janet yellen inches closer to confirmation as the next fed chairman. in today's cover story.... car companies are in the green at this year's l-a auto show... plus..what some walmart workers have in store for black friday.. and... ..why our critic says hunger games is killing it as a movie franchise. first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas good morning!it's thursday, november 21st.i'm angela miles. in today's first look: the sell off continues on wall street.. as uncertainity rises over the fed's taper timeline. yesterday, the blue chips lost 66 points, the nasdaq 11 and s&p 7.gold really took hit with a $31

dollar plunge. oil remained unchanged. yahoo shares gained nearly 3% on plans for 5 billion stock buy back.. green mountain stock percolated in heavy trading last nighton earnings that spilled beyond estimates but the outlook was murky.and, the tribune has a plan on the table to cut 700 newspaper jobs. mark sebastian of swan wealth advisors joins us now for a look at the trading day. good morning mark. a lot of people are still buzzing about those fomc minutes that were released yesterday. > >i think a lot of people were expecting the talk to be march or april of next year. the talk was we can taper whatever we want. we can taper up or we can taper down. they can adjust their bond buying program at their own will and i think that caught people off guard. that's why we saw the s &ps give up

their gains yesterday. > >what about the retail numbers that are coming in and we're starting to close in on the holiday season. > >it's been interesting. a lot of the names that have been consistently great continue to kill it. tjx for example, the only store that can bring family dollar shoppers and nordstrom shoppers to the same spot, had a great quarter. whereas some of the rebound names---your best buy's of the world---i think they overran their target a little bit. so i think you're seeing some of these turnaround stories take it in the chin a little bit. > >do you like target by the way? > >walmart came out and warned last week. is that because of target or is that along with target. i think target's numbers are gonna be very interesting for the big box retailer and should give us some real insight into the christmas season. > >thank you mark. > >thank you. our fed watch continues this morning.. with word janet

yellen may be closer to being confirmed as the next chairman of the federal reserve. reuters reports: one of yellen's greatest critics senator bob corker of tennessee says in statement:he is setting aside his reservations nd believes she will bring more transparency to the u.s. central bank.he also likes that yellen has pledged to reduce fed bond purchases as soon as economic data supports a move. newspath yellen hearings from last weekcorker serves on the senate banking committee.the panel is expected to vote today on whether to send yellen on to the full senate. many walmart workers will spend the friday after thanksgiving on the picket lines. protests are being orgainzed around the nation- by group called "our walmart". workers want "an end to retailiation against those who bravely speak out, and a real wage of 25 thousand dollars a year." one of the "our walmart" members planning to picket is martha sellers... "we're just barely surviving. and they don't seem to care. they push us harder and harder

and harder. and we still go home broke. we're still fighting to feed our families and pay our bills. " sellers, has worked 10 years at walmart. she was "infuriated" after management at an ohio location launched a food bank for employees. the retailer said the story was "taken out of context." it all comes before a critical holiday sales season. retail analyst jim dion says despite the store's public image, he does not expect shoppers to break their loyalty to the brand. "employees grievences are not generally at the forefront of a consumers mind. " a wal mart representative contends very few of the protestors actually work for the company. adding and that walmart has opportunities for employees to reach the earning potential that they are demanding. jc penney is falling back into favor with investors-- on big talk from the management. jcp is still attempting to recover from a loss of customers. but in the latest earnings report.. the ceo is pointing to a turnaround sales

trend at its stores and on its website. although penney lost more money than wall street predicted. jcp shares bounced 8% on signs of hope. the ceo also revealved supplier fraud, paperwork errors and theft cost the company $34 billion in 2011. a flurry of retail results hit the market today. yesterday... help from the housing sector helped boost lowes and deere & company. in its earnings forecast, deere says sales of construction equipment have picked up, and it anticipates better-than- expected fourth quarter earnings. at lowes, revenue beat what wall street expected, as same store sales rose 6%. however earnings fell short by a penny. the stock fell 6% yesterday. overall retail sales from the month of october caught traders by surprise... sales climbed .4% last month-- while market watchers were expecting sales to be flat. despite the government shutdown consumers showed up in car show rooms ready to spend. they also congregated at stores selling clothing, electronics, books and sporting goods. lower prices at the pump helped fuel the spending spree.

the l-a auto show, known for it's appeal to drivers concerned about carbon emissions rolled out an all-electric volkswagen golf, that can travel from 70-to-a-hundred miles before needing four hours to fully re-charge. "if you have a fast-charger, you can get 80% charge within 30-min utes." the car-maker which boasted it would eclipse toyota, selling 10-million cars a year by 20-18 is on a track to reach that benchmark early. its hopes riding on sales in china and on concept vehicles such as the x- l 1 capable of 261-miles-per- gallon of diesel. "we plan to produce 200-250 of these on a global basis." california's history of influencing development of sport-utility vehicles is driving luxury car maker bentley to develop an s-u-v...a strategy that led porsche to develop its cayenne---which doubled porsche sales worldwide. "we are planning to have the

first cars delivered by early 2016." but while general motors basked in honors for innovation in its latest corvette "everything from our engine, a v-8 to the variable fuel-economy that drops cylinders and gets great fuel economy." it had little to say about accusations in venezuela of price gouging for spare parts by a g-m subsidiary. "i have no reaction to that at this time." earlier this month, the treasury department reported that it would complete its exit of the 49-and-a-half billion dollar g- m bailout in 2009...at a reported loss of roughly 10- billion dollars. "if people feel bad about the investment, that's fine. i'm a taxpayer, too and we added jobs and invested a lot, end of story and that's the way i feel about it." devon energy is exploring new territory in a $6 billion dollar deal. devon will buy geosouthern's eagle ford assets. the all cash deal will boost devon's oil and gas exposure to the shale oil boom. according to reports..

production at eagle ford hit one million barrels per day in august. blackstone group is selling 15 million shares of seaworld. by selling the stock-- the private equity group will no longer have controlling ownership of the theme park company. seaworld went public back in april with an ipo price of $27. today it's trading around $31 dollars. the documentary blackfish ignited criticism over the companies treatment of orca whales. sea world is currently denying and fighting allegations of harmful work environment. a former apple trader will spend the next 2 and a half years in prison.. cnbc reports-- david miller was sentenced to time behind bars after pleading guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy. prosecutors say milller bought 1.6 million shares of apple october 25th last year...just before apple's earnings release.he hoped the stock would rise, it did not leaving him with a $5.3 million loss. after 2 years of bankruptcy-- jefferson county alabama is attempting to emerge

from its debt troubles. the county was the largest municipal bankruptcy prior to detroit declaring it was broke. a court is deciding -- whether the jefferson county can sell $1.7 billion in sewer related debt to exit bankruptcy.. the heavy $3 billion dollar debt from sewer work pushed the county in chapter 9 a couple years ago.. some argue, sewer rates are already too high for residents and could go up 7.9%. it's over for 82 year rupert murdoch and 44 year old wendi deng. the couple ended their 14 year marriage wednesday with a hug. as part of the settlment sources say deng will keep their $44 million dollar fifth avenue apartment in new york.. the couple's children will not have voting stakes in murdochs companies. murdoch owns the wall street journal, the new york post and fox film studios and fox news. the couple tells reporters- "we are pleased to announce that we have reached an amicable settlement of all matters relating to our divorce," a million dollars worth of gold turned up in a strange place. .

a cleaning crew on a jet blue aircraft found 24 gold bars stashed in the bathroom. . the flight took off from bangkok...the gold was found upon landing in india. an investigation is now taking off.. philip morris has hopes of striking it rich with electric cigarettes. the maker of marlboro's will reportedly enter the electronic cigarette business in the second half of next year. the tobacco company plans to roll out a new variety of products called "reduced- risk". philip morris views e- cigarettes as a growth opportunity.it's already a $2 billion dollar per year business. groupon is going bigger. the online coupon website known for its local deals, is launching a national site. it will focus on deals and discounts for big box retailers such as best buy and macys with "groupon freebies." by expanding into a new catagory, a groupon spokeswoman tells the chicago tribune-- the coupon company can better compete against rivals such as retail-me-not-dot.com going into the holiday shopping season. still to come

why the lastest enstallment of the hunger games has our critic hooked. plus...gm "game changers"! what the automaker has in store at the la auto show.

and ... how tesla's ceo is addressing recent car troubles... stay with us. general motors is rolling out a new lineup of vehicles it

hopes will catch on with consumers at this years la auto show.james bell, head of consumer affairs for gm is here to talk trucks and trends. good morning to you. > >good morning. thanks so much for having me on. > >one of the trucks you're rolling out is the 2015 chevy colorado . it's a mid sized truck and it looks awfully hip. what's the plan for this? > >it's the third leg in chevy's truck tripod if you will. you have the heavy duty trucks up at the far end that are the ones that you see on construction sites. you have the silverado in the middle which is the more traditional full sized pickup truck. and now we have the colorad underneath and it weighs about 900 lbs less. about a foot shorter. it's more manageable for a lot of families. we think it will be a vehicle that will make sense for someone who is coming in for an suv and realizes they need that truck capability but doesn't want that big truck feeling, easy to get through parking lots, better on fuel efficiency but still has all the utility you need. > >was this truck needed to help your sales?

> >for sure. we think its a big slice of the market that's been seeded to toyota. right now there's only 2 vehicles in that mid sized truck space. the toyota tacoma and nissan frontier. the frontier is withering away. tacoma is doing well. here comes chevy right in that space and it every sale that we make is going to be taken away from toyota. > >what about your electric cadillac? > >the elr. i was fortunate enough to drive it in palm springs over this weekend and this vehicle exudes presence. it has a beautiful design. people were taking pictures of me with their cell phones everywhere i went around town and because it's an electric car i didn't sue any gas. 38 miles electric only, of course it's got a small gas engine on board as a generator in case you go past that line. i really think the cadillac brand is a huge design piece. the first time you see one in your neighborhood you're going to stop and stare. > >do you think some people might be worried about buying and electric cadillac after what they're seeing with the

tesla cars catching fire? > >i dont beleive so. the technology that we are using is very different than tesla's. i think teh jury is still out on what's going on with their cars. if anything we have a strong advantage over tesla because you have that small gasoline engine on board. you could drive from los angeles to new york. with the tesla, you need to plot out your driving and make sure you can find stations to charge along the way. if anything, the design and sexy appeal of the cadillac is gonna trunp some things we see from other competitors. > >thanks for coming on the show. that's james bell of gm. > >my pleasure. thank you. as the government opens a probe into tesla...its ceo is on the defense. its model s is being investigated after two high profile fires, including this incident that was posted on youtube. now, tesla ceo elon musk is venting on twitter...and assuring tesla owners if the government requires a fix, it would come at no cost to drivers. thanks chuck! coming up.... sequels are shining in hollywood.... the films that will have audiences coming back for seconds.

and later on in chart talk....will the "apple effect" cut into pandora's profits... we'll be right back!

thor is not the best man at the theater any longer. there's competition at the box office. our movie man erik childress is here to tell us all about it. good to have you back on the show as always. thor did a repeat this weekend. > >most definitely the groom to the best man this weekend. but 30 million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. it's already almost grossed what the entire original film did back in 1999. it's quite an impressive opening. > >it first opened with 9 million with the original. i went to see the best man over the weekend. > >and all your word of mouth obviously pushed it to 30. > >but that was happening on facebook and twitter. people were telling their friends,

this is great! go see it. and i have to say as far as sequels it is right up there with one of the better sequels ever made. i would also put it in the realm of great rom-coms. i think it's breaking down borders and i think it's more than just a black audience going to see this film. > >got it. godfather part 2, aliens, and best man holiday. > >so here's what happened at the box office over the weekend. thor is still coming in at number one but losing some ground....coming up this weekend, the hunger games and delivery man. you have seen both of these films. what did you think about the hunger games because i know those fans are just waiting to hear this. > >they are gonna be very happy with what i have to say because if we're talking about really good sequels, this one is definitely up there. it's a film that actually expands upon the original film. it expands upon the idea of celebrity , the fakeness of celebrity. and it's a really chilling portrait of this future dystopian

gonvernment that is portrayed throughout this story.suzanne collins has written something really special here. > >that is very cool. and that's good that you like it as a critic because critics are mediocre on the best man holiday, but the audience loves it and i think sometimes critics become desensitized to what they see on the screen and i think this is a movie that stirs the soul. > >we see more movies than the average person so we're gonna have a different reaction. but the hunger games catching fire---we've had these really bad franchises. we're just getting over twilight phenomenon but now hunger games has really picked up----and it's something that people should latch onto. it's really good stuff. > >i'm glad to hear that for the fans because i know people love it. what about the delivery man? any hope there? > >they should avoid that like the plague. this is maybe vince vaughn's worst film---and

that's saying something---over the last decade that's he's had these starring vehicles. it's a really confused movie. it's just a mess and kind of embarrasing at times. it's a comedy that doesn't know whether to be funny or heartfelt. go see hunger games catching fire, go see best man holiday---you'll have a much better time. > >thank you erik. > >thank you. why traders are waiting in the cue for pandora earnings. chart talk is next

matt cavanaugh of cmz trading joins us now. he is going to be listening in on what's happening with pandora today. good morning to you matt. > >good morning. > >traders seem very focused on this stock. is it a trading opportunity or is it a buying opportunity? > >i think it's more of a trading opportunity. this is one of those stock's that's really had a nice run. it's in the news. a lot of people are aware of it. it's up about 300% on the year so i think it's time to be cautious and really watch what they have to say more than anything. > >what will traders be listening for? > >they're a big mobile ad revenue company---one of the biggest. so that has been a really hot topic in the news. it's gonna be one people are focusing on but it's also a

competitive industry that they're in and apple they just came in and are competing with them. so i think if you look at how they're doing on the ad revenue side, where they are seeing their growth and what kind of affect apple is having on their business, that's gonna be the key to watch. > >earnings come out after the close tonight. yesterday there were a lot of of put buyers in the market. does that suggest they are waiting for a downward move in the stock? > >my feeling is that people were probably protecting their gains. i think there's support for the stock there. it's had a nice run but you don't want to see this stock if you're long it and it falls out of bed and all your gains go away. so people are buying the puts as protection and i think if the stock gets down there maybe you look to buy it just to kind of fade that move. > >thank you matt. > >thank you. there's plenty to look forward to tomorrow.. it's a traders unplugged friday. the guys will be here with their opinions on yellen sellin'. will a new fed chair change the tone of the bullish market? joins us tomorrow. from all of us at first business thank you for watching!

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