>> the relentless climb higher for health care insurance as they debate premiums 14,000 dar year but employers pay the bulk of the coverage. the environment and the economy, an effort to put a price on green house emissions. and the historical price in gold, over $1,000 an ounce in less than a decade. all that ahead on this edition of "first business". >> you're watching "first business", with tom hudson and beejal patel. >> i'm glad you tuned in, thanks for coming along with us on this ride. beejal off on this day, the day the u.s. stock markets begin their day at the highest prices in better than a year. we haven't seen the s&p 500 this high since right around the

collapse of lehman brothers one year ago. the latest consumer inflation data on tap on wednesday, also to look forward to, key senate democrats expected to release the latest version of health insurance reform. paul eggers is along with us and this latest version likely to leave out the public option, trying to keep a cap on prices. >> that is right. though the downturn has had some exists worry about the negative consequences of falling prices and inflation, families and employers are likely focused on the rising cost of health insurance premiums. according to a new survey of employers by the kaiser family foundation, the cost rose 5% to nearly $13,500 in 2009. this at a time when overall prices fell roughly 1% due to the recession. >> i spend about $250 a month on health care. >> $350 a month.

>> i spend about $500. >> workers certainly know how much they pay a month on health care premiums, it is right there on their pay stub, but most don't know what the employers cannot. >> i really don't connect it with it. >> only if there is something catastrophic. >> still, health care premiums are significant expense for employers, and among firms offering benefits, 21% report a reduction in the scope of coverage. and 15% have increased the worker's share due to the downturn. >> we do see employers indicating that they are likely to shift more costs over to the workers, but it is sort of we're not quite sure exactly how many of those changes will actually happen in the coming year. but those were the sentiments that employers expressed to us when answering the survey. >> since 1999, the percentage of firms offering coverage to employees has fallen from 66% then to 60% now. an additional 2% responded they will be very likely to drop

health care coverage going forward. in washington, meanwhile, expanding coverage what time controlling costs the central theme to the health care debate. even as there remains no consensus along both houses of congress and how to accomplish that. >> by increasing competition, we will again improve quality, lower cost, expand coverage, and maintain choice. i believe that a public option is the best way to do that. >> but in the senate, the latest democratic plan out wins, they will not include a public option, instead walling for health care co-ops, manditory coverage and allowing patients to buy insurance across state lines. in the past 10 years, rising health cares coulding far outpaced the cost of worker coverage and inflation. the study since 1999, premiums climbed 131%, wages just 38%, with the consumer price index up 28%. >> people still seem to be in

the giving mood, despite this being one of the worst economies in decades. though charitable giving fell in 2008 compared to 2007, corporations and individuals are still giving to their favorite charities. donates climbed last year, though that is just a 2% drop from a year earlier. true star, a chicago nonprofit that teaches urban high school students the basics of magazine publish manage a pretty good year, considering the troubled economy. >> because we started ground up grass roots, actually we've had a boost in our advertising and doubled over the past year because we are more of a sweetheart bias, more about the advertising pages, events, supporting the youth, you know, we're actually shaping the lives of youth for the future and it is more of a social responsibility that companies are going us. >> true star supports its programs through donations and advertising in its magazines sold by the stutes themselves --

the students themselves. instead of competing with other nonprofit organizations for shrinking donar dollar, they have a more traditional approach. >> we have a unique business model because we do get grant funding, do we get charitable contributions, like mostly your nonprofit but we also have services that we offer to specific clients, so we sell advertising, we build marketing programs for clients, we do market research. >> according to giving usa, education nonprofits like true star received about 13% of all charitable donations last year. like many local nonprofits, true star is hoping to expand its unique hybrid of donations and fee for service model to other urban cities, like atlanta and detroit. clearly there have been more buyers than sellers of stocks since march since the s&p 500 stock index jumped 54%, but companies were not buying their

own stock. in fact, corporate share buy-backs are at the lowest levels in more than 10 years in the second quarter. the s&p 500 finds companies included in the bench mark stock index spent just $24 billion buying their own stock, down 72% from a year earlier. only one of every three companies in the s&p 500 bought stock led by exxon-mobil and wal-mart. forget about that rumor that september is the worse month of the year for stocks here. we're at new highs for the s&p 500. frank lesh trading with us from future path at the cme group, new highs to come, frank? you think it can last? >> certainly, you know when you make new highs we look for newer highs to come after that. that is the momentum play on the market. i will say that we're not pushing as high afternoon as violently as -- and as violently as we have but but we're still making new highs. traders don't seem as willing to buy the new highs like we have

in the past with you we're happy to see any money come in on the equities and at this point it seems the right way to be positioned. tuesday's retail sales numbers, of course, gives you a nice push. another string of better than expected numbers here this week helps push this market higher. >> it certainly does. meantime, a market that had been near some lows, the agriculture market, corn and soy beans really starting to light it up. natural gas also lighting it up in the commodity space this week. >> for doubt, tom. yesterday's trade in corn up 70-cents, corn un50-cents and a good deal of short covering. a lot of this market has been short. we've been going done quite some time and we mailed contract lows last week in corn to $3 but no follow through to the down side. tuesday, we can talk about a potential frost threat coming in next week and that really just pushed these markets, traders are nervous down here and it is a real threat. the crops earn late and it is a

potential problem, so we say a good deal of short covering and of course some good buying coming in as this forecast came out and as traders saw that forecast getting out of the short positions and turning to the long side. >> a classic weather market, absolutely. >> we may well have seen the lows for right now. >> all right, one to watch there the corn and beans market. frank lesh, future path trading at the cme group. thank you, frank. >> thank you. >> ahead of wednesday as market action on the calendar, consumer inflation with the consumer price index. the treasury department will tell us hour foreigners are approaching assets with u.s. capital. and industrial production. still to come on this program, lots to talk about including the glitter of gold which is near four digits, $1,000 an ounce. can it stay there? we will find out with a couple of gold pros. but coming up next, the environment and the economy. bbbbbbbbbbbbbb&bbbbbb>bbb&bbb>

>> in addition to the twin efforts of health care reform and new financial regulation, the third sweeping piece of legislation on capitol hill is the clean energy act which aims to put a price on pollution through a cap and trade strategy strategy. peter brown is with us from mcgill university. you have written it is necessary to trace the economic and ecological crisis together. >> it is a great start because the cap part of cap and trade is

crucial because we're deal wag finite world, the finite ability of the atmosphere to accept carbon dioxide. >> critics say it is tough to measure. >> we can measure the total amount of carbon dioxide going into the air, we know con sentations are going you will -- concentrations are going up globally, the way it is designed and the marketing bill because it has offsets and trade that can be made. >> the word cap and trade has to be simple and enforceable and visible and i don't think we have those. >> which critics will point out. cap and trade, the congressional budget office says it will bring in over a billion dollars over a decade so it will be gain for the u.s. government. others say it is cap and tax because the cost of permits will be passed on because it will be so much fossile fuel usage that is going to be seen, the cap part of this more than any other industry. >> yes. but what we need to do is really

rethink the economy, is something that operates on a finite planet and that is a little tiny step in that direction. we need to reconceive the entire economic system as something operating on a finite planet with fragile support systems and abilities to support the waste stream we produce. and the community economic system is almost blind to all that, 99% blind to the planet into it is based on the ability to grow one's economy and grow one's economy out of a developing economy to a developed economy. are you rethinking that strategy? >> we're not anti-growth but growth has to be rethought so we're reducing through-put of fossile fuels and lumber and soil and things like that so we're living with a respect for nature, recognizing the right of other species to exist and flourish alongside of us. >> when you say you're rethinking the growth agenda is this sustainable growth? is there such a thing? >> it is conceivable there is

such a thing as sustainable growth but it would have to be a completely reengineered economy with very, very different incentives for technology, very, very different incentives for behavior. if you're living within the finite bounds of the earths eara manner that is respect offul -- respectful of other life. >> when you talk about the debate on cap and trade on capitol hill, there are discussions and concerns that pollution doesn't know international boundaries but economies sometimes do and sometimes don't as we elevenned over the past -- and we've learned over the past 18 months. what is the role of a coordinated effort, how successful is one individual country on the cap and trade effort. >> we have today have international coordination of pollution control of things like carbon dioxide and degradation of the oceans and we propose

setting up trusteeships. >> similar to the international monetary fund, united nations? what would be a model for that? >> basically an ideas that comes from peter barns, excuse me, and you set up, you create a constraint on the total amount of use of the atmosphere you can make and then within that constraint you price the use of it. so the trusteeship would be accepting money they got for issuing permits and it can reinvest that money in new technologies and health care, whatever it happens to do, but we think those should be international trusteeships because we have to deal, as your question points out, we have to deal with these things from an integrated earth systems point of view. >> we've got to leave it there. fast nighting thoughts though, we -- fascinating thoughts, though. we appreciate you sharing with us. peter brown with mcgill university. and the center force human nature. >> still to come on the show, the shiny gold, medal.

it has jumps from around $300 to over $1,000. we sit around with a couple of medal heads.

>> gold is sticking around $1,000 an ounce, still. it has been an historical run, from $300 to over $1,000 in just over a decade. joining us is jim hyerczyk and ira epstein. jim, bullish, bearish with gold through the end of the year?

>> bearish gold in the short-term. i think we will see some backing and filling around the $1,000 level until it can build a base, and then i'm looking for abolish move towards the end of the year. the market needs a little bit of direction from the dollar. i think to get its boost. and from a technical side it seems to be a little bit hesitant around this $1,000 level. usually it has a stronger run whether it crosses major price thresholds. so in the short-term i would like to see a base built and i would look to be a buyer on dips so i would have to call it bearish short-term. >> how about it, ira, you bearish in the short-term. >> today i bought gold for clients on recommendations and i'm thinking tonight i'm taking some profit. and i don't like trading that short-term. it should have popped today. silver is on the rise and gold isn't on the run and i thought gold would run today and it didn't and what do you. >> on the positive side, it has visited this $1,000 mark a few times over the past year, this

time it seems to be sticking there. >> i think it is going to base the way jim does and i think we will take off by the end of the year again. strongest month of the year for gold, historically, is september, so we're there, it is doing what it should do but it is not running the way silver is running. >> jim, you mentioned the dollar here, how much of the weaker dollar is influencing the gold move that we've seen over the past few months? >> i think it has a very strong influence on it. the correlation is there. but also gold traders are looking at a basket of currencies and i think that if the entire world would start to weaken or go into a deflationary scenario that gold would benefit. >> it was only a few months ago we were talking about the inflation scenario, the fiscal and monetary stimulus in the united states and worldwide, you mention deed place, worries of lower prices pushing people into gold. have you seen that hold true? >> i think the way the central bank is on rating in a coordinated effort to flood the market with currency at one

point that is going to come back and haunt niche inflation is. >> as far as inflation is concerned, but if they all go into a deflationary scenario then gold traders will look at the basket of currencies as weak and gold as being more stable. >> ira, what about the fundamentals in the gold market, we're moving into what is traditionally seasonal demand in asia i can't for gold products,t play a role or on the sidelines. >> you don't see the demand because people don't have as much money. so they will buy for christmas a certain amount and i'm not convinced it is worse than last year, probably better because psychology is better but don't look for a run away there rather the dollar i think is the influence on the gold. if you were to ask me one influence, i think it is dollar related and i think that the dollar sitting here against the euro at 146, 145 is the euro, i think the your joe euro can go y year anden that wouldn't

surprise me in the gold market in october and november get a secondary run. i think the fireworks have happened. >> we would hold powder and get prices from both guys in chart talk. we will put gold

with jim and ira after this.

>> so far it appears the third time is the charm in the past year with gold over $1,000 an ounce. we're with jim hyerczyk and ira epstein. jim, you mentioned you will be

buyers on dips below 1,000. at what price would you put new offers in. >> i like the 950 to 970 area, i'm looking at a trend indicator chart. the trend is up and the market seems comfort within buying the 50% correction of ranges and right now that is my zone, the 970 to 950 area. i don't see any urgency in chasing the market and buying strength so i would be comfortable buying dip the. >> for the pros, 618 is a tech kale analysis. >> yes. >> ira, you mentioned perhaps a move in october, not explosive, you you're at 1,008 and change here, how far and how fast? >> look at tuesday's low, technically speaking, often it signals the end of 9 thrust for the moment. that doesn't mean it is not longer term. i would then look for the market if it is going to pull back to take that out. it doesn't have to. this is a market that can to what the stock market is doing.

you surprise everybody and grind its way higher on nothing at this point and i think again the key is what the dollar does. if the dollar gets one of these working itself down lower levels, you're not going to take that out so for me the line in the sand is going to be 992.90. the high side is the bolinger band that moves every day but call the 1025 area and i would say the gold has trouble reaching itself up to that level. i think it plays between here, the $1,000 level and takes out 993, probably goes to 975, maybe $25 increments. >> on the flip side, look at 1025 on the outside. we appreciate it, thank you so much. awith brewer investments and ira epstein the linn group. you like gold at these levels? comments at firstbusinessx.com. we will see you back here next time. thanks for watching.