president obama lays out a plan of attack for income inequality. give america a raise. in today's cover story.... what changes to the minimum wage could mean for middle america. plus... meet the man whose job is to keep corporate america "looking good" and... will investors quickly unfriend facebook after it posts earnings? first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning! it's wednesday january 29th. i'm angela miles...in today's first look: president obama calls for action in his state of the union address...

it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement - and fix our broken immigration system as for the market-- trading could get tricky today.. with an annoucement coming from the fed later today. stocks made a turnaround yesterday ending a 3 day slide. the dow rallied 91 points, the nasdaq 14 and the s&p 11 gold dropped $10 and oil revved up $1.52. herbalife is back in the spotlight. shares fell $1.50 yesterday on a report canadian regulators are probing allegations the company is operating a pyramid scheme as the company has rejected such claims. winter woes hit the south... hundreds of flights are cancelled. and some cities could come to a stand still during a deep freeze. larry shover of sfg alternatives is on top of the market action for us today. good morning

larry/ we are on fed watch. what do you anticipate? >>i don't anticipate much of anything. i think it's been well telegraphed that 10 billion a month of tapering and that they're gonna be done november of 2014. obviously i think bernanke will definitely say that it has to be data dependent but that is the intention of the market. >>as the stock market frightens a lot of investors, is it a good time to get in or get out? >>depending on your age, if you can't recover then i don't think you should have a lot of exposure no matter where the market is. if you have a 10 year cycle of recovery, i don't think it ever makes sense to prepare for armageddon. the coast is clear investing never works. >>we heard from the president in his address to the nation last night. what do you think is the state of the economy especially as we look ahead to that gdp number this week? >>i think the economy is just cooling. it's a healthy cooling. let's face itwe've seen the jobless number come out worse than expected, auto sales, pmi, durable goodsbut nothing has changed the narrative. i think we're cooling a little

bit. just keep in mind we had a record 4th quarter so it's well overdue. >>thanks for your time today larry. >>you're welcome. during the next couple of days president obama makes stops at a costco in maryland, a steel plant in pennsylvania and ge plant in wisconsin. he will be on a whirlwind tour -- after delivering his state of the union address to the nation last night. it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong" president obama delivered his annual speech in a year with the u.s. economy expected to grow by 3% or more, corporate profits are likely to continue to climb and the stock market could still give the best return on investment. but while the top 1% of americans has increased by a staggering 31% since 2009. the president wants all americans to share the wealth. with or without the support of congress. "what i offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical

proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, some require congressional action, and i'm eager to work with all of you. but america does not stand still - and neither will i. so wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do." several groups were at the ready with responses to the president's plan. last month, more americans stopped looking for a job than found one. too many people are falling further and further behind because right now the president's policies are making people's lives harder. critics blame the president for holding down the economy and slowing job growth with programs such as health care reform-- especially hurting small businesses. over the past five years, my

administration has made more loans to small business owners than any other. and when ninety-eight percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships with europe and the asia-pacific will help them create more jobs. one estimate shows by some point this year on top of jobs already added 8.7 million jobs lost during the recession could be regained. chuck coppola joins me now with reaction to the president's minimum wage plan. even before the president's address, the white house released information that he would raise the minimum wage by executive order, for workers under new federal contracts from seven-dollars-25-cents an hour to ten-ten, an hour--- described as dishwashers, janitors, cooks and waiters. our cover story looks at some business reaction to this may lead. what's next--perhaps private sector fast food and retail workers. but small business owners such as irfan moten, who plans to hire more help but not as many if he has to pay them

more. "we would look at 7-8 employees. what if you had to pay them $10.10? then maybe five and i'd do more of the work." we've heard this before from owners of small businesses. but bob goldin, executive vice president of food service research firm "technomic," thinks restaurants at all levels will not cut back on hiring. "i think what would likely happen is there might be modest menu price increases. (but what about hiring?) ummm // by and large, businesses that are going well will hire people, regardless of the minimum wage." goldin calculates if labor is 30% of a restaurant's cost and 25% are hourly workers. if minimum wage pay goes up 10%, menu prices he says would rise two and a half percent to keep profit margins the same. he thinks customers would absorb that increase. in other sectors, there are claims that raising the minimum

wage could affect hiring farther up...as in mid-level supervisors overseeing a production line. "in many cases, they can't risk losing production staff, so they'll eliminate three supervisors to keep line staff." the new executive order affecting an estimated two million government employees affects only future contracts, not existing ones. house leaders say its possible by today a farm bill could be up for a vote. the bill covering issues from farming to food stamps is overdue by 2 years and has had a number of delays. the latest compromise package includes: $19 billion in cuts to farm programs an $8 billion reduction to food stamps over the next 10 years. repeals outdated programs, supports biofuels, and improves conservation efforts to protect land, water and wildlife. the beleagured royal caribbean cruise ship "explorer of the

seas' makes its way back to port today. this after more than 600 passengers and crew became ill on the ten day voyage. the trip was cut short by two days because of the illnesses. royal caribbean is refunding passengers 50% and giving them 50% credit towards a future trip. in a more unusual gesture the company is also further compensating passengers who were confined to their cabins because of illness. royal caribbean shares were up 3% yesterday. as traders in the u.s. await the next move by the federal reserve due out today...central banks in emerging markets are taking action. n turkey- raised the overnight lending rate to a whopping 12% to stop the dramatic down move of its lira. the people's bank of china- - injected more money into the nation's finanical market to to east credit conditions. while india's central bank surpisingly raised interest rates to prop up it's falling currency. the men who knew "too much." prosecutors have charged two brazilian citizens with insider trading. a former wells fargo financial advisor, and a client

are accused of using insider info about 3g capital's 20-10 buyout of burger king for a well timed options sale worth about 1.6 million dollars. the two are charged with securities fraud and if convicted, face 20 years in prison. construction company martin marietta is mixing it up by acquiring cemment maker texas industries... the deal is valued at $2 billion. and gives martin marietta an edge into the contruction rebound in california and texas. texas industries shares rallied above $74 dollars tuesday. the deals values the stock at $71.95. embattled teen clothier abercrombie and fitch is separating its chairman and ceo roles. this comes after p-r gaffes by ceo michael jeffries and three quarters of declining sales. jeffries was given a new contract that goes into effect february first -- with a base salary of $1.5 million. activist investor engaged capital has been urging the clothing retailer to get a new ceo

home prices were up in november while sales slowed down in december. prices in 20 u-s cities increased nearly 14% in november and when compared to a year ago that was the biggest leap in almost 8 years-- according to a new case- schiller report. data from the u-s census bureau show new-home sales dropped by 7% in december. some economists are argue the extremely cold winter is effecting sales. ford calls it one of the best years yet. in earnings news...ford tells investors it's results are exceeding expectations, and it will share the wealth with workers, sending out checks averaging 88 hundred dollars. comcast reported in higher revenues and says it will raise its dividend as it adds more customers. shares rose 1% yesterday. the "new" american airlines group debuted its first earnings report. results of the world's largest airline were stronger than expected on a combined basis. and, pfizer's profit dropped dramatically as generic competition presents new challenges for the drug maker. the stock opens today up two and a half percent.

samsung gains more ground against apple. total smartphone sales hit a record 1 billion last year and that is an overall rise of 40%. samsung widened its lead by shipping nearly 319 million phones while apple shipped about 154 million units. that translates to a 15.5% of market share for apple compared to samsung's 32.2% share. apple's stock closed down $44 dollars yesterday. a new scam is sweeping the nation. the better business bureau is warning about the so called "one ring" scam. fraudsters place a call, let it ring once, and hang up immediately. when consumers call the number back -- it connects to a "chat line" and bills you for an international call. the bureau says watch out for area codes from the dominican republic, jamaica, british virgin islands and grenada...and suggests checking your wireless bill closely. google is clearing up the vision of its new glasses. the tech company is adding hip new frames made out of titanium and options for prescription glasses. the google glass

computers will be available to the general public toward the end of the year. new regulations could be on the way for bitcoin. banking regulators are holding hearings on restrictions for the virtual currency. bitcoins have received criticism recently from jaime dimon and treasury secretary jack lew. dimon says it's nearly impossible to conduct anti money laundering reviews with bit coins. at tuesday's hearing, supporters -- including the winkevoss twins the "self proclaimed" founders of facebook warned that overregulation could cripple the the coins development. jobs in the solar industry are jumping at a steep rate. through november of 20-13, solar companies employed nearly 143-thousand people. that's a 20% jump in 14 months. job growth at that rate is 10 times faster than the national average. college atheletes are ready to sign on with a union. northwestern university football players overwhemingly support the creation of college athletes players association. they are seeking academic and financial protection. the ncaa

tells espn-- "this union-backed attempt to turn student- athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education." the start up company that ties athletes future earnings to stock-- is back in the game. fantex is moving forward with is still to come: are expectations too high for facebook's earnings report. plus... the man behind the figures of corporate america's ... and we are not talking money. and, a segment of the population that's struggling to save. that's next with bill moller after this in the know message!

for a number of reasons hispanic americans are less inclined to set up a retirement plan. a study found they have less access to information and have less understanding of the financial system - and they're

less inclined to feel investing for retirement is important. let's dig deeper into this. anna escobedo cabral was the u.s treasurer in george w. bush's administration. is this due to language, culture or something else? >>a study revealed that there are a number of things that affect the latina family in terms of its planning or managing of its resources. contrary to popular belief it's not necessarily language that explains this. it's really lack of access to information and probably a focus on immediate needs versus long term needsa focus on the family and its short term needs like children, education, maybe the multigenerational family worried about how we pay for grandparents or parents living in the home with us. the lack of information doesn't allow us necessarily to plan for the future and think about retirement because it's so far off in the future and frequently we think we don't have enough resources left over , or we just don't have immediate ties to a professional who can help us make the plan and really make smarter decisions. >>the obvious consequences are that the retirement years will them more likely be more difficult for hispanic americans. >>absolutely. they're still one of the groups that relies primarily on social security as

the sole source of income during retirement. the purpose for trying to convey to them that the earlier you start saving for retirement the better off you will be is so that in fact they can have a much more quality life in retirement. often times there is a joke that goes around -- and not just with the latino communitythat your children are your retirement plan. but for latino families who are so focused on the health of their children, the last thing they're gonna want to do is saddle their children with the responsibility of providing for their care in retirement. so the earlier we get messages about how to do it and where to turn for help, the better off we are. >>how are those messages getting out now? >>the best thing for people to do is go to the website and find information about the survey and also find some access to professionals who can help out as well. there are also lots of nonprofit organizations. the website is the best place to start. it's www.prudential.com/hispanics. that will get them started. they'll be able to tap into a wealth of information. >>anna escobedo cabral, thank you so much. >>thank you. thanks bill! coming up...find out what's in the charts for apple after it's 8% drop. plus...fit for the job. how one man keeps the wealthy, healthy! we'll be right back!

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.

call him the corporate fat fixer. jeff hyman-- ceo of retrofit-- is on set with us this morning. good morning. >>good morning. >>your company is focused on trimming the fat of ceo's and other executives. what exactly do you do? >>so, retrofit is a data-driven weight loss company and we work specifically in the corporate market. so our clients are executives and business professionals who typically sit in front of a computer all dayvery sedentary. on average they are 20-40 pounds overweight so we work with them to improve their health. >>it sounds like it's a big problem. >>60% of americans are overweight but more specifically in the corporate market, this costs companies a lot of money. each overweight employee costs their boss $1500 a year extra. so if you do the math with some of the companies we work with like salesforce and google, it's hundreds of millions of dollars a year. >>your business relies heavily on technology so i think other tech companies would look at you favorably. >>yes but we also work with non tech companies like southwest

airlines and a lot of retailers. it's such a prevalent problem that it almost doesn't matter what sector you're in. >>tell me about the gadgets and devices you use. >>retrofit has 2 main components. the first gadget or device is skype video conferencing. the customer works with their own team of experts via skype video conference. these are private lessons essentially. also we include 2 wireless tracking devices. one is in my pocket and the second is a wifi scale. the customer steps on the scale and it sends us the data remotely so we can hold them accountable. >>you have them on an electronic leash. who can eat with you around? >>it's important to eat. we make sure our customers eat 5 times a day. you should never be hungry. >>small meals are great aren't they? >>they're huge. some of out customers prefer 7 or 8 times a day. you have to keep your blood sugar nice and level. that has positive effects for the employer because you're able to think much more clearly. >>what is your weight of return? >>my personal weight of return? i've lost about 20 pounds on the program. most of our senior

executives have lost between 20 and 50 pounds. >>great success story. thanks for bringing that to us this morning. >>thank you so much. there's plenty more still ahead--a breakdown of yahoo's earnings, will apple shares continue to tumble. and what traders are thinking ahead of facebook's earnings. chart talk is next.

james ramelli of keene on the market dot com joins us now. we have a lot to get to. let's start with yahoo. earnings came in after the close and the stock sld off. what do you think is likely for today? >>the stock popped initially and then as we got a better look at that report the stock then did start to move lower. they're implying a roundup move of $2 with an upside target of around 40 and a downside target of around 36. i wouldn't expect

the stock to head to o much lower than 36. i think it would probably settle around there on friday. i was long this one going into the release. i think a lot of people expected this stock to go higher. a lot of macro events coming out tomorrow could put a bid in the overall stock market that could help yahoo. i'm going to hold out on my long and see how it plays out. >>yahoo actually came in line with expectations if not a little bit better. it was just the sales number that maybe freaked some people out. apple is becoming problematic for a lot of people. the stock had a big dive yesterday. what do you think is in store for the future? what are the options predicting? >>we had a pretty high level of expectations for apple going into earnings. i think the broader market definitely thought that this stock was going to head higher and the sentiment was definitely to the bullish side. when the stock comes in, expectations get very high and they come in with their earnings and the stock sells off. i think that going forward there's still some weak money that can get shaken out

of apple. going forward, i'm only going to be playing apple short or flat. >>facebook comes out with earnings tonight. that could get interesting as well. are you putting on a play? what's your expectation? >>facebook is a mixed performer on earnings. we've seen some really big moves higher in facebook on earnings. generally i think that they price in a little too much going into the announcement so i look to get short volatility and get short premium and take advantage of the big drop in implied vol that we tend to see after they come out with the release. i want to wait until near the close to try and do this so i have a really good idea of what they're implying and where they think the stock might go on the report. >>thank you james. we are out of time for ime for . cong brought to you by international commercial television. [♪.. >> hi, i'm lisa varga. i'm 40 years old, i've never had cosmetic surgery and i'm not afraid of high definition cameras. bring them in closer, guys. closer. good. now, do you want your skin to

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