decline of nearly 90 points and the nasdaq over my shoulder is seeing the billinger decline, 1.5% and apple has a lot to do with that and we'll talk all about that. here is what else we're following on halftime today, machines gone wild. how a mysterious computer program is dominating trading activity and what it says about man's diminishing role in the markets. bracing for earnings, the outlook is ugly and will the numbers really be that bad? can the rally survive if they are? first, our top story, the apple correction. the stock officially down more than 10% from its peak in late september. that slide is raising questions about whether america's most loved and valuable company has suddenly lost its mojo. we're trading the pullback with joel terranova, josh brown, mike murphy and gema godfrey and he hedge fund manager doug cass. the stock that could do nothing wrong suddenly can't get a pop. >> yes, i think there is three reasons. one, market, two, technical, third, the issue of first mover advantage. i think firstly when everyone has gotten finally comfortable with this huge disconnect be

and that was samsung's ad taking a stab at the apple i phone and its customers and the patent war between the companies samsung has also hit back suing you could say is in retaliation to a prior apple suit claiming the i phone five infringes on its patents now it's not the only one taking a stab at the consumer products giant it's been touted the largest most valuable public company of all time by some calculations we'll talk to analysts reggie middleton who apple's next development will be this i bubble was a long as mortgage task force has finally wired the new york attorney general is suing j.p. morgan alleging widespread fraud by its bear stearns unit in the sale of mortgage backed securities back before their around the financial crisis will discuss the impact and thousands of millionaire households in the u.s. collected unemployment insurance in two thousand and nine this is according to the congressional research service so who exactly counts as unemployed anyway but we're down with the bureau of labor statistics considers it and word of the day let's get to today's capital account

bubble i popped posing questions such as is apple poised to collapse this stock market argument and how is apple one company poised to do that kind of damage ok well it could explanation apple is a very strong company when i comment on apple apple has such a strong in many circles it's akin to a coke so it's not as if i think apple is going to collapse or quarter business. but this is the issue the expectations of apple highly unrealistic apple has been on its head terms of growth product innovation etc over the seven years or so that it's very difficult to maintain the next paradigm to a paradigm shift for any technology company so apple's going going forward i suspect spec growth to slow significantly who want to has much more competition than they did when it was growing very fast and number two a lot of the factors such as market which surely does it no longer has its iconic leader steve jobs it said it will come into play and three the competition does have in the form of google is very very difficult google's business model is designed to attack silly apples that. now as for ho

and let's not forget what apple said, right? they said that the tablet market has outsold the entire p.c. market lately. and that 91% of all tablet-based web searches come through an ipad. i mean, they own it. is there a tablet market? or is there apple? >> there's apple. >> really? >> you disagree -- if you disagree on twitter, folks, send hate mail to pete. >>> on deck in a shocking move, citigroup firing its top analyst. we've read the complaint. we'll bring it you to. >>> has facebook gotten its groove back after this week's big gains? we'll get some answers. >>> after a tough year, is paul son revamping his strategy? sometimes investing opportunities are hard to spot. you have to dig a little. fidelity's etf market tracker shows you the big picture on how different asset classes are performing, and it lets you go in for a closer look at areas within a class or sector that may be bucking a larger trend. i'm stephen hett of fidelity investments. the etf market tracker is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosin

and fifth, apple's $120 million in the bank is burning a hole in the company's pocket and another sign that apple doesn't know what it's doing. and sixth, tim cook is an empty suit. and we have seen the end of the steve jobs era of products. and analysts think apple is finished and the 11 multiple on next year's earnings doesn't matter. the first quarter is going to be reported with sales and expenses the wrong way. they think it's a lay-up short, because we have enough detail to know the company's washed up. and on the way to hewlett-packard like oblivion. amazon told you nothing. they said their policy is to tell you nothing. there were no bright spots, and who knows if they are adding a lot of customers. the result? amazon stock, which sells at an indeterminant price to earnings multiple, who even knows if they care about profitability? goes down to the low 200s and spends the rest of the overnight session rallying. it's long because it's amazon and doing really well, isn't it? isn't amazon prime great? if we were to hold apple to amazon standards, they would be at $1,200. their pro

and fifth, apple's $120 million in the bank is burning a hole in the company's pocket and another signt apple doesn't know what it's doing. and sixth, tim cook is an empty suit. and we have seen the end of the steve jobs year of products. and analysts think apple is firned and the 11 multiple on next year's earnings doesn't matter. the first quarter is going to be reported with sales and expenses the wrong way. they think it's a lay-up short, because we have enough detail to know the company's washed up. and on the way to hewlett-packard like owe believe oblivion. apple told you nothing. they said their policy is to tell you nothing. there were no bright spots, and who knows if they are adding a lot of customers. the result? amazon stock, which sells at an indetermine price to earnings multiple, who even knows if they care about profitability? goes down to the low 200s and spends the rest of the overnight session rallying. it's long because it's amazon and doing really well, isn't it? isn't amazon prime great? if we were to hold apple's standards to amazon, they would be at $1,200. the

amazon and apple both disappoint. sales of galaxy smartphones have guided samsung to another record quarterly profit. s&p sent out a warning shot for france cutting three of the country's biggest banks. and a late birs of spendiurst o might have helped, but still may be too sluggish to bring down unemployment. so if you've just joined us, a very good morning to you. will is where we're indicated right now. and we are indicated for a down start at the moment for the dow. currently 65 below fair value. we're currently around 9 for the s&p 500. ftse global 300, you can see we're down near the session low. stocks pretty flat yesterday. down half a percent right now for the uk market. xetra dax down 0.4%. ibex down off about a percent at the moment. euro-dollar is around that 1.2930 mark. 1.2929 is what we hit on wednesday. and we're pretty much there. dollar yen just pulling back from a four month high. holding on to the gains we got yesterday. in asia, let's get a check in from singapore. >> it's a sea of red as earnings

and apple because i think that this is -- shake-up is exactly what apple needed. i watch both of those. >> brian? >> just take a look at the s&p here. you know it will be daunting that europe's actually open and we are closed. that's caused a lot of selling pressure typically in the market. if we get a big sell-off i would be a buyer down the run. one other play, psx. refiner like i mentioned before. phillips 66. no issues with the refinery i would be buying that stock and has been very strong. >> i'm looking ahead to facebook. today was supposed to be the lockup. what should we expect wednesday? >> these are mainly the employee shares. i don't think they will be selling down here in these low numbers. i think they hold. >> i'm melissa lee. thanks for watching this special edition of "fast money." we will see you back here tomorrow. back here again for "past money" at 5:00. that's it for us. "mad money" starts right now.

more to come on apple and a lot of other things right after this david: back to apple news. shapiro has been going over the numbers. we're talking about iphone sales and ipad sales, both disappointing. what about the gross margins, adam? >> they fell to 40% from 40.3. we're talking about this. maybe cost of doing business with them. the chinese problems with foxconn if that is playing into what is going on with apple. look at the 17 million i pads in the third quarter now fallen to 14 million we were surprised when they announced the ipad 4, refreshed ipad. are they getting competition from google or nexus 7? are the lowest price tablets eating into apple and that's what we're seeing? liz: now the surface we'll watch it all, adam. thank you very much. you see the bid ask. melissa francis will continue to cover this story in her next hour. money with melissa francis coming up next. david: i've seen a lot of guys with the galaxies. they're getting into ipad mini but handheld devices are getting to the size of mini tabs. liz: competition for everybody. we'll see you tomorrow

and the s&p 500 up 4 1/4. we wanted to bring you the latest on apple. my observation returns tomorrow. thank you so much for joining us on "the closing bell." hope you'll follow me on twitter and google plus. have a great night. see you tomorrow. but wait. "fast money" begins now. >>> live from the market site in new york city's times square, i'm melissa lee. our traders are standing by ready to break down all the moves. cnbc's jon fortt courtney reagan will bring you all the latest developments. but right now let's kick it off with apple, the stock recovering off the post-market session lows. but it is still trading lower at this point. big disappointments, particularly when it comes to the forecasts for the fiscal first quarter. >> that's what struck me. it was the guidance for the next quarter. i mean, the street was looking for i think $15.75. they came in with an 11 handle. and revenues were light as well. they're historically a bit of a sandbagger and maybe the reaction to that in the after-market is because the stock is down about 100 bucks since that 7 handle we traded a couple

apple after earnings. which is sometimes what you see after earnings. we saw people go out to february and put on new option positions. people have a point of view about apple but that's what you would expect. it's hugely involved in retail portfolios. people love this name and love to invest in it. >> one last point, sentiment is washed out here. if you look at the 200-day moving average, it almost touched it today, around 588. i think the stock is not necessarily a sale anymore. if you're selling it here, you're a little late. >> a lot of people own apple shares, they saw 700 and saw it quickly disappear, down 13% from the highs. what would you do? >> we talked about this strategy before. i think you're looking to do a stock recovery strategy here. >> right. >> if you have the stock, i would not add more money to that position by going out and purchasing more shares but there are ways to recover some money if the stock makes a small incremental recovery from these levels. the way i would do that, i would like to buy a one by two call spread as an overlay against my long stock position. >

buzzing about apple's rumored release and microsoft's on friday. but industry expectations vary. there's speculation about apple's latest gadget. all we know is the company is holding an event in california at 1 p.m. eastern time. but the unveiling of the ipad mini is smaller. fewer pixels and less memory. price predictions are all over the place from $249 to $349. either way that's cheaper than the cheapest ipad and could cut into ipad cells. while the tech world eagerly awaits, expectationings for microsoft's windows 8 aren't as high. he said in july he expects windows to kick off the most epic year but analysts aren't sure. pc sales are in a slump. also, windows 8 has a radically designed interface which could turn off buyers. eventually sales could pick up giving windows brand power. as one analyst said, it just won't blot doors off. >> the third and final debate is hours away. we'll take you next to florida with more on what you can expect to here. >> plus, can i get an amen, tech wise. >>> we're looking at a gorgeous evening. winds west at 7.

we trimmed our apple position over the last few months and only have a very small apple stake today. still are long-term optimistic on samsung and at the right price, we may become buyers of apple again. >> what happens to samsung if apple chooses to cords with samsung in terms of using it as a supplier of components. >> that's important. what if china stops doing business with america. it's a complicated business that are interwoven. it's in apple's interest to have a strong, healthy samsung as a p partner and supplier and vice versa. >> good to see you. we'll see you next time. >> let's stick with the subject of earnings. keeping a record of which companies are coming up, it says here with the worst excuses for their big misses. do you still blame the ceos? >> you know what? it depends. we'll blame all sorts of things here. deck the company put out bad guidance after the close yesterday. they didn't just blame the weather. they blamed the hot weather, mild weather, cold weather and the warm weather. in fact, deckers mentioned weather 40 times on its earnings call. while they were a

apple, one other one. four out of five of this company's reported this week and they haul dell. we got most of the news out so i will be interested to see whether the nasdaq composite carries through on this stock. don't be surprised if apple catches a rally on earnings next week. seems like they sold the news. if apple comes out with anything positive don't be surprised to see a real snap in the stock. connell: some say this could happen when the report earnings next week. i want to start with mark and apple. looks like it is getting close to being under 600. is a bah. >> if you look at the valuation basis it looks relatively inexpensive except silly when you peel out the cash it is trading on trading at low double digit and high upper single digit multiples. in addition it is generating enormous cash flow and we know they are a product cycle that continues to have a cult like following among people who are willing to step up and by the iphone 5 and will line up once again for the ipad mini. as a consequence you have to think if it continues to deteriorate from here you would fi

apple has been under larger microscope. and slam for problems with the apple maps apps. people say there were problems under steve jobs as well but people did not care. he got the benefit of the doubt. i remember a metric was off but somehow he got the benefit of the doubt. maybe that was initially but not anymore? >> i would add to that. steve jobs created the benefit of the doubt a distortion field the uncanny ability to focus on what he wanted us to apple had them that the mail service in the and 10 dead didn't work steve jobs had the temerity to say people are not using it correctly but he got us to focus elsewhere and apple was smoke they smaller it is more important now. >> now apple has apologized and people are saying maybe that was a mistake. i find it extremely difficult to criticize tim cook to have the courage and the class to apologize for a problem. i and stand the criticism. to operate a much more erred global scale than apple ever has. i can only applaud the ceo to save the have screwed up go use the competitor'

apple pie, big sheik antique bowls of wooden apples, read and golden, apples pencils, produce framed on the library wall, texas vegetables from the rio grand empire. i am an american first, then a texan he would say not understanding he sounded like auggi march. the clues are there, i later realized. a man's fate is his character. you always have to show off and tell us what you know, carl said. i'll be in washington next week i say. i have an interview, i have to close of peace. you promised me, you said you would stay away from washington state. you sat right here and said you would not go to the cascades. he yells as loudly as i have ever heard him. washington, d.c. i shout back. i have the trait as well. [laughter]. >> as you are thinking about that, i would like to ask you to give us one more. there are 2 completely surprising and interesting substories woven through this narrative of your brother, 1, your fabulous aunt character in mexico getting frosty into mexico and running around with frita caller and your discovery of apples? >> this is astonishing, are we talking about th

and -- allman and apple blossom, transporting them all acrosshe u.s. -- plantations of almond and apple blossom. >> in reality, agriculture has to work in partnership with the bees, but when i approached agriculture department's in switzerland, they said they had nothing to do with bees. but agriculture cannot exist without them, and they are being killed by pesticides. >> that is what is happening in northern china. in some regions, bees have completely died out. the film has shocked many beekeepers. >> the pictures were absolutely harrowing. we just cannot do that to animals. it should be illegal. at least these things are being made public and people can see what is going on. >> the film shows that the problem may be quiet, but also quite serious. >> the wife of the north korean leader vanished from public view two months ago, and there were a lot of rumors about what had happened. >> now she is back, seen at a concert with her husband on monday. spectators gave the couple a big round of applause when they arrived at the theater. there had be

and apple takes on amazon and google with its new mini ipad. so what can we expect?ll speak to an industry insider as soon as we come back. [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief that bringing you better technology helps make you a better investor. with our revolutionary e-trade 360 dashboard you see exactly where your money is and what it's doing live. our e-trade pro platform offers powerful functionality that's still so usable you'll actually use it. and our mobile apps are the ultimate in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are, you'll find the technology to help you become a better one at e-trade. >>> ahead of the bell, european stocks are down. not by much. slim losses yesterday. french and spanish markets down around half a percent. u.s. futures indicating a downward start. dow currently 70 points, nasdaq 19. and we are sort of 6 for the s&p. what's on the agenda today in the united states? no major economic data, but the fed begins its two day meeting. also numbers from dupont, 3 m, united technologies, u.p.

save samsung and apple, all of them had their run and lost it. so for me, you know, i don't see any reason to start chasing it here. >> sounds like mike khouw is thinking of research in motion, which seems to me unthinkable given apple's tremendous run and the 55% margins that can be found on the iphone 5. >> that's absolutely right, but part of the problem with the iphone 5 is -- and dan touched on this -- that they can't fulfill the demand. and we've seen this before. but i think it's different this time in that the screen technology in the iphone 5 is different, and they're not able to fulfill all the demand that they would like to. i do think that it is different this time, also, for another reason. apple's never really had competition before, and in the form of samsung and google, i think they have a real competitor now. >> all right. but the bottom line here, dan, for apple is it has to hold 650, or are you going to wait to see if it tests at that level? >> i don' think it does hold. i think estimates are going to continue to come down. they

done and read about kpkt that it is a supply issue, that the online stores are at 3 to 4 weeks and the apple store doesn't have the phone. i think we have to step back and put it into perspective and for investors that are longer term we are look to combine them. >> and i think the market is ahead of itself. the market is a leading indicator. that is why you see the performance in october because people are getting ready for the holiday season. you have the ipad speculatively coming out to be released in october. apple tv. you have a bunch of things that are catalysts. >> and for one million iphones it is 25 cents. >> we told you about it on the show before. it is a patent. after every launch the stock goes down. there is massive support at 640. >> did you step in and buy? >> we are all overweight. >> you're not overweight. >> television puts at least ten pounds on. >> once an apple bull and now maybe skeptic? >> there is no consumer product company or no company that is better set up than these guys. they introduced new nanos and touches and iphone 5. if you have the ipad mini it is a free

i think samsung is the call and it is about hardware prices where i think apple can't compete with these guys and where they're losing market share. >> let's get to money in motion currency trading. amelia, what's shifting? where can we make money? >> what's been shifting is currencies down under both the new zealand dollar and the australian dollar. about an hour ago, we just had the policy announcement from the reserved bank of new zealand. people thought it was going to be a dovish slant to the policy announcement because they had a new central bank governor and this was the first meeting. that did not happen and it rose quite sharply. and something similar happened overnight, with the aussie dollar, a big movement. what happened was cpi for the third quarter in australia was much stronger than expected. it came out 1.4% quarter on quarter, which is a large rise. a lot of that had to do with special factors, one of them the implication of the carbon tax. so aussie rose, but i think what's going to happen is because the cpi was boosted by special factors, it's not enough to dissuade th

, pumpkin and the appleamel walnut. >> so we of apple pie here. >> that is the country apple. and this is apple caramel will not. and the pumpkin. >> the classic. >> that is great. and you have other varieties. >> terry, blackberry, blueberry and strawberry rhubarb. >> that is my favorite of all time. it is such a good combination. they are so pretty. this is something they can get for dinner or a special occasion. >> most of these go out on orders, a dinner or an occasion. and they come in and pick them up. >> let us talk about these doughnuts. you make them with apple cider and they go well with apple cider. >> instead of water, we use apple cider. and recall them apple cider doughnuts because europe got to have a glass of cider with a doughnut. >> that is the frozen form, the slush. good and hot weather. >> that would be good to drink later because it is those to warm up. >> were killing us with all of the gun nuts, the pies, apple slushes. you said that strawberry rhubarb is one of your favorite pies, an

our business and tech reporter talks to apple watchers, ceos and apple customers on where the company is now and where it's headed. >> tonight more details about the east bay's first human death from rabies in 20 years. it involves interviewing people in nine countries. health officials outlined how the 34-year-old civilian contractor traveled between the united states, the middle east and europe. he was bit by a mexican bat in march on a visit home to southern contra costa county. the bat was on the ground. when a friend put it 18 bag the victim reached in and was bit. he could have passed rabies on to another human being. >> four people were identified and three people indicated perhaps contact with saliva and those people were offered and chose to receive precautionary treatment. that treatment is five injections in the arm. once people develop symptoms it's too late. it's almost always fatal. >> outside the united states a total of 23 people elected to get treatment for rabies just in case. 59 were interviewed after coming in contact with the man. he traveled to nine countries and

amazon and apple set to report. they'll definitely set the tone for tomorrow. you'll get it coming up with maria bartiromo and the second hour of the "closing bell." see you tomorrow. >>> and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody. welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. the major averages staging a late day rally today. take a look at how we're settling out on this thursday afternoon. the buying coming in just in the last 20 minutes of trading sending the industrial average up to 13,104, a fractional decline there. 27 points higher, about a quarter of a percent. nasdaq also higher, reversing early losses. and the s&p 500 tonight also up four points. a third of a percent at 1413. investors now waiting on a pair of big earnings news that are coming out. apple due out in about a half hour. amazon's earnings could be released any moment right now. $13.81 billion in revenue is the number for amazon for the quarter. just coming out right now as we speak. the expectations f

and there is a milestone for google becoming the second largest tech company behind apple. shares grew 1% today as the stock reached to $50 billion. there is not too bad for two students who started this from stanford university. and just keeping it real. speaking of apple let rumors begin. the blogs are all abuzz today with word apple will officially launch that mini ipad. this month, reports say the event will take place october 17th with invitations next week. i hope i get one. no official word yet from apple. turning to stocks an earlly rally faded a bit on a retreat led by apple. your bloomberg silicon valley index closing down. apple is a factor in that as well as a decline from cisco and from yahoo. and also there is simon could you well teeming up with will-i-am to develop a tv show being described as x factor from tech. he says the idea to give young people a chance tochl press them selfs and the interest is apparently there. there are at your bloomberg studios in san francisco, that is your bloomberg west update. back to you. >> thank you. >> specking of apple, iph

one of the most challenging aspects and excruciating painful for me writing apples and oranges and say what is my responsibility here? how can i put this on the page? how i drove my brother crazy. >> one of the things i want to ask you about, your books, you are known as an investigative reporter, long complex narratives involving dramas and situations. i am curious to know what was hardest about memoir with somebody living their life as a working journalist? let me preface it a little bit with someone who has similar tendency. this is from 2005. i would like it if you would read from here. >> perfect. yeah. this is a moment in the book where, i am kind of flipping out writing about my brother. i am listening to tapes, because of course i have gone back to the orchards, my brother has died at a young age. i have gone back to the orchards to do interviews, i keep doing this dancing about what it is really about. i am saying i am outside the event although in the middle of it. it is protection, part of the latex that is covers me. making tapes, to crack the grid that i can understand on

apple. so we were at 700 or so and here you see 627. that is an 11% correction for apple. downplay apple, a lot of the other tech stocks have had a very tough time of it in the last month or two, particularly anything that's involved in the pc sector. take a look at what else has been going on here. i am not trying to downplay what's going on. since the middle of august hewlett-packard is down 26% and dell down and intel down as well and other stocks having a tough time impacting the tech sector in the last several days. as a contrast i want to show u you, google that am ko peets with apple with the android operating system is up almost 12% sitting near new highs for google. a lot of different things going on in the tech sector besides what's happening with apple. i want to mention housing. housing getting hit today largely because of what's happening with owens corning. they lowered guidance for the year and a lot of people think it is nothing but a housing stock. the insulation is used in new housing, but the roofing business is a little different. yes, you put owen corni

and i'm angry. i'm an apple guy--i have all the ipads. uy a new phone, new cords---all that money i don't like it. you don't have to. there's no gun to your head. but you want to. they have you on a leash. that means more profits. bonus round---name the richest people or the richest person or family on reality tv? the braxtons, the kardashians, the duggars, or honey boo boo? they got a raise to 10,000 per episode, that's not really rich. even though they're fools for being on tv. who are the guys in vegas that sell all the stuff in the store? the pawn guys. they're making so much money that stuff it's unbelievable. the jacksons songs are the empire. the jackson songs? name one. the pawn star dudes. who's the chubby guy? i'm not one to call people chubby. and you should not criticize people's physical appearance. you're so far off the charts. it's the kardashians. reportedly they've signed on for $40 million for 3 more seasons. can i ask a question? who are the kardashians? thanks for being on the show. still ahead- a trader gets real about

candles began popping up outside of his home in cupertino and apple stores around the world. the city of cupertino flew flags at half staff in honor of jobs today. >> this amazing little device holds a thousand songs. n]♪ >> and apple paid tribute to the late ceo with a montage on its website. it shows steve jobs through the years, followed by a statement from ceo tim cook, paying tribute to his predecessor. >>> new information in the story of a san jose principal under fire for failing to report abuse allegations. the new evidence prosecutors say the principal should not have ignored. >> and a man has died from rabies after getting bitten by a bat in contra costa county. the unusual way the man was attacked. . >>> today marks one year since the deadly shooting at the factory in cupertino. three were shot and killed. police say the gunman was a disgruntled fellow employee. memorial garden for the victims was created near the entrance of the quarry earlier this summer. >>> as much as 30-cents overnight. that's how much prices at the pump have gone up i

apple and facebook i think are victims of the expectations here. ple the expectations are set so high that anything they do is going to look like a negative surprise unless they beat everything that people expected. facebook the expectations are set so low after the last earnings report that you could almost see this one coming, and you get whiplash from watching the stock. >> i find it extraordinary that you would say that the valuation hasn't changed since when you last looked at the stock, given the last time they reported they were making zero for local advertising, now it's 150 million. >> the only good news in this report is they've shown that they're able to make money on their mobile apps and i think that's good news but i think we shouldn't overreact to that. it's 14% of revenues. given how much revenues that we'll need to make to sustain market value they need to show me a lot more so just as my advice in the last earnings report was i wasn't going to react to an individual earnings report, i would give the same advice in the opposite dire

and broadening the base. >>neil: looks good open paper. we will see. ross perot very good to see you. >> appleosoft, santa claus. we connect. you cash in. stunning tech numbers out and shoppers are not done. in america tay we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone is ready with the know-how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ .. >>neil: we led with technology today for a reason, all the news of apple and microsoft going after it and apple with earnings that disappointed. only in this environment can you consider a 24 percent jump in earnings disappointed or making $8 billion in a quarter slightly disappointing or getting $36 billion in sales in a quarter, is "slightly in line" but apple has a quarter but as good as they ho

now, what do apple, coca-cola, and ibm have in common? ach earned the top three spots on interbrand's annual best global brands list. coca-cola is holding steady at number one for the 12th year in a row. but apple, the maker of the popular iphones and ipads, is close on its heels, jumping to number two thanks to stellar global sales. while tech companies dominate half of the top ten positions on the list, blackberry finds itself at the bottom, plummeting to 93 as the company struggles to reinvent itself. >> down the table, and by no means a prediction of future movement. it's about products, people, culture, and about making sure that you have a brand and an offer that is relate toif the market. no reason to sigh that this is by any means the end of blackberry. >> susie: some other notable changes-- the british bank barclays was knocked off the list completely due to the recent libor scandal. meanwhile, facebook made its debut at number 69. >> tom: u.s. stock indices finished mixed today after early gains slipped away. the s&p 500 hit its