a result of cash for clunkers...but are they doomed to repeat the same mistakes that led to the u-s auto industry collapse? plus, oil and copper have been red hot as the global economy tries to pull itself out of the recession. what *commodities may be telling us about the economy. and healthcare remains front and center..a look at medicare part d...and the prescription drug program's impact on patients and nvestors. a02 " was a very loud stock market rallied is given away to make quite rowdy last seven trading sessions the dow jones industrial average has climbed higher by almost 5% we are seeing the dollar levels we haven't seen since the week after last halloween. the banks have been holding their own as

well participating in this rally and the fdic now is making it easier for private equity for us to buy the failing banks by easing the regulations on capital requirements in this move happens as the pace of the bank failure since to pickup more than 80 banks have been shut down by fdic in and last year been fair with the number total to over 900 and time the fdic has been more than $20 billion building with these bank foreclosures. and part of the toxic assets that remain on the assets of so many banks. a03 now that the cash for clunkers program is over.. where does that leave the struggling u-s automakers now? most experts believe demand for new cars will go back to what it was before the program started.. but now that gm and ford are increasing production... just as that program has ended... does that put the carmakers in a tough

spot of having too much supply in the face of weak demand? two of our experts have some different opinions on that issue. it's a problem the detroit 3 has seen many times before... too many new cars sitting on dealer lots... and not enough buyers... so then come the huge incentives to move cars..... some industry experts believe we could see that scenario again... now that cash for clunkers is over.. it'll be hard to tell.. whether there will still be demand.. or did cash for clunkers suck it all up and dry up the market .. interesting to see ford and gm producing more cars in 3 and 4 quarters.. and i'm not sure demand will be there for these cars just days before the government shut down the cash for clunkers program... gm said it would produce 60,000 more new cars and trucks in the 3rd and 4th quarter ford said it would add 10,000 more new cars to its production line up in the 3rd quarter.. and an additional 75,000 new cars in the 4th quarter... all

of this on top of current production plans. some analysts believe ramping up production is actually the right move by the us automakers... since inventories have been at historically low levels. i think detroit learned its lesson.. doesnt' need to overproduce.. and dump cars... hoepfully not overshoot.. not looking to flood market.. or rely on incentives... looking to have production meet demand.. which is how you should run... i'm not worried about it others are still concerned.. that the existing incentives could continue to hurt the us automakers' image.. we've seen every summer last 5 years.. huge incentives.. so people wait for sale.. until drop price of car to lowest denominator.. it conditions them to say it's not worth what

you're charging for.. less than that.. and despite the buying frenzy cash for clunkers created... the detroit 3 will soon face reality again. all you can do is make cars people want to buy.. produce at level to meet demand.. after that .. it's employment and consumer confidence .. you can have the best cars but if consumers are worried about losing jobs.. sales will be down new data on the cash for clunkers program... shows it used up almost all the 3 billion dollars allocated. generating close to 700,000 new car sales.. the government rebates totaled 2.88 billion dollars. 41% of the new car sales went to toyota, honda and nissan. 39% of the sales went to gm, ford and chrysler most popular cars were toyota corolla, honda civic, toyota camry and ford focus. new cars bought under the program had an average fuel

efficiency of 25 miles per gallon... compared to 16 miles per gallon for the trade ins. a04 one slice of the banking industry broke even in the second quarter but more than three dozen are now considered troubled. thrifts are designed by law to focus on consumer lending, with requirements to have at least two-thirds of their lending concentrated in home mortgages or other consumer loans. in the second quarter, thrifts collectively made $4 million. that's the first profit for the industry in almost two years, according to the industry's regulator, the office of thrift supervision. and it's a huge improvement from the almost one and a half billion dollar loss in the first quarter. despite the industry profit, more thrifts are on the regulator's watchlist. 40 thrifts are now called problems. that's up from 31 in the first quarter...and it's out of 794 nationwide. the regulator doesn't name names. this bears watching as the two biggest bank failures during the credit crunch....washington mutual and indymac bank...were

both thrifts. a05 we will give a report card again on the second quarter in economy the gross domestic product data toward trade and who's with us at the cme group big news expected an expected to be less bed in previous quarters is that gonna be good enough? i don't know if it'll be good or enough this is gonna be an interesting one because we have gained some heights here in the last five or six trading sessions well into the tan handle 1032 capt. 38 those types of number we have been reading up and that could be built in a little bit already and could experience a pullback even on a positive gdp number. it will be an arbitrator's will be standing waiting to pals and a data is released. the market has rallied significantly during the second quarter to #republican here the think the market is ahead of the economy? too far ahead? item no.

is ahead or behind is certainly not reflecting that the economy that we are our you're trying to make a dollar and. but the market is reflecting is a business sector that is clean air more cost competitive. shrinking revenues nonetheless but still able to turn up a good earnings numbers. so we are rallying on the earnings revenues means growth me passing any of that and or you is still a concern in the $7 range. we backed off from the recent heist which was good news to market needed to do that or else and we would have gone over some piebald the consumer would have been hurt in the rally would have been squashed. we'll leave it there ahead of the second quarter gross domestic product dave bahoric with best trade news. c o m at the cme. a06 a07

a99 still to come medicare part d, the prescription drug benefit....the role it's playing in the healthcare debate. but first...kevin kerr of kerr trading joins us from the c-m- e....kevin.

b01 the dollar has driven market certainly there is one in the commodity taking a look at the global economy cabin of perpetrating international knows that he's with us at the cme group. he mentioned ahead of the break they you think a commodity rather the oil and some of the commodities copper include an air all dollar driven not expectation of a recovering economy? is a heavy submit to the dollar. who is probably and 90 to 10 percent demand. if the body is focused on the dollar as we see the dollar we can see the commodities rallies and vice versa for pc the dollar falling on the dollar rally the commodity solve this is pretty much what has been driving the market lately not typically demand. if we are seeing not only in china but in some parishes bullish inventory of oil have recently so we are starting to see the recovery but it's very slow and i would the essay is the big driver of the year. how did look at the u.s. economy you have to remember that really is a global community going after these commodities. if to as you

mentioned all prices have been dumping ground close to 10 month highs natural-gas five year lows why the split what is going on? we just haven't seen at the end of the demand left manufacturers the electricity demand and supplies are abundant we haven't had a while her return season if we are entering into winter yet and a lot of the pressure is coming to market as well no interest there and a lot of pressure on the downside however i don't see a time of downside from here. khmers not much left. the usually is a good sign it as a means points will necessarily but china is a bit player here globally we could start to see pick appointed time the man i would say you're not going to see a major rally but you could see a seasonal demands by prom these levels. usually you're in more short-term focus it would you rather have oil and natural gas question mark i would rather have natural gas because i wouldn't expect a big rally but i expected to move

premier. meantime that bade the question had be pretty smart to be marketed to go after individual quantities were to play when a basket of them took a look at the dba it sinful the exchange traded fund made up of a pipe% to blackhawks and you take a look at the performance is sure that obviously has been providing the upside but overall the best is opposed to% this year. isn't impressed and indexed we have the spring mix together and certainly sugar has been on a tear rallying so askew this e t f i think this is the problem with the e t f i personally prefer to buy individual commodity in the now be appropriate atf's maybe easier to handle but this you must not make sense to me i read the be trading sugar or just have a smoother portfolio. it doesn't make much sense to me. commodity to watch here is the dollar if narghile necessarily a commodity rate quick remark until we start to see real pickup in demand and and maybe another three to four

months before we actually see the engine startup buyer. kevin from kirk trading international with us or read the cme. thank you tom. b02 online items the red ink on uncle sam's tab continues to grow...on our website...a look at what's contributing to the nation's debt...and what average americans think about it. plus...why at&t is being accused of age discrimination...and how the recession is impacting older workers. and...the president wants fed chair, ben bernanke to stick around another four years...what it could mean for the future of the u.s. economy. and straight ahead on the show.... medicare part d...how the prescription plan has affected both, patients and investors...that's coming up next. b99

c01 as debate over health care policy continues, many forget that a major change in national health care rolled out less than 4 years ago with the introduction of prescription drug benefits for seniors. so three years into medicare part d program, how has it impacted both patients and pharmacuetical companies? "simply, the goal of medicare part d was to provide insurance coverage for medication for people who had no insurance coverage." from that perspective, then, the program is generally considered a success. in 2005, before the medicare part d took effect, of 44 million medicare recipients roughly 1 in 4 or 11 million had no prescription drug benefit. today, with 45 million

seniors on medicare, 26 million have signed up for medicare part d. another 15 million have private prescription plans, leaving just an estimated 4 million without any drug benefit. "they either choose not to have coverage or maybe they're not spending that much money on their prescriptions and they want to wait or they just don't want to buy into it. but for the most part, there is this group of 26 million who have definitely been helped by medicare part d." university of illinois chicago's joann stubbings credits the program for increasing coverage, but also points to its shortcomings. "the unintended consequnce of medicare part d it that it has been very confusing. very confusing. its a good program but its been very confusing not just for patients but to providers and to everyone dealing with medicare part d. we have physicians here at the medical center and they can't do it."

but medicare part d has helped seniors save money. research shows that during its first year, the benefit resulted in a 16 percent drop in out-of- pocket spending for drugs and a 7 percent increase in the number of prescriptions filled. that spike in scripts has drug companies pleased with the plan. "going forward its just a huge tailwaind for the entire pharmacuetical industry. we're having this huge boulous of baby boomers getting into old age and most can afford it. medicare part d ensures that they'll all be able to afford it." projected to cost taxpayers 74 billion dollars a year, medicare part d has actually come in in under budget, costing 44 billion dollars in 2008. of that 75% came from taxpayers, the rest from premiums, state contributions and interest earned on trust fund money. "the program has come in under cost and people really, really like it. so the projections

that have come out when they unveiled this program are higher than what they've actually come in at. its unusual for government and may bode well for health discussions going forward. damien connover of morningstar also sees the conclusion of those health care talks easing negative pressure on pharmaceutical stocks. "this risk overhang will come off the stocks and prices will increase." in the midst of the healthcare reform debates, costs continue going up, but at a slower rate than in years past. friday on the show what continues to drive health care cost increases and how companies are responding with their health insurance plans. c02 in the past month, more than three quarters of a million americans just quit looking for a job. they didn't go back to school or have any other reason for quitting other than frustration. they don't think there are any jobs out there for them. another five million continue to look for work, but haven't had any success for more than six months. it is the toughest job market in a

generationand next week we'll be sitting down with julie boh- key, a career development coach. tell us your stories, ask your questions at 312-660- 83-97or comments at firstbusiness-x-dot-com. c99 earlier in the show we talked about the challenges that lie ahead for the u.s. auto industry in coming up in chart talk will take a look at the charge of pearl the only publicly traded u.s. car company ford. d01 many people believe the next si months are going to be a

pretty difficult time for the u.s. auto industry as we try to climb out of this recession but investors and ford are lacking those companies' prospects taking a look at the chart for under $8 a share the stock in the company was left for dead back in the winter now sent terreri shares have rallied more than 200 percent. it has been an unbelievable rally there is no doubt are reckless stock picker shouts out to him it was and in march he was a buyer and tripled his money but as a dollar a share level before trading below here has been a level that has been technical resistance from the past before a visit to hands of a share earlier this week. thus the closer look in the look on the five-year chart you can see the technical resistance right around a dollar a double and going for report has many

challenges coming next year it has billions of dollars in debt coming due so that will be pretty critical and hopefully report can meet those obligations or else it can be in a pretty bad apple. it has been a beneficiary of the difficulty of chrysler and general motors falling into bankruptcy falling into a paper with customers as your reporter earlier if a big been officially put the cash for clunkers and purchasing has been toward the plight of certainly in this rally we see as of late but that a dollar a share level is have to get over there and approved on higher volume that this a different port company that the stock was trading at $2 a share earlier this year. many consumers a factor thinking that way as well for the remarkably has gained market share as general motors and chrysler have taken it government bailout money poured has been reaping the benefits of that. don't forget about our voice mail number 3.26608397 q into your from you especially if

you are having a tough time job punting a job expert coming next week and press business. he will see you online back her next times. d02 d99 great price. back to school costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

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