president obama urges action on immigration will he get a breakthrough... in today's cover story.... why wal mart is addressing a costume controversy plus....going home for the holidays will be more expensive this year... and in traders unplugged... the guys turn to zombie trading.. first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning! it's thursday, october 24th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: tech in check! amazon, microsoft and zynga all amazed wall street with strong earnings after the close. that could bode well for trading today-- after stocks and commodities gained upward momentum in thursday's session.

twitter hopes to raise up to $1.6 billion in its ipo next month. the stock may price around $17 to $20 per share. reports says wells fargo is prepared to give a late fee break to homeowners who missed the deadline on their mortgage payments -- due to the government shutdown. scott shellady of trean joins us now. he's had a chance to dissect what's going on with earnings and amazon and microsoft. good morning to you. > >good morning. they came out last night and what a story for american ingenuity. we had microsoft and the announcement of ballmer leaving, the purchase of nokia. they beat both on top line revenue and earnings per share---fantastic. then we take a look at amazon. more good news. they're competing with the likes of peapod and the door to door grocers, they're competing with netflix and they beat on both earnings per share and top line revenues. so these are things we like to see. those two stocks

should give a bid to the market this morning. i know one of them 36% higher amazon already on the year but you gotta be careful about being too short right now. things look good. > >along with that thought, what will your trading strategy be for this friday? > >i think this friday we're gonna start to see that 10 year grind lower. and i love that trade. i say i'm gonna be long bonds---i know it sounds crazy to want to borrow money at 2% for 10 years, but here's the deal. i still think that with that tech sector doing as well as it is, a lot of other things are in trouble. that 10 year yield grinds lower to say, 240 so we want to be long bonds and we want to be wary about the stock market. i think it grinds higher but you're gonna have times when you're gonna have to hang on for dear life. > >we will. thank you scott. a rush job.. that's the way developers are describing what happened going into the launch of government's online health insurance marketplace. the top contractors who supplied the software that runs the healthcare.gov website took heat on capitol hill in testimony before members of a house committee. a spokeswoman for the centers for medicare

and medicaid services says not enough testing was done on ahead of the october 1st launch. contractors also admit they were not ready for the launch. this is reaction from lawmakers: the botched rollout is all the more reason that the individual mandate penalty should be delayed. if we want this law to work, we've got to make it right, we've got to fix it; not what the republicans have been trying to do - nix it and repeal it. these two are testimony from obamacare site creators: either you didn't know about these problems or you knew about them and chose not to disclose them. which one is it? so, chairman, from a cgi perspective, our portion of the application worked as designed. people have been able to enroll. not at the pace

-- not at the experience we would have liked, but the end- to-end testing was the responsibility of cms. what was there response to when you shared some of the -- the pitfalls, in terms of what was going on? my understanding is they understood those and were working on them. but i don't know further. the lead contractor for cgi federal the main company in charge of site is confident healthcare.gov will be fixed in time for millions of americans to sign up for health insurance by january 1st. thursday-- was the first of the 3 congressional hill briefings. the focus is back on immigration reform. president obama is urging members of congress to pass legislation by the end of the year, and says he is "open to ideas." in a speech yesterday the president also poked fun at gridlock on capitol hill. now, obviously just because something is smart and fair and good for the economy, and fiscally responsible and supported by business and labor, and the evangelical community and many democrats and many republicans -- that does not mean that it will actually get done. (laughs) the stage is already set for

debate. in june the senate approved a sweeping immigration bill, which was later shot down by the house. yesterday a spokesman for john boehner said the house will not consider a quote "massive obamacare style legislation" referring to the senate bill, which calls for increased border security, and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. republicans say they want a step-by- step approach. an operator on the mcdonald's employee mcresources helpline was recorded advising an employee on finding food stamps. it follows a report that more than half of fast food workers need to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. mcdonald's claims the call was edited, and the helpline is a confidential. jp morgan may face a penalty in the bernie madoff case. federal prosecutors suspect that the bank ignored madoff's ponzi scheme. the feds are considering a "deferred prosecution agreement" that would suspend criminal charges against the bank in exchange for a fine. jp morgan has denied any involvement and says "all personnel acted in good faith."

the federal reserve wants banks to become "crash proof" by having extra cash on hand. the biggest banks with $250 billion in assets or more-- would have to hold enough cash, bonds, securities to fund operations for 30 days during a financial collapse. smaller banks would need funds for 21 days. fed chair ben benanke says adding liqudity to banks will shore up the u.s. banking system. bank of america is cutting jobs in its mortgage department. the bank is slashing up to 13- hundred jobs due to declines in refinancing activity and improvements in delinquent home loans. it plans to cut three- thousand jobs by the end of the year. the cuts include full- time employees, but the majority will be contracted positions. b- of-a already laid off more than nine thousand workers in the third quarter. medical device company boston scientific is also cutting jobs. the company based in massachussets, will trim 1,500 positions worldwide, to reduce costs. boston scientific has not posted an annual profit since 2005. a new report zeroes in on the shocking truth of corporate tax

rates. in an analysis of the s&p 500 --- usa today finds 21 components of the exchange pay a zero percent tax rate. verizon, rupert murdoch's news corp, metlife and many others reported tax rates of 0% during the past year. the research finds many widdle down tax bills by moving money into offshore accounts, harvesting losses, and using accounting tricks. one analyst notes gray areas in the tax code. billionaire carl ichan is pumping up the pressure on apple ceo tim cook to share the wealth with investors. apple shares climbed higher by nearly $7 dollars yesterday. ichan tells cook he plans to up his stake in the tech company by 22% to 4.7 mlilion shares. ichan is demanding that apple buy back $150 billion dollars in stock. cnbc reports-- ichan may start up a proxy fight. apple already plans to return $100 billion to share holders. the company reports earnings monday. walmart has been called out for

stocking halloween costumes for children that parents say, aren't kid stuff. our cover story takes a look at kids costumes that may push the envelope too far for those too young. at a time when some costumes for adults push the limits of discretion, there's concern that this trend is influencing children's costumes. this year as halloween approached, walmart stocked a costume for toddlers called "naughty leopard." "is this appropriate?" beginning in september, media outlets asked if "naughty leopard" implied inappropriate thoughts. another costume called "demented doctor" advertised for kids as young as seven, prompted a similar response. walmart has since pulled the leopard costume from its shelves and in a statement, said: "it was never our intention to offend anyone and we apologize to any customers who may have been offended by the name of the costume." "walmart says it didn't intend to offend anyone. that's fine

but my grandkids still won't be allowed to wear that." other retailers have pulled questionable costumes including one depicting osama bin laden, as for "demented doctor" --- it's no longer available. but another costume "playful cat," which accompanied a consumerist- dot-com story on this subject is still on the shelves. we asked consumers what they thought. "playful cat. should be on the shelf? no, i don't think so." some say the so-called "naughty leopard" was an unfortunate choice of words for a costume that really didn't depict either "naughty" much less a 'leopard." the word, used to describe a lot of halloween costumes has more meanings now than "one who creates michief." walmart is making more in-roads in china. the retailer intends to open 110 new stores there in the next three years according to reports. at the same time walmart will close up to 25 under performing stores in reponse to chinese customers buying more items online. third quarter earnings for two u.s. companies are looking up. mead johnson's profits were up

15-percent on sales in china and latin america. but an s-e-c investigation into price-fixing in china brought shares lower to close at 80-dollars. mead makes enfamil baby formula and other nutritional products. ford beat analyst estimates with earnings of 45-cents a share. shares closed higher at $17.83. during the earnings call, ceo alan mulally said he'll remain in the role --ending rumors that he'll join microsoft. in most states drivers with poor credit scores-- tend to pay twice as much for car insurance than those with excellent scores. that finding was discovered by insurancequotes.com. this is a trend we are seeing more insurers using credit to set rates. laura adams of insurance quotes.com says california, hawaii and massachusetts are the only states that don't key insurance rates off of credit scores. among suggests to get a lower rate on car or home insurance: pay bills on time, don't max out credit cards, and check

your credit report for mistakes. a hit and a miss. airline stocks are reporting earnings this week. united airlines parent united continental cited higher revenue, but fell short of what wall street was looking for. however, stellar earnings for southwest. it reported third quarter earnings that beat expectations thanks to higher ticket prices and lower fuel costs. southwest said it's november and december bookings are strong. jeanenne tornatore of orbitz-dot-com says flyers can expect to pay more this holiday season. " what we're seeing in terms of prices is that compared to last year according to orbitz bookings, average airfares are up 9% over the holidays and hotels are up 5%. so people may see a slight increase in what they will pay for their airfare." tornatore advises holiday travelers to book in advance and fly on off-days, such as thanksgiving day versus the day before the holiday. disney gets an "a" for environmental effort. the company's fleet of cruise ships were rated by an enviornmental

group for its practices. the report says the ships have advanced sewage treatment systems and are energy efficent. overall the cruise industry dumped more than 1 billion gallons of sewage into oceans last year. it is legal, as long as the ships are three miles from shore. in new york a holiday inn express will pay a 25-thousand dollar fine for gouging guests in the immediate aftermath of hurricane sandy. the storm ravaged homes along the east coast almost a year ago. new york's attorney general accused the hotel in brooklyn of charging more than 400-a-night for rooms for rooms normally priced less than half that. in addition to the fine, more than 15-thousand dollars will be returned to people who sought shelter at the hotel. still to come: trader's tips on navigating this tricky market. plus in traders unplugged the guys say the zombie apocalypse is a buying opportunity. and, after the break bill moller joins us with ways to keep your cool at work if tensions are

running high. stay with us. i wanted to be in the military since i was a kid.

i served a total of 16 years. and at 19 years old, that's the first time i ever saw somebody die. coming back, i was raging. i started having pretty horrible nightmares. i started drinking a lot. i guess i never recognized it in myself. 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. danica patrick: for the millions living with copd, breathing becomes a real struggle. copd stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but you may have heard of it as chronic bronchitis or emphysema. over time, it makes it harder and harder to breathe,

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ego, resentment, selfishness - the workplace can be a breeding ground for all kinds of toxic emotions. anger may be the most common. you feel it when your boss recognizes someone else for work you did or a colleague does something to set you off. alan alford has been in sales all his life, he's an author & national speaker and you've no doubt seen things that have made your blood boil. > >i have. i've seen some crazy things at work. i've actually broken up fights. people who've had very good employees they just couldn't control their anger. kept it inside and festered too long and all of a sudden it just broke loose. > >what is it about the

workplace that can make it such an emotional pressure cooker? > >you have goals to meet and when that pressure comes and people tell you you need to get this thing done. and it becomes pressure. it can get tough. customers can be snippy with you sometimes. so it happens unfortunately, but how you handle it is the biggest thing. > >handling it, let's talk about that. people let this pressure build, they harbor resentment, simmering rage sometimes. we have to i guess control that and somehow release it in a different way. > >yes, exactly. you gotta release it. take a deep breath. that's a good way to do it. another way is to imagine yourself at a peaceful place, whether it be the golf range or someplace you enjoy and that would be a good way to release some stress as well. take some time out with the family and take it easy. one misstep can end up costing you a great job or opportunity. > >it's not easy to do. when you're caught up in the emotions of the moment, it's

hard to sit back and go i have to count to 10 now and take deep breaths. > >yeah, i know exactly what you're saying. it is tough, but it's a skill. one thing that you can do is have positive reinforcement. say to yourself mentally, that person is just taking it out on me. they've had better days. i'm just getting the brunt of it. don't take it personally and just think of it that way. you need to get through this tough situation---you don't want to win the battle and lose the war. and that's your job. so keep that in mind before you react. > >good idea alan alford. thank you so much. i'll keep that in mind next time i'm noticing someone getting credit for something i did. thanks so much. > >i don't want to break up any fights with you involved, that's for sure. thank you bill! coming up...eating profits. just ahead in traders unplugged-- the guys find ways to make money on the walking dead. and later one trader tells us if this is just the market he's been waiting for. we'll be right back! i wanted to be in the military since i was a kid. 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.

time now to get the friday party

started with traders unplugged. joining us now from the floor of cme group alan knuckman and andrew keene. good morning guys, topic number one: gold trees - researchers have been able to detect deposits of gold underground by testing tree leaves. so is gold a cash crop? alan: i think it is. i think it's a good value; a lot of people have forgotten about it. we've gone above the halfway point from the august highs to the october lows. so i'm looking at it as a buy. if it gets above 1433 it's going to 1600 dollars an ounce from a technical stanpoint. andrew: if there's more supply then what happens to the price? it's gonna go lower. gold is just like diamonds. it doesn't have any value in this world besides what someone is willing to pay, someone's willing to sell it for. right now the short term momentum is to the downside. look for a pop up to 132 in the gld. 1320 in gold that i'm looking to short it. i do not have a position on here though. alan: and with the lower dollar that helps out gold and people will be willing to pay more.

andrew: right now, people don't want to buy gold. it keeps going down. alan: we're above 1350 now. angie: topic number 2: goldman lunch bunch. goldman sachs is asking traders to take their lunches at off peak times so that they can make money during the big peak times. so what do you think about goldman sachs stock? andrew: i don't take lunch. i eat at my desk. they should tell everynody they have to eat at their desk. goldman stock is stuck right between this range of 150-170....the banks have been underperforming. right here at 160 it's a no touch. i would rather short it at 162 than be long here. they had very weak earnings---stock sold off on earnings. alan: these guys know how to make money. the stock's been trading really between 140 and 170 for the last few months anyway. so that target break up to 200. 250 was the high 2008. so we got a lot of upside--- andrew: and the low was 49.50 alan: they only made a billion and a half dollars last quarter. only. andrew: why did the stock sell off ? angie: topic number 3: zombie crunch---an expert said this week that america is losing money, it's killing the economy because everyone is fascinated with watching zombie shows. so is there a way to make money on this 5 billion dollar zombie

industry? alan: i like the fact that you can look at hershey's as a candy play. but i think a better play is disney. you gotta look at the villains in disney. you've got ursula, jafar, there's a lot a bad people in disney. looking at the disney stock, it looks like it's technically set up for about a 10% move to the upside. again trading within a range look for it to break out. andrew: i can't disagree that disney has a very strong stock. it doesn't perform well on earnings so it might pull back on earnings. if it gets a pullback i might look to get long in disney. i think another way to play it is target. target looks like its bottomed out at the 62 level. might be able to get a pop here. this chart is a little bit weak so i'd have a tight stop on target. go to target tow days or a week before halloween. there is no zombie costumes left. alan: what's scary is how much money disney makes on espn. that's the profit that scary. andrew: espn and then zombies. how does that go together? alan: it's scary. boo!

angie: now on to your bonus round question. and i have a good feeling for you guys today. we've had a number of stocks that have reached new highs so here's your question--- name the stock with the highest price per share? andrew: berkshire-hathaway... alan: there's no multiple choice? that's the only thing i can think of. yes. angie: great job. it's berkshire at 175 thousand dollars per share. great job. first business continues right after this. ehicle. when i came here, i... i couldn't move. [male announce david was broadsided on the highway. they weren't very hopeful at the time that he would survive at all.. [male announce an ied wounded mike in afghanistan. i don't remember all of the blast... was over 500 pounds of explosives. [male announce their physical injuries have healed. the traumatic brain injuries - tbis - haven't. the way i describe it is you're just afraid. am i going to start forgetting things? [male announce tbi is as serious as any battlefield injury. you're just not the guy you used to be.

[male announce thankfully va has made important advancements in tbi seeing it, treating it, understanding it. and they're here to help veterans affected by it. i can see that what we're doing here at the polytrauma unit is to move from survivability to thrive-ability. [male announce if you think you or a veteran you know has sustained a brain injury, get screened. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [female narrator even if you're not planning on getting pregnant now, you should know that foods rich in folic acid like white bread and leafy greens can help prevent some birth defects before you even know you're pregnant. good morning tim and happy friday to you! > >happy friday angie.

> >let's talk about this trading market. is this current market a trader's dream? has it been wonderful for day traders? > >absolutely. we're finally getting some nice trading ranges to say the least. the straight up aspect has ebbed here although we're pushing the new highs, we are having pullbacks along the way. so from a trader's perspective, that's where we like to trade in where you can sell rallies, buy dips, climb on board and not just ride it forever. > >tell me some of the ranges that you've seen in the market lately and will that continue? > >i think so. i think it's kind of that yin and yang between the fed with yellen in place now it looks like will continue the easy money policy so that free money that's been boosting the multiples on the market looks like it may continue. although, at about 16 and a half next times earnings, we're getting a little expensive here and that's kind of the downside of the market. it's an expensive market now but that free money will continue. i think it will bounce back and forth here in historically kind of a bullish period. > >alright, so would you as a long term investor be bullish, bearish, or neutral on this market? > >as a trader i think valuations don't matter but as an investor i think valuations ultimately matter. so i think from an investment standpoint i would absolutely be waiting for a pullback maybe of about 5-7% where i would deem value. as a trader, all bets are off as we eluded to that short term movement is what you're looking for. > >but you didn't say are you bullish, bearish, or neutral. > >i would say a little bit bearish as an investor and neutral as a trader.

> >good to have you on the show. thanks tim. > >you bet. thank you angie. that wraps up this week. coming up next week on first business...why more americans are delaying retirement. and is working past 70 the wave of the future. thanks so much for watching. from all of us at first business, happy friday!

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