big pharma booster shot... what's causing all the hype in drug stocks. in today's cover story...travelers would rather hop a bus than a plane?!... what's behind low satisfaction numbers in the skies. plus....corporate america adopts new legal jargon and.... if you thought multi- tasking made you a model employee...think again. first business starts now. good morning! it's wednesday april 23rd. i'm bill moller in for angela miles.in today's first look: a crush of earnings reports are about to hit and from the reports we got yesterday along with a pick up in merger news, traders like what they see.green across the market board. the s&p is now on

a 6 day winning streak - its longest in 7 months. the nasdaq was especially strong, rising nearly 1 percent. commodities were red. oil fell more than 2 dollars a barrel and gold futures notching a 3rd straight day of losses. netflix flexed its market muscle. its shares took off after reporting earnings. its numbers easily beat the street in expectations. the company is signing up subscribers and its announcement that fees would modestly rise for new customers was welcomed by investors.owners of harley davidson shares were feeding at the trough of profits. ticker symbol - hog, its shares popped a wheelie after a strong earnings report first quarter earnings were up almost 19 percent on strong sales. where are most of its buyers? asia, especially china where owning an american harley is a distinctive mark of status. our trader today is todd horwitz, with avg. joe options. todd, let me ask you about mcdonald's -- didn't hit its numbers, market didn't seem to care, what's going on? >>good morning bill. not only

did the market not care but mcdonalds stock didn't care either as it rallied a little bit. here's the bottom linewe continue to sweep bad news underneath the carpet and good news we try to celebrate. when you're dealing with a low interest rate environment in which the fed continues to print money, stocks don't care. they just want to go higher. >>you sound like a short seller. >>i am a little bit short. this market has been really range bound. if you go back and take a look at the last 6 months basically1800-1840 in the s&p other than the dip in january and that's where we have been. >>let me ask you about the transportation index. it hit an all time high on monday. is that an indicator of the overall economy perhaps because trains and trucks moving things supposedly meaning people are going to eventually buy them? >>i think that's probably interesting and i find it more interesting that it was able to hit all time highs with the cost of fuel right now. we're seeing a lot of airline travel, a lot of moving of oil and things through rail. it is not a surprise that transports are

higher and maybe it will mean that we're going to see more goods bought. maybe it's just transporting the goods that we absolutely need. >>do you see anything about them that causes you to want to buy? >>there's nothing here in the overall macromarkets that i'd be interested in buying. i certainly would look at individual stocks on a one by one basis. but as you see, the money flow has been moving from momentum stocks into the higher safety stocks like at&t and verizon. >>todd horwitz with average joe optionsthanks todd. >>thank you so much. a big drug deal is shaking up the pharmaceutical sector. activist investor bill ackman has partnered with valeant pharmaceuticals, a canadian company to make a bid for botox maker allergan. the deal values that company at 45 billion dollars or 153 dollars a share. stocks soared on details of the bid, with allergan up 21 dollars, and valent shooting up 9.why has the deal has captivated investors? here's damien conover of morningstar. "i think it highlights one of the key themes that we are seeing the pharmaceutical space which is...there is a bit of a lack of innovation in bringing

out new products to the market. that combined with more aggressive price negotions by peer groups have really forced pharmaceutical groups to look at ways to maximize value with the assets that they have." conover adds that when activists such as bill ackman get involved in companies... investors start to see more potential. chuck coppola takes it from here with another big pharma deal. chuck coppola takes it from here with another big pharma deal. bill... big pharma works together, separately. stocks moved yesterday on what's being called a major 3-part transaction in the drug industry. glaxosmith kline is selling its cancer products business to novartis for the price tag of 14 and a half billion dollars. novartis will turn over its animal health division to u.s. firm eli lilly for 5 billion dollars. and glaxo will buy the vaccine division from novartis. shares of glaxo and novartis made advancements during the session ... eli lilly dropped 1%.the deals are expected to be complete in the first half of

20-15. another quarter of disappointing results for mcdonald's. fir the first 3 months of the year it reported a sales decline of 1.7%. the world's largest restaurant chain has been struggling for more than a year to introduce new menu items while its rivals did that and pushed discounts. the company did point to some good news - declines were narrowing and global sales were slightly higher in april. mcdonald's closed down 35 cents yesterday. the activist investor pressing darden restaurant group to halt spin-off efforts of its red lobster chain gets some shareholder backing. jeffrey smith's starboard value has gotten consent from 54% of shareholders for a special meeting to vote on a proposed delay. darden now has 60 days in which to call a meeting to consider the non-binding proposal. darden shares closed up 3% yesterday. earnings give stocks a push. united technologies tops wall street's expectations, and raises its full year profit outlook.the stock closed up 80 cents at 119 dollars. at comcast -- the cable company says it's adding subscribers helping it's revenue gain 13%. yum brands did not deliver. profits from the owner of kfc

and pizza hut fell short of analyst expectations, though sales in china -- a key market -- were up 11%. investors took that as a good sign... the stock rose more than 2% in after hours trading. and, solid sales of gilead sciences' hepatitis c drug heped push profits higher last quarter. revenue nearly doubled. home sharing site air-b-n-b is pulling thousands of listings in new york city. it's in response to a subpeona from new york attorney general eric schniederman, who argues that two thirds of users in new york city are illegally renting out their apartments. airbnb says it is taking the listings down on its own, not because of the subpeona. the popular site secured nearly a half billion dollars in funding this week and analysts expect it could be working toward an i-p-o. sales of previously owned homes dropped for the third straight month. rising prices and our punishingly long winter are blamed for the 0.2% decline to a seasonally adjusted annual rate

of 4.59 million. that is the lowest rate since july, 20-12 economist danielle hale remains optimistic about a challenging market. " i focus more on the fact that it's a very small decline instead of the fact that it is a decline. we're still at a lower level than a year ago, pretty notably, but given the affordability challenges that we have as an increase in prices, performance is pretty much in line with what we expected." home sales have fallen for seven of the past eight months. a new study tallies up how much low interest rates cost consumers in the aftermath of the financial crisis. moneyrates dot com says the fed's ultra low rates meant to help boost the economy, cost consumers billions. it says had deposit yields on certain savings accounts kept pace with inflation-- consumers would have racked up 757 billion dollars over the past four years. however, the study does note the super low interest rates have helped homeowners, investors and businesses save money.

america's middle-class has lost a coveted distinction. long the world's most prosperous, according to the new york times, canada's middle class now earns more. and in another change, the poor in america earn substantially less than the poor in europe. economic growth is still strong -- if not stronger in the u-s than it is in other countries but a much smaller percentage of households are benefitting from that. as the middle class gets squeezed, america's wealthiest are gaining ground on the rich who live in other countries. corporate america's "fine print" is causing controversy. general mills made waves this week after it reversed a mandatory arbitration policy which eliminated consumers' rights to sue the company if they had used coupons, or interacted with the brand on social media. instead -- consumers would have had to submit complaints through arbitration.general mills calls its intentions "widely misread."but the company is not alone. "companies that have some form of forced arbitration include at&t, verizon, sprint, groupon, netflix, alot of organizations have already implemented these types of policies." that was kevin paul scott of

addo worldwide, who says the companies are using forced arbitration in an effort to limit so called "ludacris" lawsuits and cut down on legal fees. general motors is girding for battle. a court battle the company has marshalled a small army of lawyers as it prepares for what could be an epic fight against legal claims for things that happened before its 2009 bankruptcy.it's asking a bankruptcy court to shield it from lawsuits that stem from faulty ignition switches that caused several fatal accidents.plaintiff lawyers argue, gm shouldn't be shielded because the ignition problem was concealed from the court when it was ruling on the company's bankruptcy petition. a major move by tesla is reving up it's stock price. shares popped 14 dollars yesterday as ceo elon musk said the company is planning a speedy transition into china. it will invest several hundred million dollars in a car charging network.the first charging station opened in beijing this week.musk is working with china's

government, which is trying to expand the eletric car industry there. the rise in gadget use means we're throwing more e-stuff away. best buy warns e-waste is becoming a major enviormental problem.scott weislow says it's the fastest growing waste stream on the planet. "in the u.s. alone we generate nearly 7 billion pounds of e waste on an annual basis. it's a staggering number so we actually want to do as much as we can to keep those materials out of the landfills. many electronics do contain hazardous substances like lead sauder or mercury containing tubes that you'll find in today's flat panel tvs." you can recycle devices at any best buy store. they determine if the item can be restored and re-sold or stripped down for parts that are then reused. remember to wipe personal data from any device, before you get rid of it. the bad guys are winning! that's according to verizon --

which releases it's 20-14 data breach investigations report today.the report details the types of hack attacks that are happening, and which organizations are being targeted. government topped the list as the number one target.other surprising findings: it is taking cyber criminals less time to actually conduct hack attacks. also... nearly all data breaches fall into just nine categories, including cyberespionage and web application attacks. bitcoin, the peer to peer payment system struggling to gain acceptance as the alternative currency might be used to support political campaigns. today the federal election commission considers that request.if the fec approves, it'll be a reversal from last fall when it couldn't come to agreement on a similar request. with no current law saying you can't do it, several candidates and political groups, including the libertarian party, are already accepting bitcoin in lieu of credit cards. still to come:

later in chart talk - how to position your portfolio ahead today's earnings numbers from apple and facebook. you tout yourself as a multitasker? don't do that. newly released data show multitasking is a myth. i'll talk with one of the researchers of the study. but first, how happy are you with your airline? americans vote. chuck coppola has the results of a new survey in our cove story - coming up.

jetblue ends its run as the largest u-s airline without unionized pilots. pilots voted "yes" late yesterday to join the airline pilots association. jet blue employs about 26- hundred pilots who had rejected unionization in 2009 and 20-11. in today's cover story---one measure of how happy consumers are with various industries--- the american customer satisfaction index says

airlines as a group are falling out of favor with customers. the american customer satisfaction index found more passengers complaining of cramped seats. airlines have been installing so-called "slimline" seats---lighter with thinner cushions that take less space. helping southwest airlines, for example add one more row, boosting revenue four percent while cutting fuel costs by ten million a year. but tony rubit doesn't see that savings passed on to him. "they're adding more seats but raising costs (to passengers) and it forces most consumers to find an alternative means of travel." one carrier, allegiant air is monetizing this trend in reverse. it's installed two rows of larger seats for passengers willing to pay up to 50-dollars more. "i wouldn't pay it but i don't want to sit next to someone who needs it that's taking up my seat." airlines are also cutting short- haul routes. from 2008 to 20- 12, airlines eliminated 3,000 flights of 500 miles or less. cincinnati lost 63% of its

scheduled flights--pittsburgh, 40%. the airline business principal now---go for distance. the newest jets are designed to travel farther more economically. "the product available for airlines such as the dreamliner are all geared toward long haul. that's where we're going to see growth." rising costs for fewer short- haul flights has provided an opportunity for intercity buses, which offer wifi and power outlets for short-haul passengers drawn to ultra cheap fares--even if it's only for the first seat sold. "i am traveling to madison and paying a dollar." "almost all the major bus lines have wifi and plugs so you can maintain a continuous productivity process to ride the bus." but sometimes, curbside coaches test passengers patience. "it's 40-minutes late. that's one of the drawbacks. (is it worth it?) it is."

the depaul study looked at fares under 500-miles and found intercity buses, the best bargain, with fares about 50% cheaper than amtrak--and nearly twice that when compared with air fares. coming up...in chart talk we concentrate on apple and facebook - 2 key companies that report their earnings today. but first - put down that phone, stop your typing - we have new proof multitasking is an office myth! it doesn't make you more efficient & productive.

office multi tasking. it was once a highly valued virtue. thats a person who can bring greater productivity & efficiency to the job. we now know multi tasking is a myth? it actually reduces productivity and efficiency. but 3 researchers have found out

multi- tasking takes another toll. nicola persico was on the team, he's a professor at the kellogg school of management at northwestern university. what did you set out to find? >>we started out researching the productivity of italian judges and found that as we studied their production process they were taking on more and more cases and not finishing them. so their backlog increased. that led us to think about the disadvantages of multitasking. >>you created a research model to prove this and your research findings are? >>our findings are that as judges take on too many cases they don't finish them and we measure how much this slows them down. >>and it's not just judges obviously. this has everything to do with the officethe workplace. >>correct. there is a lot of multitasking in the office and we know this from sociologists, researchers telling us this and measuring this. we think that our findings have broader applicability than just judges. >>you found that the problems are compounded whenand this is

typicalyou've got various supervisors throwing all kinds of work at you. >>that's correct. that's what the sociologists report and that's what our research also demonstrates. there are drawbacks to having several supervisors each asking for their own piece to be done quicker than the other. >>you have to get this research out there. a lot of people still think that the multitasker is somebody to be admired. >>that's correct. the multitasker has a lot going for him or her but in practice there is this drawback. >>so the word to managers is? >>the word to managers is be careful how many supervisors you impose on a single person. >>let that word go forth. nicola persicothank you so much. >>thank you bill. we're going to help you capitalize on the earnings numbers of 2 companies abou to report their numbers. chart talk is next.

2 market belwethers report earnings numbers today apple & facebook. let's talk with alan knuckman with one stop options to find out how he's going to play the numbers coming out from apple and facebook. i got a sense you're bullish. >>yeah, especially after the pullback we've seen in tech. tech had a pullback of nearly 10% before we had that bounce. i did like facebook a lot better last week when it was at that 55 level. 55 is a key support. that's where the market broke out last fall if you remember. markets often come back to their support. facebook did that, now facebook is 10% off its lows. >>how do you position this? if somebody is thinking about how to stretch their portfolio before the numbers come out, what do you suggest? >>you've always got the wildcard with the numbers but i'm overall bullish so i would

like to have enough time so that you can be right. i trade options long term to look to take advantage of that in the big picture. but whenever you are in doubt, trade a smaller position than you might think so in case the market moves against you. looking at apple, i think they are looking for a big move. i don't know which direction but we've been trading in this wedge pattern and 520 has been the apex. so if a breakout sends it to 580, i think apple has significant support obviously at $500. so i think from a risk reward standpoint, both stocks are buys but there's always the wildcard of earnings. >>is there a floor for selling? >>i'm not looking to be a seller here. the markets have been very, very strong and everyone that has been sold into a hole has been caught in hard place. so you have to sell at a high level and use risk reward to your favor. now, for me, is not the time to be selling facebook or apple after we have come down a long ways. >>alan knuckman with one stop optionsthanks. >>thank you. and that's first business for a wednesday morn'. tomorrow -- movies and money.they're calling

it johnny depp's worst flop ever.why the star is taking a big box office hit with "transcedence."that's on thursday show. i'm bill moller. from all of us here, we thank you for watching.

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