traders decribe the stock market "running in place" ... but where does it go from here? in today's cover story.... tech entrepreneurs aim to make the scene less of a boys club. plus... fighting for global influence. a look at the ongoing power struggle between the u.s. and china. and.... are you living paycheck to paycheck? the reason may be sitting in your driveway. first business starts now! you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning! it's wednesday, march 12th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: a big day ahead/president obama meets with ukraine's prime minister,gm faces a criminal investigation as new york's us attorney opens a probe into the car companies ignition swith

recall. snow snarls commuters.a massive storm reaching from the midwest to north-east is dumping as much as 2 feet of snow.california has an almond crop calamity. thousands of acres will go unplanted in the latest fallout from the drought.and stocks are stuck in a range.yesterday the major indicies turned red.. while gold pushed up $6 dollars and oil fell below $100 per barrel. trader larry shover of sfg alternatives joins us on this wednesday morning. good wednesday morning to you. >>good morning. >>how would you describe this market larry? >>looking back to friday and even yesterday the market seems really content to run in place for a lot of reasons. right now we're sitting near highs, people don't know what the next move is gonna be, a lot of consolidation and digestion.

>>what about this unloading of oil in the market? what's behind that move? >>unbelievable. yesterday below $100 a barrel and i think half of that is really inventories. inventories came out much stronger than most people expected. there seems to be a little bit less risk premium coming out of russia. and also you have chinaa little bit of anxiousness over that country. >>janet yellen will make some comments next week. traders are already looking forward to that. >>they really are because right now they are expecting yellen to come out with some forward guidance that's qualitative based. keep in mind that bernanke did a lot of quantitative based forward guidance. the market is clamoring for something a little bit deeper and more quality oriented. >>we'll see if we get that. thank you so much. >>you're welcome. chuck coppola joins me now with the epic mystery flight story that is gripping the world.good morning chuck. angie -- it's been five days and investigators still haven't determined what happened that led a malaysia airlines flight to stray wildly off course. the airliner with 239 people aboard lost radio contact two hours into its flight, saturday. now,

officials have shifted their search from the south china sea to the other side of the malay peninsula---specifically the northern end of mah-lock-ah strait. the malaysian air force chief confirms the military received signals that the jet changed course and traveled hundreds of miles west, before disappearing. an inspection of garment factories in bangladesh finds workers lives are at risk. initial investigations turned up a lack of fire doors , sprinkler systems, and "dangerously high weight loads" on some floors.. last april, a factory collapse killed more than 11 hundred workers. since then, brands such as h&m are trying to crack down on factory flaws.the goal is to inspect 15 hundred factories by september. it's official -- men's wearhouse and joseph a bank have a deal. men's wearhouse will buy joseph. a bank for 1.8 billion dollars.the two mens clothiers have been in a heated back-and- forth for months over which outlet would be taken over - or sold - to the other. the deal has men's wearhouse buying its smaller rival for cash at $65

per share. that is above the company's prvious bid of $63.50 per share. darden restaurant group files plans to spinoff its red lobster chain. and reportedly is still pursuing a possible sale of red lobster .. if a spin-off goes through shareholders would receiver one share of the new red lobster seafood company stock for every share of darden that they own. mcdonald's takes action after another round of disapppointing sales results. the burger chain says it will refocus on basics while still introducing new items and simultaneously promoting its breakfast menu. all this according to mcdonald's cfo pete bensen. as we told you yesterday, mcdonald's global sales fell three-tenths-of-a percent in february, a bigger-than-expected drop. popular greek yogurt maker chobani-- denies an ipo is in its future.even though it "is" exploring its options. reuters reports: the company is looking to sell a minority stake in a deal that values chobani at $2.5 billion dollars.

sources say the yogurt maker has held earlier discussions with banks about pursuing an intial public offering, but soured on talks in as competition grew from other greek yogurt companies. a12 it's looking like a "sure thing" high frequency trading firm."virtu" financial is seeking an ipo...according to an sec filing "virtu" wants to raise $100 million in a public offering. the firm is considered one of the largest high-frequency firms and is owned by vincent viola.. a former chairman of the new york stock exchange and owner of the florida panthers hockey team. a new scam is infiltrating the world of streaming. hackers are targeting netflix users by issuing fake messages about their accounts.steve bernas of the better business bureau, explains. bascially they are receiving an email, or a popup or sometime info off a social media site saying your netflix account has been closed. and consumers think it is their netflix account and basically are going to this site and not realizing it's not netflix, it's a third party subscriber and actually they are trying to steal the

identity and steal information from you as well. bernas says scammers also urge consumers to download software they claim will serve as protection, but actually allows cyber theives to hack into computers and obtain personal information. if you are directed to anything but netflix.com -- it's likely fake. a regulator deems bitcoin risky business. the investor alert issued by financial industry regulatory authority "finra": warns of widely and wildly fluctuating bitcoin prices. finra also advises investors to be aware of the potential risk of fraud involved in the digital currency. this week, the nation's largest bitcoin exchange, mt gox, filed for bankruptcy following an earlier hack attack that wiped out 400 million dollars of investor's money. the senate banking committee is agreeing on legislation that will wind down the government's roll in fannie mae and freddie mac. freddie and fannie own or

back 60% of all u.s. home loans.the government spent $187 billion dollars bailing out the agencies during the housing crisis.the senate committee has a bi-partisan bill that calls for private investors to take the first 10% of any mortage loses before the government steps in with emergency money. shares of fannie mae and freddie mac. each fell more than 25% on the news... as many corporate executives watch pay skyrocket, one ceo is taking a hit. ebay executive john donahoe's pay for 20-13 fell 53% to 13 million dollars. in a statement, ebay says the company's financial performance "did not fully meet expectations." ebay's stock rose 8% in 20-13. the e-tailer is currently the target of activist investor carl icahn, who wants to split ebay and paypal into two companies. the terms of a new lawsuit brought against carnival cruise lines are becoming clearer. a group of passengers on board the ill-fated triumph ship that was stranded for 5 days in the

gulf of mexico want $5-thousand per month for the rest of their lives for medical bills and mental anguish. carnival cruise lines calls the suit "a money grab." maritime lawyers think this class-action suit could change the legal wall that cruise lines have long enjoyed. passengers typically sign away almost all their rights before getting on board. jc penney is becoming a better fit for investors. the share price has bounced back considerably, up more than 70% from an all-time low about a month ago. closing yesterday above eight dollars. citigroup analysts call jcp "an american comeback story." and upgraded the stock to a "buy." penny's has been in damage-control mode since ousting former ceo ron johnson and his ill-fated attempts to change the jc penny brand. current ceo myron ullman has been at the helm since last april. job openings are on the rise. the labor deparment reports.. job openings jumped 1.5% in january to 3.9 million. economists are encouarged that available jobs and hiring held

up fairly well despite the slow down in job growth.the wicked winter weather is considered one of the reasons for the pull back in job growth. in our cover story--for all the support men receive in the male-dominated tech startup world, women often find themselves marginalized and out of the loop.that may be about to change in chicago. inside chicago's mammoth merchandise mart, a digital startup center known as 18-71, where tech-related business ideas are nurtured....participants admit, it's mostly male. "the majority of startups are by men and investors are men and we've got to reverse that." coco meers' website "pretty quick" books thousands of hair stylists in the chicago too busy with color and cuts to be hunched over an appintment book. the stylist pays 25% for fewer empty seats.

"when i made this pitch, vcs would just think of what sort of spa package their wives got--they weren't hearing." "the challenge has always been access to how to grow your business. it's about access to people--accounting, legal." jill salzman's website, "founding moms" brings business ideas to moms. forbes called it one of the ten best websites for women entrepreneurs. before that, she created "bumble bells" that jingled wherever a baby wandered. she sold that business to fund "founding moms." for business not-tech related, other resources for funding include chicago's women's business development center. "every business does not always fit into the 1871 model so that's where the wbdc comes in--we can provide access to capital for women entrepreneurs just as 1871 does for tech

companies." the 18-71 center begins accepting applications for the women in technology program dubbed "femtech" this june. the program begins in the fall. still to come: economic evolution.. the "power dynamic" between the u.s. and china. plus... comedic timing.... president obama "lightens the mood" surrounding the affordable care act. and next ... if a car dealer is working the numbers to show you how you can afford a new car -- why you might want to steer clear. 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.

if you have your heart set on

buying a brand new car. you want to crunch the numbers 'before" arriving at the dealership. joining us on set this morning is mike sante. he's managing editor of interest.com. great to have you on the show. what's going on with car prices? what did you find out? >>the average transaction price is now over 32 thousand dollars. >>that's a lot of cash. >>that's a lot of cash and it's particularly a lot of cash for a lot of median income familieswhich is what we study. >>are they struggling to buy new cars? can they afford the new cars? >>not $32,000 we found. we looked at the 25 largest cities and what the median income family could afford in each one of them and we found that exactly one city had all the factors aligned that actually allowed someone to spend $32,000 on a new carthat was washington d.c. in the 24 other cities the average was more like 23 or 24 thousand that the median income family could afford to spend. >>because other wise they end up spending too much of their paycheck. if you're one of those cities where the prices are so high, what do you do?

>>it's interesting you bring that up because if you're in one of those cities where housing prices are high there's not a lot you can do to reduce your housing costs. but if you live in san francisco the cost of a car is exactly the same as it is in atlanta where housing costs are a lot less. on eof the key things here is if you make a smart decision to buy a car that say is 22 or 23 thousand dollars in stead of 34 or 35 thousand that's like 10 thousand dollars that you can put in your pocket and that you have to invest in yourselfto put in your retirement plan, to put in your kid's 529 college funds. it's really a source of a great amount of savings for people if you play your cards right. >.so you don't necessarily go for the brand new car. you go for the used car but you definitely try to buy something within your budget. correct? >>correct. if you follow a few

simple rulesfor examplespend no more than 10% of your grossthat's your pre-tax income on car payments and car insurance each month. that gives you a pretty good sense on how much a monthly payment should be. if you keep that monthly payment at let's say $300 instead of $600, that's $300 that falls to your bottom line and you can invest in yourself each month. >>we feel wealthier already. thanks for coming on the show today. >>you bet. president obama pulls out all the stops trying to reach young people to tell them about the affordable care act. the president appeared on funny or die's "between two ferns" program agreeing to be interviewed by host and funny man zach galifianakas.critics are giving the president kudos for holding his own during the faux interview. "and what we want is for people to know that you can get affordable healthcare and most young americans right now, they're not covered and the truth is that they can get coverage all for what it costs you to pay your cell phone bill. is this what they mean about

drones?" 4.24 million people have signed up for health insurance through the exchanges according to new numbers released late yesterday. thanks chuck! coming up...traders can't take their eyes off a hot sector that is swiftly losing power. that's in today's chart talk. and, vying for superpower status. a look at an ongoing competition between the u.s. and china.bill moller gives us one way to tell which nation will end up on top.. after the break.

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you get the feeling that china for years now, has been nipping at our heels as leader of the world? it's like we're in a race for global economic, technological & military influence & dominance. is china going to win? that's explored in the book - contest of the century - the new era of competition with china and how america can win - written by

former financial times beijing bureau chief geoff dyer. your book has been getting terrific reviewscongratulations on that. >>thank you very much. >>my first question is do you think china is hungrier than the united states for this global domination? >>certainly china has gotten a lot hungier in the last few years. they have really made this very fundamental shift from this country that was really just keeping its head down, trying to grow its economy. now they've started to spread their wings and i think this is their time and so they're starting to push their weight around. that's not to say the us.s is going to roll over. the u.s. has a lot of assets and a lot of built in advantages it can bring to bear. >>and china also has some impediments to growth too. >>absolutely. china is facing a very tricky stage now. it is no longer the cheap place to do business. wages have gone up 10% for the last 10 years. >>middle class has formed >>they have aspirations as well. they want higher wages, they want good jobs. they want to be more involved in the way the country is run. that is creating all sorts of pressures for the communist party over the

next decade. >>china is now this quasi communistic centralized control authorty. we are a democratically run operation in this country. but a lot of people feel that china takes shortcuts. if they want to pollute and build coal plants they just do it. that gives them an advantage. >>so the centralized aspect has given it some advantage in this early stage of industrialization where it is all about building roads and factories and infrastructure. but as the economy and society becomes more complex then that kind of centralization isn't going to work for it. so china is going to face these big political problems over the next decade or so. >>so in a nutshell, how can america win? >>the biggest thing that america needs to do is it needs to have an economic agenda for asia. it can't just be this country that has 2 or 3 aircraft carriers that come in every time there's a crisis. it needs to be able to convince asia and convince itself that its economic future and future prosperity are linked to those fast growing markets in asia. >>geoff dyerthanks so much. >>my pleasure. thanks bill..coming up.. the oh- so-hot stocks that are suddenly losing spark with wall

street.the startling stock moves... are next in chart talk.

chris gersch, ceo of navigate exchange, joins us now for what we've been talking about on the showthose fuel cell stocks chris. what a plunge yesterday. let's start with plug. the stock is down some 40%. >>it was a huge fall yesterday. it was hitting all time highs above the $11 handle. once it went below $10 it sold off all the way into the close. those put buyers were in heaven yesterday. >>let's take a closer look at the story. walmart signed a deal with plug which is also in the fuel cell business and was going to use those fuel cells in its warehouse equipment. everybody rallied around fuel cell and plug. now that they're plunging would you buy either one of these stocks because plug was down 40% plus yesterday? >>i would not buy plug right now. it sold all the way off into the close. as a rule of trading you never ever want to put yourself in a position to

catch a falling knife. so yesterday it sold all the way off. wait until it settles out. again, these stocks were trading at 15 cents this time last year. they just beat earnings. so wait until some news comes out, make sure you're not catching that falling knife and hopefully position yourself to go long once it makes a bottom. >>when you're looking at a stock like plug or fuel cell where do you see the actual valuation? where would you be a buyer on either one of these stocks? >>i am a buyer on this stock. once again i purchased around 30 centsjust a couple shares. being in the industry, i was positioned a long time ago. i wish i would have bought a lot more especially in that run up today. but i think if oil continues to go above $105 a barrelremember yesterday it dipped below $100 a barrel and if there's any deregulation on the energy side that would constitute higher rates then fuel cells make sense. i don't think that plug makes sense here at $6. >>what made you deiced to buy that stock when it was 30 cents? that was a good catch.

>>being in the industry we know the alternatives for energy is very important. you need a hedge in case the energy prices continue to go up. you saw natural gas go up three fold in the last year. this higher price all of a sudden allows these fuel cell companiesreally these lab experiments that people took a bet on, i took a bet onto actually make sense economically. so that is why i bought it at that point. i knew that the energy costs were going to start to reverse their bearish trend to the upside this year. >>please keep us posted for next time. thank you chris. >>thank you. coming up tomorrow... a wall street analyst is calling mr. peabody and sherman.. "just another dog" and is pounding dreamwork's stock. find out what our critic has to say in movies and money. from all of us at first business.. have a good day!

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