financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's tuesday, october 16th. in today's first look... it could turn into a dow kind of day. heavy-hitter blue chips such as coke and goldman sachs report earnings. yesterday, the dow rallied nearly 100 points higher on postive earnings signs from citigroup. oil was the other big story. oil futures briefly dipped below $90, then sprang back above $91. the presidential candidates debate tonight. healthcare stocks are edging higher. those stocks sold off after the last debate. reports say apple is hiring an amazon exec to run siri. other reports say the the new ipad mini, yet to debut, will sell for arund $250. and - aw sugar - general mills and nestle company both plan to cut back on the sweetner in some products. john brady of rj o'brien gets the ball rolling for us this

morning. good morning to you. there has been a lot of drama in oil lately. what is going on? > > i think there are concerns aboua global economic slowdown. the emerging market economies, brazil and china specifically, have suggested their economies are beginning to slow. and of course, the ongoing crisis in europe, as well as perhaps a 2%, 2.2% growth index year in the united states suggests that perhaps closer to $100 a barrel oil was a little bit overpriced. we do think, however, it is going to find equilibrium and support right around the $88-a-barrel level here, and i think the market will most likely keep in tune with what's taking place in the middle east as well. > > how critical will today's earnings be to your trading? we have j&j, goldman sachs, and intel all reporting in. what do you think here john? > > earnings have been coming out on the better side - citigroup on monday for sure, j.p. morgan late last week. so goldman's earnings should be pretty strong. goldman was up 4% in trading yesterday. our sense is this: not only are earnings coming in better than expected,

but more importantly, corporate chieftains are not as cautionary on q1 and q2 as the market feared. there's a lot of talk about the fiscal cliff, and how perhaps corporate chieftains would downplay expectations for q1 and q2, and we're not seeing that in the way the market had feared. > > they're actually feeling better about this market and economy. let's talk about the consumer, who also must be feeling better. > > right. monday's retail sales numbers were stronger across the board, with, more importantly, revisions to the august data that were to the upside as well. that follows on the heels of a stronger employment number in the early part of this month, and the economic data is getting better for sure. the key will be, and we won't know unfortunately until the end of the month, how much of that came from consumers' savings, and how much of that real spending increase actually came from higher wages and income. so, our sense is, our hopes certainly is that stronger spending is here to stay. the iphone 5 certainly helped retail sales numbers, but we hope it did not come from a falling savings rate. > > thanks john. have a good trading day. > > you too. the boss may sign the checks, but there are now allegations that the boss is pressuring employees on how to vote. in our cover story, ballot bullies in the workplace. in ohio, these accusations may be headed toward a criminal investigation.

some of the coal miners who stood with mitt romney at an ohio rally in august told a radio talk show that they were forced to do so without pay and feared being fired if they didn't attend. "i don't think it's right. it's unethical and immoral." "i think that congress needs to do something about it. rules need to change." the employer, murray energy corporation, denies the allegations and says, "there will be additional layoffs, not only at murray energy, but also throughout the united states coal industry due to mr. obama's 'war on coal' and the destruction that it has caused to so many jobs and families in the ohio valley area and elsewhere." "i think it's the 'wild wild west.' restrictions are needed on those with so much money and so much political power." allegations against murray energy sparked a federal elections commission complaint and a call for the u.s. attorney in northern ohio to investigate. these are hardly the only allegations of political pressure employers are applying in the workplace. two weeks ago, employees of koch industries received voter information packets full of company-endorsed republicans warning that "employees and

conctractors may suffer the consequences of voting for president obama and other democrats." "realistically, the best they could do is file a complaint with the nlrb under nlra to voice their right as a unified group of employees." labor attorneys say this trend will likely lead to modifications on how the citizens united decision is applied to employees in the workplace. the ruling is only two years old. until then, private sector employees have far fewer protections against management retailitation than their public sector counterparts. as the presidential candidates warm up for tonight's town hall style debate, there is already a clear winner: broadcasters. more than $2.5 billion has been spent on political ads airing on television this election season. 67.2 million voters watched the first presidential debate. it's expected tonight's

debate could top 68 million. behind the scenes, recent numbers show the romney camp outspending the president's campaign by more than $18 million on the airwaves. after hearing for months about the a skill shortage in the u.s., a new study says that might not be true. a shortage of manufacturing workers has been blamed on a lack of skill and training in the job force. however, a new study by the boston consulting group says it's companies that are being too selective. "employers are not doing what they used to do. they aren't taking the time to train people, and of course if you are working in manufacturing you have to train people for the job that they have, not the job that they had. other times they are offering very low pay, anywhere from $12 to $15 for a very high-skilled worker, and they are often not going to take that when they can potentially find work elsewhere."

that was hal sirkin of the boston consulting group. its study notes there is a skills gap, but its "manageable" and that only 80,000-100,000 employees are needed in the sector. another study from deloitte claimed that 600,000 were needed. alabama, alaska, hawaii, montana, new mexico, nevada and wyoming are said to be the only states suffering from severe worker shortages. high speed trading is showing signs of slowing down. trading firms large and small reportedly are cutting staff or even closing. according to the new york times, profits from high speed trading on stocks are expected to hit $1.25 billion this year, down 35% from last year. owners of high- frequency trading firms have expressed concerns about government regulations, although so far u.s. regulators have taken only minor steps to rein in trading practices. morgan stanley has been slapped with a lawsuit. the firm is being sued by the american civil liberties union in a lending discrimination case. the suit claims the firm targeted minority homeowners, leading

them into bad mortgage deals. they claim thousands of detroit homeowners have been caught up in the scheme. morgan stanley says the allegations are completely without merit, and plans to fight the claims. a refund may be coming your way for e-books. 3 major publishers and attorneys general from most states have reached a settlement in a case that involved alleged price fixing. the wall street journal reports amazon is already notifying costomers who purchased digital books from april 2010 to may 2012 they may get some money back. the court decides in february whether the deal stands. barnes and noble may also soon notify consumers of refunds. debt is down among american families. households are paying less than 16% in debt after taxes, which is the lowest rate since 1984, and the closest to levels of 2006 or earlier. that's according to moody's analytics. and most consumers are staying frugal and paying down current loans and mortgages rather than adding more. some restaurants are using

portion control to off-set rising food prices. scorching temps and drought this summer dried up corn crops, which in turn is leading to higher feed costs for livestock. reports say in california restaurants are taking corn off the menu and may soon serve smaller cuts of steak. popular chicken wing chain buffalo wild wings plans to pluck more from consumers by boosting menu prices 4%. gold miners in south africa have struck deeper into conflict. unions and top gold producers have failed in the latest attempt to reach a contract agreement. strikes reached a breaking point in august when police opened fire on protestors, killing 34 workers. currently there are no plans for further talks between unions and mining operations. the halt in production has affected the gold and plantinum markets. later this week nearly 200,000 government workers in the region also plan to strike over low wages. some musical notes now from

microsoft. after its digital zune music player flopped, the tech company is offering music on its xbox 360 game consoles starting today. october 26th microsoft will offer music streaming on computers, tablets and smartphones that have windows 8 software. initially the music will be free. japanese telecomm company softbank is snapping up sprint nextel. softbank will shell out $20 billion to acquire the wireless carrier. around $12 billion of that will help lift sprint out of debt. the acquisition will result in a subsidiary called "new sprint." sprint's current ceo will remain on the job. shareholders still have to approve the deal. pizza hut is changing the rules of its presidential debate stunt. the pizza chain is offering a pie a week for 30 years or a check for around $15,000 to anyone posing the question "sausage or pepperoni?" to president obama or republican candidate mitt romney during tonight's live townhall debate. there was backlash. now, the company is attempting to move the promotion online for a drawing.

it's billed as the million- muppet march on capitol hill. sesame street characters are called to join a march november 3rd in protest of mitt romney's plan to cut funding to pbs. the presidential candidate lit up facebook and twitter with comments following the october 3rd debate. romney said he "loves big bird" but would end funding to public broadcasting if elected. the rally invites protestors to bring along their favorite muppet. still to come, why companies are trying to get a cut of your sales on craigslist. we'll hear about that later. but first, home, sweet, home numbers. a look at what the data is telling us about the housing recovery. that's next.

the housing bubble, lax underwriting, those toxic mortgages. it was really the collapse in real estate got us into this mess of a recession. but some numbers out just this week reveal some good news on the housing front. the data come from realtor.com, and we have andrea geller from coldwell banker is here to go through the numbers. can you actually call this a recovery?

> > it's definitely a recovery. we are seeing just all across the countryn good things happening in the markets. > > so you measure this by what? inventory, housing prices, what else? > > absorption of distressed properties and more qualified buyers out there ready to move forward. > > so with a reduction in inventory, obviously people have been buying, because there was a glut of available homes for a long time. > > there are a lot of buyers out there that have bought, and there are still a lot out there that are looking to find themselves a perfect new home. > > how about regionally, if you broke down the country into four or five sections, how does that stack up in the data? > > it stacks up in terms of the places that fell first are the first places where we're seeing the coming back of the market, the absorption of the inventory, and prices stabilizing and even increasing. > > i think it's fascinating, places like las vegas, phoenix, and florida, those are the ones that were hammered by the

housing bubble and the subsequent recession, and that's where the strongest growth is coming right now. > > the first to fall are the first to come back, and that is a result, again, of an absorption of inventory, stabilization of prices, and buyers out there that are qualified to buy these properties. > > i saw a story the other day about actual bidding wars going on. haven't seen that in a long time. > > the bidding wars are coming as a result of the buyers have been out there that hadn't found a property yet, still looking, very little inventory coming on, and as soon as something does come on, you see a rush of appointments and offers coming in, because these buyers are ready to go and get themselves into their new property. > > i know a lot of people got into the real-estate business five, seven, eight years ago. they got out. people like you stuck it through, and i bet you're saying, "it's about time." > > it's about time, and it's a fun time, because we are seeing people get into homes that they are going to spend a longer period of time in than in the past when they were just looking for a two- or five-year thing. they're looking to make it their home, and it's

wonderful working with these people. > > these are buyers them. these are people that are looking for these homes, wanting to buy, and then move in. > > exactly, and it's great to see people invested in their communities now, because they are looking at these as long- term places to call home. > > andrea geller from coldwell banker, thanks so much. > > thank you. still ahead, why your right to sell may be in jeopardy. we'll explain, next.

o' people who count on selling their used items on ebay or

craigslist could be in trouble. jennifer waters of marketwatch.com joins us now. jen, good morning. > > good morning. > > why is re-selling items in peril? > > the supreme court has a case on its docket that it's going to hear in a couple of weeks. it's about the "first sale doctrine," and that basically is a piece of copyright law that allows you to buy things that are copyrighted and manufactured abroad - we're specifically talking about things that have been made overseas - it allows you to buy them and then do whatever you want. a book, a cd, you can sell it, you can keep it, you can throw it out, you can do whatever you want. the supreme court was going to decide if that is actually legal for things. they're interpreting the law to decide if it is legal for things that you buy abroad. > > apple products immediately come to mind here, because they are actually made abroad, yet people love to buy and sell

these used ipads and iphones. this is one of the more prominent products that could be hit. > > it absolutely is. we're talking about so many things. not just apple products, but most every phone we have out here is made overseas. we're even talking about things, angela, like your car. 40% of the technology under the hood is made abroad. so, it's got these huge implications across a lot of manufacturing, but also for museums and libraries and musicians. it's just really wide-ranging. > > what does this mean for corporations making these products? > > well, one of the things that it could mean, and this kind of falls under the absurd part of it, too, is that some companies may then decide to go have things made overseas so that then they have some control over the resale of things. because under this, if the supreme court were to uphold this, you would have to ask the manufacturer for permission to sell anything. so you would have to go to apple and say, "i want

to sell my iphone 4." and then apple would say yes or no and give you permission or not. they would also likely charge you, because they are going to want a piece of that sale too. so that's one of- there are a lot of absurd things that could happen under this, but that's one of them that we can force manufacturing out of the u.s. and overseas. > > sounds like we need to stay on this story. thank you for your report today. that's jen waters of marketwatch.com. up next, a popular beverage that could quench investors' thirst for stocks is coming up.

it's a big day for the dow. coca-cola is another one of the dow components reporting in with earnings. matt shapiro, president of mws capital, joins us now for a closer look at the stock. and this is one of your long-term holdings, correct? > > it is. the stock has traded

down. if anyone looks at the chart, it was up over $40, near an all-time high. back down to $38. this for me is a little bit of an entry point. we'll see what this earnings number is. the whisper number is about 53¢ a share, $2.2 billion or so in profits. > > knowing that you're so positive on this stock, would you buy then at current levels, or will you wait until the dust settles after the earnings number has been out for a couple of days? > > well, we will definitely get a guide of where it is, but i am very comfortable with the stock here angie, in terms of its profitability. it has a great dividend. remember, this was the go-to stock during the '80s and '90s. it went up 10 times over, and now it's sort of slumbered over the past decade. but, i think there's such demand for these all-american - of course coke is - all-american growth names, that if you just get a little pullback, they become sort of new growth and value and dividend shares, and

they're very important for people's portfolios, because people are starting to realize we really went into bonds a lot, we need some good dividend growth stocks, and coke is a very natural choice for people. > > that makes sense, but with the global slowdown that seems to be pending here, does that give you reason to maybe pause at all? > > that will be the one thing, and the earnings report, that we'll have to see, because, 70% of their earnings are overseas. but realize, not all of overseas is china. china is $8 trillion in gross domestic product. realize the whole world is $77 trillion. so china is just one piece of the puzzle of 70% of their revenues worldwide. > > "i'd like to teach the world to sing." that will be your theme song for today. good to have you on the show. > > thanks a lot. > > that's matt shapiro, president of mws capital. it's time for us to pop on out of here. coming up tomorrow, a group of financial planners tips us off on what to expect from the economy after the election. from all of us at first business, thank you for watching!

. a san carlos business goes up in flames, why firefighters say it was particularly hard to fight. and there is one play everybody is talking about this

morning, it is all ahead on the ktvu channel 2 morning news. good morning, thank you for joining us this tuesday morning, october 16th, i am pam cook. let's check in with steve paulson for the forecast, hey, steve. temperatures will continue to be on the warm side even though there is a hint of a westerly breeze. temperatures definitely warming up coast, bay and inland and here is sal. right now traffic looks good on highway 4 between walnut creek and oakland right through lafayette. also the morning drive will be nice, no more work near high street, let's go back to the desk. a large fight in san francisco has sent two people

in the hospital. allie rasmus joins us from the scene to talk about what happened, alley? that's right, we are at 16th and valencia, they have it shut down as they did a two- hour investigation into this street brawl. it started in the morning and two people ended up in the hospital because of it. guns were not involved and this was a fight involving 20 people, unarmed. one of the people is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries and a second person is expected to be okay. it all started after some of the bars closed. this is the mission neighborhood. several people spilled into the street and officers don't know what started it. police say it