. >> what if i'm going to buy my mom a surprise birthday gift and shows me i'm checked in at ann taylort and now she knows i'm there. >>> a powerful mechanism to give discounts to loyal customers. >> it's a creepy big brother way of keeping tabs on you. >> we see you. >> to find out more about this, we are going to bring in zach. >> hey, zach. >> this is freaking me out, man. is this out now? >> they are finishing up testing and looking for funding. it could be something out there. >> what if somebody that looks like me signs up? >> hopefully the facial recognition can distinguish. >> when the face is recognized, the deal is set into action. >> it recognizes face deal users. >> where are we going to see it pop up? >> any business that wants to get in on the deal. >> does it scare you? >> there's privacy issues. >> i'm going to get zach's face tattooed on my face. >> you get a coupon for a day. >> the little thing of the internet, there'sn artist wknd incredible. check out the sculptures of nemo gouldis. they are not just sculptures, they move. they are all made from bound or salvaged pa

you look at ann taylor and lost together is only $2.5 billion. so a lot of share being given up and it's being stolen by some of these other guys. kohls should be a beneficiary, they haven't been yet but should be as well. >> macy's, you like lundgren, american eagle and chicos. speak to those. >> i think chicos is a case where women's has been a troubled business this last couple years. and tal bots has been in trouble and ann taylor has been difficult. cache reported terrible numbers. white house black market and chico brand. american eagle has been -- has new management in there, and again, they're capturing share, selling jeans at $30 this week, and abercrombie & fitch doing terribly, arrest positive total doing terribly. you beau to pennies, levis being sold for $40, and why wouldn't you go to american eagle and buy for $30? >> what are your thoughts on gap? >> massive turn around, got to give management a lot of credit and a lot more room for it to run. and i think penny's again gives them the opportunity. >> hell of a year, 87% gain for sh

ann taylor easily topping estimates. boosting its outlook for the year.b, the stock, wow. 22% gain today. >> yeah. what's really happening here is the company has figured out they don't need to discount as mauch as they were. gross margins are better and better reception in the more youthful store which is the loft. there's a lot to like here. the problem is we don't buy retail stocks up 20% on the day. this is something you have to start dp you want to have a position. you cannot get filtier. >> weiss, do you buy a retall stock on the year if you don't buy it up 22% on the day because that is what gap is here. >> no, you don't. let me point this is. this has been one of the most amazing recoveries in retail that i've seen. this company was given up for dead by a lot of people, but unlike what penneys is doing, they didn't alienate their core customer. they brought people new fashion and it's working out. at this multiple i would rather wait for a pullback. >> you fenced foot locker, serve tons board there. stock has had a nice run. one year, up 89%. the

beat wall street forecasts for the eighth quarter in a row, as sales soared at its ann taylor and loft stores. the company is also seeing more full-price purchases. shares jumped 20% to just under $34. that's the highest level in nearly five years, as the company nudged up its full year sales forecast. gap was also a winner, because it, too, raised its full year profit guidance. that good news came on top of a gain of nearly 30% in second quarter earnings, helped by good fashion picks and lean inventories. investors are optimistic the retailer is on a comeback, after struggling for years to reclaim it's fashion status. the shares closed up almost 5%. a very different situation at aeropostale which posted a 98% drop in second quarter earnings. it also issued a third quarter profit forecast that was below wall street expectations due to soft back to school sales. the stock fell 11%. now on to a pair of sporting good chains moving in opposite directio. th repted tter than expect second quarter earnings. athletic footwear chain footlocker also reported higher sales, so it's share rose near

. >> good news for ann taylor. this was a big quarter for ann taylor. and bottom lines, sales and earnings better than expected. slight revenue gain. upgraded by rbc. operating margins rose more than expected and the e-commerce site performing very well for ann taylor. that stock up nearly 18%. it's up 34% year to date. sitting at a new 52-week high. back to you. >> thanks, brian. >>> marissa mayer in one of her first moves as the newly minted ceo of yahoo! was to offer her employees free meals. but what about the rest of silicon valley? what is really on the menu behind those closed doors? jon fortt is taking a look inside the catering world of silicon valley's hottest companies. he's got that story. jon? >> reporter: david, here in silicon valley, food is actually incredibly important. and in kitchens like the one you'll see here at paypal, it's often really good. you won't find mystery meat or generic deli sandwiches here. lots of fresh ingredients, especially healthy vegetables. where are they getting fresh corn like the corn that they're getting wh

as for earnings look for results from ann taylor, foot locker, kirkland's as well. patrick, what is consumer sentiment going to tell us today? >> i think as the consensus indicates we don't expect much movement in the sentiment indicator of either way right now. what really has happened here in the united states is we pretty much gotten on hold. if we look at the university of michigan consumer sentiment indicator, there has been a marked improvement since i want hit bottom last august. in the nine months between last august and may of this year, we saw 42% rise in consumer sentiment. the difficulty is that while there's been significant improvement it is still well below its historic average, and all of the question marks, sort of blizzard of question marks we see around the global economy here in the united states is causing the consumer to become more cause shourtioucautious, s up. we'll see little change. not little change from a position where the consumer sentiment was strong but little change where it's still history jablg ic -- historically relatively weak.

we'd especially take a look at the specialty retailers that are out with earings, ann taylor, footlockercasual male as well as hibitts sporting goods, a niche company in the sporting goods channel and take a look at jm schmucker to see what they have to say about coffee prices and peanut prices are affecting their margins. >> all right. we'll be watching that. thanks so much, eric. brian, you're up. 30 seconds on the clock. what do you watch for tomorrow? >> tomorrow being part of the traditional vacation season, we'll watch the economic data, michigan confidence numbers and leading economic indicators, though i think you'd have to have a pretty big miss to move the markets dramatically. overall look for a bit of profit-taking going into the weekend after what's been a pretty good equity market here over the last week or so. >> thanks so much, and chris, over to you. 30 seconds on the clock. >> i'd agree with the last guest. i actually don't think a whole lot will move the market. also data coming out of the eurozone, but i think the much more impactful data is coming out at the end of t

. >> this is a great anne taylor dress. -- it's professional without being too fussy. it looks great. the color blue is a great color to wear to work. it means calm, it means in control. well done, kathie. the blazer has an air of authority about it. it's got that masculine meets feminine edge. >> it's modest but fashionable. >> is it just that the skirt is too short? >> the length of the skirt. the button down is too low. the color pink emits feelings of romance. and femininism. >> that button is too low? >> she's on the prowl, i can tell. >> and the hair is a little out of control and the pumps. they scream party. you don't want to look like a party girl. >> if she was going fob an interview with anna wintaur? >> i still say no. i think a short skirt. >> thank you. welcome. you did a great job in london. you were terrific. >> thank you. >> a light italian meal perfect for summer. this is "today" on nbc. my contacts are so annoying. they're itchy, dry and uncomfortable. i can't wait to take 'em out, throw 'em away and neve

. >> stock number two is ann taylor and soaring on a huge earnings beat and slight guidance raise. >>was put on the scrap heap. it's back. earnings 63 cents. beat by 12 cents. operating margin rose again. less discounting there, too. all around solid quarter. upgraded to overweight from underweight and up 38% year to did it. >> where there's discounting and it's hurt, aeropostale. >> amazing to see them going in operation. starting to see the good management and maybe who is not. aeropostale down. almost all the percent and gave a weak outlook this quarter, as well. back to school looks pretty bad. expenses continue to rise. the stock down, down 3% over 1 year and 19% i think year to date. >> here's a stock that was actually potentially going to be a contender for disaster du jour. it's a "street talk" stock down by 8%. down 8%. it's crushed. kind of a thanks for nothing call of the day. ever core partners cutting the target to 3 from 6.50. 4.60 right now. they see it going down another buck 60 a share. 77% down year 0 date. >> every day my inbox things of amazon local, groupon, as we

positive earnings from the san francisco based gap and apple and ann taylor..alifornia's unemployment rate did not change for the month of dela to life. - we did add more jobs. for the month of july however it did not change. but it is still in the top three with the highest unemployment. 44 states saw a jump. including nine of those states that are battleground states for the campaign race. moody's announced that it is beginning a wide range of municipal finance is in california. they see a threat of bankruptcy and bond defaults. they say that the physical crisis is putting bond holders at risk. so far, three banks have filed for bankruptcy. it expects more bankruptcy filings and the fault among california's cities with that increased risk to bondholders. >> federal government is changing the terms of its bail out with freddie mac and fannie mae. more on that, later. >> this quick look let me show you where we have good conditions. some sunshine and if you are taking a look at the indians' game? 7:05 temperatures around 62. mild. temperatures are still warm to

if you have asthma, please bring your ann taylor -- your inhaler and make sure the people you are witho where it is. >> listening to the training session at the sacred and ground coffee shop. one of the group's planning rallies at the site of the republican national convention. you can watch c-span and let other viewers know what you know about the convention via twitter. houston -- use the cspan hashtag. like him or not, his speeches were never built. he says, how different the speeches given by hoover and you can hear you can hear how politics deviated from real issues to games. rob says on now, hoover's speech. really cool. we will show the speeches again tonight. you can tune in at 7:00 p.m. eastern from speeches from eisenhower, and mccain and pailin four years ago. all those tonight at 7:00 eastern. next, a history of the conventions from today's "washington journal." [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] host: joining us from boston is professor thomas whalen. we will be talking about political convention

good numbers coming in from gap and ann taylor. that facebook stock, that continues to drop.t's down another 3%. last selling at just over $19. >>> well, officers in south africa are under investigation this morning after they opened fire on workers at a mine. it happened in northwest johannesburg. protesters rushed a line of officers and that's when they pulled out their guns and started to fire. more than 30 people were killed. protests at that mine began a week ago. more information is expected to be released some time today. >>> let's bring you up to date on tom of the other top stories -- in afghanistan, two mesh soldiers were shot dead today by an afghan police officer. now, this is the latest in the growing number of attacks on americans over there. just last we a marine from los hail toes hills was killed in afghanistan. the funeral services are scheduled for tomorrow. >>> six protesters were arrested in downtown oakland last night. they were part of a march demanding that the government free bradley manning. he's the former army private accused of leaking classified

the do is the blue. >> this is a great anne taylor dress.are getting saucy with the chef from the orange field restaurant in bloomfield, new jersey. >> how you doing? >> we have beautiful mushrooms here. we are doing oysters, shitake. our version at orange grill of tempura. corn starch, equal parts. >> look at you using a big word like wisk. >> we have herbs. >> what are they? >> thyme, rosemary and sage. nice italian beer here to get it going. >> you don't think of italian beer. >> if it gets lumpy, don't worry about it. work your muscles there. >> there you go. >> you can finish with it sparkling water. >> why would you? >> once you get that done -- >> it's a little lumpy. >> we'll work it out. >> say we had put in some effort. >> we'll get it in here. >> say we did that. >> so from there -- >> you can smell the beer. >> you're going to drop them in the hot oil? >> right. >> what oil are we using there? >> vegetable oil? >> it's just a canola oil. >> oh, it's hot. >> that's going to be fast, isn't it? >> real fast. they'll get crispy. >> a

melanie's dress is from ann taylor for $128. >> what did i say in commercial break?ing it with a floral shoe. >> these are from nine west. they're about $30. such a great look. >> if you have pieces like this, try it in your closet. live on the edge. our last look. we want to thank you, to melanie. this is charlize theron. this is another great look. >> always looks so chic and cool

different different types of pattern, ann taylor doing more tailored, depending what works. >> last but houndstooth. >> thanks so much. now here is willie. >> savannah, thanks. next up, what is in with gadgets, what's out. mario armstrong, "today's" digital lifestyle expert. good morning. >> good morning. >> start with computers. ultrabook the way to go. >> very thin, lightweight, less than an inch thick. hold that. under four pounds. super lightweight. looking at dell, 11 hours of batteries. boots up in seconds. it's the new category. >> if i like a macbook, this is the way to go. >> yes, retina display. this display will make you want to lick the screen when you see food on it. it's that amazing. it's thin. only a hair thicker. >> these are backpacks that charge your devices. >> four at a time. can you charge multiple devices. cables built into the bags. the bag plugs into the wall outlet and has the charger in the bag. that powers the whole bag system. overnight charge -- can't charge laptops, tablets, phones, ereaders. >> nothing more annoying than a dying blackberry. >> the blackbe

>> on the women's apparel side, ann taylor and chicos are outperforming.en's retail secretary jortor is how do you make your weekend wardrobe and work wardrobe combine. those should outpace other women retailers. >> how are stores managing their inventory at the moment? >> i've never heard more retailers talk about reduce, retrench. i think they are going into the back half the year, getting inventory levels even leaner than they would have thought three months or so ago. the pause that we had in may, june time period made all the retailers plan more careful lly for holiday 2012. >> that mean that there are more sell outs of merchandise but also could be giving up some sales. inventory a tricky story. but dana will be staying with us. still to come on the program, samsung launches latest challenger to apple's ipad. will the new galaxy lure consumers? we'll get a view on that next. . >>> okay. one of the questions been asking today is it time to bring back the three martini lunch or the three gin and on theic lunch. job interviewees are less intelligent if

melanie's dress is from ann taylor for $128. >> what did i say in commercial break?ing it with a floral shoe. >> these are from nine west. they're about $30. such a great look. >> if you have pieces like this, try it in your closet. live on the edge. our last look. we want to thank you, to melanie. this is charlize theron. this is another great look. >> always looks so chic and cool together. this is a great look. it's a little soft and a little sexy at the same time. a soft peach jacket, with a leather pant. i think she wore this to the airport. >> you really nailed it. isn't it? >> it's fantastic on laura. her clutch was over $1,500. laura's is a mere $70. but i have to point out laura's shoes. they're on-trend. go, jane, for under $18. >> and the faux leather pants. they're great ideas. look in your closet or go to goodmorningamerica.com on yahoo! to learn where to get these items. thank you, ladies. >>> we're going to go to marcus samuelsson next. he is firing up the grill. look at that. stay with us for some great ideas for labor day. anncr: it'll start out as c

let's give you another update on the situation in ann arundel county involving the over turned tractor taylortill has richie highway closed in both directions. we will update you on that as soon as more information is available. if you're traveling on the beltway, still some slowing at security boulevard. north side inner loop also heavy there. northbound 95 bumper to bumper there from 395 over to the tunnel. as far as accidents go, one new one reported in middle river. expect some congestion in baltimore city around pratt street. we still have light street closed between east baltimore and east lombard because of that water main break. smooth drive 895. also moving well in the southbound direction. this traffic report is brought to you by the cochran firm. if you or someone you know suffer add personal injury call 800-the-firm. back over to you. >> thank you. >>> american athletes are facing some tough competition as they try to get to the finals where gold is up for grabs. >> u.s. pole volter den shore out jumped the competition to grab gold. he settled for sill vir last time but -- silver

ann romney. >> brian: and taylor hicks. >> gretchen: from american idol.pt steven hayes waiting in the wings >> chris: more from tampa, florida as our coverage of the rnc raps occupant fn c. >> brian: you wait here, you watch this. >> whatever your political party let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me . and gich the effort everything we have. and take the thing all the way through and let's get this done. >> tonight i would ask a simple question . if you felt that excitement when you voted for barack obama, shouldn't you feel that way now that he is president obama. you know there is something wrong with the kind of job he has done as president that the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. >> brian: yes, there are still plenty of voters out there that are undecided. and persuadable. in a recent poll. 23 percent said they have yet to make their decision. did the mitt romney-ryan team do enough to get their vote. editor of the national review on line . jack of the american institute. i can't touch him and he'

taylor bridge fire in washington has consumed 23,000 acres and 70 homes. the human cost of fighting the fires is ever present. idaho lost 20-year-old firefighter anne veseth this week. she was killed by a falling tree while trying to keep people like suzanne durant from losing so much that matters. >> my husband's ashes are on this mountain. my dogs are buried behind the garage. this is very important to me. >> reporter: mike taibbi, nbc news. >> new warnings for people in texas today to protect themselves against the west nile disease. the battle against the mosquitos that carry west nile is being waged from land and air. we get the latest tonight from janet shamlian. >> it's the biggest in eight years. derek larson was infected in minnesota. >> came home, took a nap. when i woke up, my head was -- it's the worst pain i ever felt. >> reporter: larson is among 700 people nationwide sickened by the virus. 26 have died. that's the highest number at this time of year since west nile was detected in 1999. >> this is the beginning of the season. the fact that we have so many cases this early and it's so widespread doesn't bode well for the future summer

taylor bridge fire in washington has consumed 23,000 acres and 70 homes. the human cost of fighting the fires is ever present. idaho lost 20-year-old firefighter anne vesith this week. she was killed by a falling tree while trying to keep people like suzanne durant from losing so much that matters. >> my husband's ashes are on this mountain. my dogs are buried behind the garage. this is very important to me. >> reporter: this has not been the fastest moving fire. there haven't been fierce winds. yesterday the fire moved only one mile. but it is still moving and growing. this community and down the road a couple of others, pine is down the road, remain in serious peril. lester? >> mike taibbi, thank you. >>> an outbreak of salmonella has swept across 20 states killing two people and making more than 140 sick. health authorities say it appears to have come from cantaloup cantaloupes grown on a farm in indiana. some 50 people affected in kentucky where the two deaths occurred. >>> overseas, dozens of people reported killed in syria as the war there shows no sign of coming to an end. at the same time, the last group of u.n. observers in syria is leavin

taylor harrison won in judo. >> i pictured it every night for the last four years. >> at the same, vladimir putin heered his countryman's performance. and romney was during her -- anne romney was cheering her horse. the woman who taught the hunger shoot.tart t to in london, mark barger, wbal news. >> which are you most excited to see compete in individual all- around? they are both amazing gymnasts. it can see the results later. >> federal officials say they are investigating reports passenger planes came within 3 seconds of a collision. heavy rain in the washington, d.c. area forced changes in the direction of the departures and landings. there was a miscommunication and those changes were not related to everyone who needed to know, the faa said. two planes taking off and the other coming in did not have the appropriate distance between them. the collisions war averted. >> we got to get on the ground pretty quick. >> none of the commuter jets were never headed directly toward each other. dpw in baltimore city repaired yet another water main break. this was in the 2800 block. what makes this unique among almost three years ago today, the same line broken flooding do

unsuccessfully ran against ann richards for governor, apologized after comparing rape to foggy weather, saying, "if it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it." joining menow, goldie taylorto thegrio.com, and michelle goldberg, senior contributing writer for "newsweek" and the daily beast. goldie, you just heard former republican presidential candidate, mike huckabee, thinking that the real confusion here was just the use of the word "legitimate" before "rape," instead of forcible. if akin had just said "forcible rape," well, hey, all of us republicans would have been cool with everything you said. >> you know, that's what got my goat yesterday afternoon when this story started to break, were the many qualifiers that we've been hearing about rape. whether it is incest or forcible or assault or, you know, legitimate. rape, as i said last night, rape, as the president said today, is rape. it does not matter, as long as the woman is not able to or does not give consent, everything happens after that is just plain horrible. and to place qualifiers on it, i think, disqualifies somebody from holding public office. >> michelle goldberg, imagine for me, if you will, the day afte

taylor bridge fire in central washington has consumed 23,000 acres and some 70 homes. and the human cost of fighting these fires is ever present. idaho lost 20-year-old firefighter ann vesent last week, killed by a falling tree while trying to keep like stew suzanne durant from losing so much that matters. >> my husband's ashes are on top of the mountain. my two dogs are are buried behind the garage. this is very, very important to me. >> reporter: without fierce winds and they haven't been for the last couple of days, this has not been the fastest moving of these wildfires, but it is still moving, as i said, between a mile and two miles a day. and it is still growing, still a very, very dangerous fire. jenna? >> mike, stay safe. mike taibbi, thank you very much. >>> and now once again, here's lester. >> jenna, thanks. with less than three months until election day, the economy remains the number one issue for voters. but that's not what the candidates are talking about these days. medicare is taking center stage. nbc's kristen welker is with the white house with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. political analysts say both campaigns have strugg