time in conveying her top priorities as fed chairman. "we are to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to work and that inflation doesn't undermine efforts at a growing economy." if confirmed by the senate, yellen would replace ben bernanke, whose bond-buying program has kept interest rates low but some say is no longer needed. many expect a less- activist fed, under yellen. "there's not much more janet yellin can do. we've reached the limits of what the bernanke policy, in my opinion." yellen, an academic through much of her career, chaired president clinton's council of economic advisors in the 90's and in 2004, became head of the san francisco fed. there, federal reserve meetings show yellen's early warnings of the housing bubble collapse.

"one of the things she understands is the pulse of the economy. she's a better forecaster than people realize." "while we have made progress, the fed must serve all americans, including many who cannot provide for their families." fed chairmen have been considered rock stars--alan greenspan, act with independence--about which, paul volcker warns that the fed is in danger of losing, and until now, men. but its that second point--losing its independence, particularly when the most recent potential nominees became the focus of political debate, that most concerns george kaufman. "it's bad because when interest rates go up, there's going to be political pressure to keep it down." cme group economist blue putnum thinks scaling back--known as "tapering" may begin next april.

president obama is meeting behind closed doors with republicans and democrats from congress. the president extended invitations to "all" house republicans to meet with him at the white house. however, house speaker john boehner limited the number to 18. the talks are happening to give lawmakers an opportunity to end the government shutdown and increase the debt ceilng by the october 17th deadline. reports say one idea floated by members of both parties is a short-term increase in the debt limit to allow more time for broader negotations. the friction in washington is taking its toll... the treasury department says if congress fails to lift the debt ceiling, the government can only cover 65% of its bills -- including social security checks. fidelity revealed yesterday it has sold its government debt holdings that mature in late october. fidelity is the largest manager of money market mutual funds in the nation. also in the fallout from government shutdown 30 cdc workers have been called back to work after an outbreak of samonella that left 300 people sick in 18 states, the agency that approves new beer

from craft brewers is closed. and rapper nelly is chiming in -- calling for the government to suspend taxes until the shutdown is over. despite concerns about the debt ceiling-- money is not rushing to gold as a safe haven. gold futures ended the day yesterday at the lowest levels in more than a week. in india -- however, the price of gold is on the rise. the government is increasing the import duty on the yellow metal as it attempts to stablize inflation rates. mike maloney, the author of "guide to investing in gold& silver" says the recent price hikes there are making silver an attractive option. "they have put some very high tariffs on gold recently...and so people are turning toward silver as an alternative to gold. i expect once gold goes past 3 and 5 thousand dollars an ounce. that youll see the same thing happening here in the u.s.

the economic times confirms between january to august india bought more silver than it did in all of 2012. wal mart is temporarily scrapping its plans to build stores in india. the chain said government regulations in the nation are a critical stumbling block. new laws would require 30% of wal mart's inventory to be obtained from local small businesses in india. the chain says it is not abandoning its plans to enter the market completely and will continue to try to work out a deal. norwegian air is taking its second boeing dreamliner out of commission. it's only as a precaution. but it follows the grounding of its other dreamliner on september 28th for a series of hydraulic and electrical issues. the latest jet removed from operation reportedly has fewer problems and should be back in the air late next week. boeing has dealt with a number of problems on its new jets including a faulty battery set up. 35% of the wealth in russia is owned by only 110 people. thats according to credit suisse. it breaks down to a combined worth of 420 billion dollars --marking one of the largest levels of

weath inequality in the world. the ap reports the fall of communism led to the distribution of wealth among a small club of business leaders. in the u.s. americans are likely to spend more money on heating bills this winter. we turned to trader john caruso of rjo futures. "well ya, absolutely, the fourth quarter demand obviously we do see that pick up for the heating oil contract. yesterdays trade on wednesday we were met with actually a larger dercline on inventories for heating oil." the government predicts natural gas users will see the biggest bump up. heating their homes will cost roughly $670 on average. 13% higher tha last winter. it could be a turning point for sac capital. reports in the new york times say the hedge fund is considering entering a plea deal in its insider trading case. federal prosectors would ask sac to plead guilty and pay 2 billion dollars in fines. the hedge fund, run by billionaire steve cohen has been tangled in a long running insider trading

investigation. entering a plea deal would allow cohen to attempt to save his firm. the ceo of hewlett packard sees pockets of growth ahead. it was just one of the comments to come from h-p ceo meg whitman at of yesterday's analyst meeting. whitman also pointed to profit expecations for hewlett that were beyond wall street's expectations. she also mentioned competition coming from rivals. in the end-- hp stock bounced nearly 9% in trading wednesday to close above $22. sears reportedly is selling off some of its stores. according to the wall street journal the retailer has sold some its profitable stores in an effort to raise cash. a spokesman for the company admits cash from the sales helped cover for operating losses. sears stock fell 5% in trading yesterday. men's wearhouse is turning down an offer from jos a bank. the bid to buy men's wearhouse was unsolicited. jos a bank is offering to pay $2.3 billion dollar or $48 per share, which sent men's wearhouse stock 27% higher to close at $45. the

retailer called the deal opportunistic and undervalued. discount retailers reported mixed earnings results this week. family dollar dropped in trading yesterday after reporting same store sales were flat last quarter. the retailer cites tough comparisons to last year. but still reported a profit of 86 cents per share-- 2 cents topping wall streets expectations. at costco, results were in the green, but the company missed on sales and income estimates. that stock rose 2% yesterday. apple may be closer to taking the wraps off new tablets at an upcoming event. all things d reports -- the tech company will hold an invitation only gathering on tuesday, october 22nd. at that time sources say apple will unveil updates on ipad and mac computers. the 5th generation ipad-- may be thinner, lighter and have a better camera. there's no confirmation from apple. and at samsung, the company is throwing a curve ball into the tech game. its getting ready to

launch its galaxy round. the device is designed with a curved shape to fit the countours of a users face. the concept is in the works at apple, lg and nokia. samsung is the first to roll it out. it's the end of an era for panasonic. the tech company reportedly is closing its last plasma tv factory. after dominating the industry for decades panasonic is losing out to competition from samsung as well as consumers watching more shows on phones and tablets. worldwide shipments of tvs dropped 6.3% last year. the first decline in a decade. still to come: from space to the sea, the new films that will have your heart racing. plus...find out how to get free coffee at starbucks this week. and....coming to an aisle near you how food companies are

changing what's on the menu. we'll be right back! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ i served in the united states air force. i served a total of 16 years. i was deployed 13 times. on my second deployment four bombs hit my vehicle. 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. the food industry is not static. new items and changing consumer demands all force growers and food processors to keep innovating. a lot of new foods are set to be introduced in the coming months. let's talk with

chris cornyn. he's the founder of the food & beverage marketing agency, dine. he's also a judge on the show "supermarket superstar." the public seems to be a split personality - we love familiar comfort foods like grandma used to make - and we're drawn to new and different. > >yes, that's absolutely true. there are 3 key words to the food industry. it's new, new, and new. that's what consumers really want. > >not new and improved cause we've seen that line as well. why don't you give us the list of current trends you're observing? > >we have food companies coming to us all the time and there are a few things that they're looking for. first of all---better for you. we're a health conscious nation and they want to make their current food products better or come up with new products that are healthier. > >is that sugar free or fat free for example? > >all those things but even going deeper. making foods functionally better for you or

nutritionally better for you. we see a lot of that. and another is we are an on-the-go snacking culture. so convenience is a major issue for the food industry right now. > >gluten-free is part of this. you're talking about juicing. is that concentrating nutrients into a liquid? > >is funny that you bring that up. a client just called me yesterday and asked how do we get into juicing? it's really getting back to core ingredients of what we should be eating as humans and if you take a vegetable ot fruit and just squeeze it that's getting as close to the food source as possible. > >so are mainstream grocery chains adopting some of the same practices and principles of the healthy chains like trader joe's and whole foods? > >absolutely. big grocery stores and even small need to create both an experience, because that's what's really gonna differentiate them from another store. and then they also have to address the consumer needs---what we want as consumers. > >do the food companies lead or do they follow the fickle consumer buying and eating habits? > >you have your bleeding edge-- your freaks and geeks and the outliers that drive innovation. and then you have a lot of fast followers. we work with both of them. we have people who come in---entrepreneurs with great,

fresh new ideas. and then we have the big companies that seize on those opportunuties after they've been vetted by the mavericks of the food world. > >you've whetted my appetite with this conversation. chris cornyn, thanks so much. > >my pleasure. bill, starbucks is hoping free coffee will ease tensions on capitol hill. ceo howard schutlz made a political statement this week with a new offer. starbucks will give a free tall coffee to any customer who buys a drink for someone else. schultz wants americans to connected better with each other -- including our elected officials. coming up, what traders are doing with their retirement money-- as volatility picks up in the market. and,an intense month at the box office...films that have audiences on the edge of their seats and studios smiling-- next in movies and money.

a controversial ship's capitain and astronauts are taking the audiences to uncharted

territory at the movies this week. our movie man is here to go through it all. let's start with gravity. you called this. > >we absolutely did. > >thanks for including me in that. > >absolutely. it was the biggest october opening of all time. that had only been held for a couple of years by paranormal activity 3. but we expected this. i called it an event film and by saturday night the word was outand it's gonna continue. > >a huge opening at 55 million dollars. also on the list from last weekend...now, coming up this weekend---captian phillips. getting a lot of talk, a lot of buzz---both good and bad. you've seen the film and we've heard the controversy about how the film does not portray the captain as he was. what do you think? > >well, i think that the people who are filing the lawsuit and obviously we're speaking of the ship's crew who were actually there to witness all of these events. i don't think they've seen the movie. the claims that

they make towards the movie-- some of that is addressed in the film. stuff that they were warned not to go through these pirate waters. tom hanks as captain phillips is shown getting that warning. he's shown preparing the crew for what could be happening. so i think that they are basing it on what they've seen in the trailers and what they've heard. the movie itself is fantastic. this is paul greengrass who did united 93, another true life, really harrowing incident film. captain phillips is for adults. it's really tremendous. tom hanks is most likely going to be nominated for an oscar. absolutely go see it this weekend. > >it's good when hollywood can stick to the script more or less. at least as closely as possible. > >absolutely. it's hard to say. obviously, we're not there and we don't know all the events but i think that they probably portray captain phillips in as good a light as possible. we just want to see him being a captain and that's what he does in the film. > >also this weekend, machete kills and enough said which i hear is a great movie and you loved it. > >it absolutely is. it's

certainly one of the better films of the year. one of james gandolfini's last performances. julia louis-dreyfus doing her best screen work. it's been open a couple weeks. it's expanding to a few more theaters this weekend. it cracked the top 10 last weekend. it absolutely must be seen this weekend. it's terrific. > >and here in chicago, the chicago international film festival kicks off. > >kicking off on thursday night and it's gonna be going for 2 weeks. i saw alexander payne's nebraska and it's an absolute must see of the year. if you can see it at the festival, absolutely book you tickets now because it's gonna be a hot ticket. > >thank you erik. > >thank you. still ahead-- the feeling from the trading floor. what it's like to trade the markets with as the debt ceiling deadline looms. chart talk is next.

matt cavanaugh joins us now for a closer look at the charts on wells fargo. wells fargo coming out with earnings tomorrow. what do you think is likely to happen with this stock? > >it's really interesting because wells fargo is a stock that's broken a lot of it's support levels---like the 50 day and the 200 day moving average. but looking at it from my perspective, i think it looks still like it's pretty attractive. it pays a 3% dividend. really a cheap stock valuation wise and i think that people's concerns about the mortgages or the slowdown in the mortgage market is a little bit overblown. i think at as

long as wells can hold this level here, it's gonna be a good buy in the long term. > >is it a long term buy? it sounds like it is in your book and not so much a trade. > >i think it is. there's a lot of concerns going on right now and that's obviously all out the window if we don't reach a deal here in washington. so the short term thing could get a little bit choppy but i think that over the long term, this is a company that obviously is well run, also has the support of the federal reserve. they need to do well in order for america to do well, so i think it's a good bet. > >you are in the middle of these markets with all of this turbulence going on around you. what's it like on the trading floor? what's the feeling on the floor? > >well, right now the feeling is a little bit of fear which we haven't seen for a long time. we're always worried what the news is gonna come and whether or not we're gonna be the first to know. usually we're the last. so, people are really

cautious right now. the options markets remain very tight. the futures markets are whippy. so, very careful we're playing it but turbulent times. > >you trade by day and yet you, like a lot of americans, have a portfolio. you're trying to build up your retirement fund. so what are you doing with your money right now matt? > >we've taken quite a bit off the table. the market has ralled. we've talked about it many times. it's had a really nice run. a few weeks ago we were talking about how all the billionaires were saying to take some money off the table while the analysts were calling for a higher market. so i kinda followed their lead. i took a little bit off the table and i'm looking for stuff that's more attractively valued. and wells fargo would be one of those names if it goes on sale i would like to buy. > >matt cavanaugh, thank you for your insights today. > >thank you. thank you for watching today. coming up tomorrow -- it's traders unplugged! join us as the guys tip us off on the latest chatter from the trading floor on stocks and more. from all of us at first business, have a terrific thursday!

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