[applause] >> with the support of andrew and ursula burns, chairing the business council and randle stevenson at the business round table as well as the society for human resource management, we have engaged employers of all sizes, all around the country, including many who are here today, to commit to a set of inclusive hiring policies, for making sure that recruiting and screening practices don't disadvantage folks who have been out of work to establishing an open door policy that actively encourages all qualified applicants. and, of course, it's only right that the federal government lead by example. so today i am directing every federal agency to make sure that we are evaluating candidates on the level, without regard to their employed history. because every job applicants deserves a fair shot. and i just had a chance to meet with some of the ceos who are making these commitments, some of them are already participating with what's going on in chicago. they had some great ideas about what they know works. for example, one of the things that we are going to have to examine is the impact of

is takeover law in the uk, to various news reports, sky news being one of the key ones, about randle stevensonand the possibility of not just having his having met with many regulators but potential bid for vodafone. when asked, at&t responded as they are forced to under rule 2.8 under the uk takeover code saying, we are not planning to make a bid at this time. in fact, they will not make a bid, most likely, for the next se six months. there are carveats. it will complete the sale of the 45% interest in verizon wireless. of course, great speculation, given the comments that we have watched from at&t ceo randall stevenson that the company is interested in acquisitions in europe, he continues to meet with regulators there, trying to get a lay of the land, trying to understand whether the concerns about the nsa, wiretapping, for example, will hurt any for ray that at&t might make. but again, news not taken out too badly on vodafone. thoughts being, it doesn't mean it's not coming, it may not come immediately when they conclude the verizon wireless transaction. for his part, steffanson can feel pr

but all of these share the characteristic, they have -- randle stevenson talked about the huge, hugempany spends just to go from 3g to 4g. all companies in foot race to get more. my travel trust owns siena, they have momentum but they're spending a fortune to get the business. they are going to get it. a lot of money up for grabs from carriers and people have said, why isn't juniper getting more than its fair share. what the activism is saying, yeah, is it management's fault. >> i think it's really novel. >> wow, tech, it gets obsolete quickly. but these are big. river bed, people had a sell. juniper, people have given up. don't give up on techs there's a new sheriff out there. >> for today, some are giving up on various consumer names, soda, express, lulu. but costco, gap, housing stocks are down, sherwin-williams, whirlpool, leading the losers today. >> i think a lot of those are mistaken. i think whirlpool's doing well. i think home depot's doing well. the secular trend for housing being built, i wouldn't be surprises if the stocks reverse. when you have express and bonton a lot o