bertha coombs has more. >> reporter: these health clinics are new in the u.s. fewer than five in ten americans use one. >> i go to canada and see these all over the place and that's what people do in that market. >> reporter: last year, one in four of us opted for a more affordable clinic at some point instead of our doctor's office or emergency room. >> i wouldn't use an emergency room other than absolutely necessary because i know how expensive it is. >> reporter: those kind of cost conscious decisions are helping to drive down healthcare inflation. >> if you think back to say the early 1990s, the healthcare costs projectorry was straight up, double digit increases year after year. we're now really coming down into the 4, 5% range. >> reporter: in a new report they project medical costs for the largest employers and workers will grow 6.5% next year, down a full point from the estimated 7.5% growth rate for 2013. part of the reasons, workers are footing more of the bill. >> i feel like they keep taking more and more away from my benefits, you know, me deductio

bertha coombs has more. >> i have to make sure that i take time off when i feel a little bit off. >> reporter: david is going without health insurance this year after launching a solo consulting practice in washington. due to preexisting conditions, he was denied coverage by all but one plan that cost 1$1500 a month. he will have to buy insurance or pay a fine next year and because he earns more than $45,000 a year, he won't qualify for tax credits to make it afford b. >> nobody knows how much it will cost but the big benfect i'll finally be able to get health care. >>> washington's health exchange proposed 2014 rates. estimates range from $170 to $330 a month for a man his age, and $300 to $600 a month for those in their 50s. small business plans start at about $120 a month for a 20 something worker to $600 a month for a baby boomer. exchanges in washington and states building their own health insurance marketplaces will likely see the widest plan options. for the self-employed and small businesses here in new jersey and more than two dozen other states that opted for federally buil

bertha coombs is live at cnbc headquarters. good morning, bertha. >> reporter: good morning, marla. founders never go away quietly. the futures this morning, though, are pointing higher. looks like we'll get a bit of a bounce back after stocks fell on monday on continuing concern that the fed pulling back from its bond-buying program and worries about china's economy slowing an issues with the banking system there. china's central bank this morning making comments to try to calm investors saying that things are all right. here in the u.s. we'll get data on demand for durable goods, home prices, new home sales and consumer confidence later this morning. the dow dropping 140 points monday to close at 14,660, the nasdaq plunging 36 to 3,321. >>> that's right, men's warehouse founder george zimmer barely out the door, but could already be plotting his come back. he was ousted last week and officially resigned on monday is reportedly exploring his options. those could include teaming up with a spry vat equity firm on a possible buyout bid. >>> the biggest comeback ever for a ceo that was

bertha coombs with more. >> reporter: the american society of clinical oncology annual meeting is one of the most important events in cancer research. where drug companies present the latest data on promising treatments for the deadliest cancers. that has made it a key meeting for investors. >> a dozen companies or so, having analyst meetings over the weekend, at which point they will also showcase their data. and that's a great time for investors and analysts to interact with management teams. >> reporter: the most highly anticipated data on treatments from three major drugmakers, bristol meyers squibb, roche, and merck. >> we have new classes of drugs, such as the immuno therapies, advancing the treatment of potentially a variety of cancers, specifically melanoma, but being evaluated in kidney, breast and lung cancers. >> reporter: the drugs target a protein in cancer cells that binds withceptor that calls td-1. that protein masks cancers from the immune system. the drugs block the protein, allowing the immune system to attack the cancer cells. >> in some patients, you could end up

let's end the second financial quarter with bertha coombs live at cnbc world headquarters. good morning, bertha. >> good morning, scott. we have the futures right now kind of flat. we'll get a little more data in a little bit. stocks are coming off a three-pete with the dow posting its best three-day gain in nearly a year. investors reacting to xhor comments who say they'll use economic data to help determine the future monetary policy, kind of talking people off the ledge here on easing back on stimulus. we'll get numbers on consumer sentiment and manufacturing. the dow starts the day at 15,024, nasdaq will start above 3,400. blackberry shares are sinking scott. they said they had currency problems in venezuela and posted a 13 cent a share loss. the expectation they would post a six cent a share gain. shares are down about 19.5%. >> i didn't know they had room to go lower. bertha coombs, thank you very much. 5:18 right now. you'll recall warren buffett once pointed out he pays a lower tax rate than his own secretary, due to something called carried interest. it affects a lo

bertha coombs joins us live from cnbc headquarters. good morning, bertha. rrp it's that weird wall street thing that happens. we have the futures pointing higher this morning. on wednesday we had stocks leaping higher even after we got a report that showed the first quarter of the economy grew less than expected. now, what seems to be happening here is a case of bad news being good news. here is how you should follow it. bad economic data means the fed is less likely to stop its bond buying program. that's one of the things that people on wall street fear, that the fed will pull back too soon. when we get bad data that means the fed might stay on hold, so that's good. as a result we had stocks moving higher. today we've got a whole lot of data to chew on, unemployment in about a half hour, personal income, spending, pending home sales. and we'll see whether the dow can get back above 15,000. the dow starts at 14,910, up 149 points on the day yesterday. the nasdaq at 3,376 after gaining 28. in my book, scott, i like it when good news is good news. if the eco

let's check in with bertha coombs live at cnbc headquarters. good morning. >> good morning, scott. the futures are pointing the a bounceback at the open stocks falling monday on the continued fears about the fed stepping back from its bond-buying program and worries about china's economy and the banking system there. things bounce back in china pretty strongly today after china's central bank made comments this morning to calm investors saying they were going to keep rates there within a reasonable range. this morning, in a few minutes, we'll be getting data on demand for durable goods, home prices and sales. the dow dropping 140 points on monday starting today at 14,660. the nasdaq plunging 36 to 3,321. that included apple falling back below $400 a share yesterday. that was a two-month low. >> bertha coombs, thank you much. >>> orchard supply hardware asked a bankruptcy judge to approve millions of dollars in bonuses for its executives which can sound kind of strange, of course. why would anyone get a bonus for going bankrupt? actually a common procedure. you need people in charge

. >> now for an early look at business and for that we turn to cnbc's bertha coombs. good morning, bertha. >> good morning, betty. markets could see more red arrows today. stocks come off their worst week since mid-april. investors reacting to the fed meeting. disappointing economic data out of china. data this week on u.s. durable goods, housing and personal income. >>> prices at the pump are following. very unusual this time of year. the average gas price dropping 4 cents to $3.59 a gallon. that's due to large declines in stockpiles in the midwest coupled with cheaper crude prices overall. some fuel is going up. the morning fuel for many of us, starbucks is raising drink prices by as much as 10 cents starting tomorrow. the coffee chain says less than one-third of its beverages will be affected. drip coffee will not be affected. commodity costs make up less than 10% of starbucks' overall expenses. good thing we're spending less on gasoline because a loufts really need that coffee. >>> the price of oil also falls toward $93 a barrel on china's lending concerns. accordi

cnbc's bertha coombs joins us now with all the details. ning, bertha. >> good evening, larry. the supreme court ruling that gene dna material can't be patented but synthetic genes can. this news became news last month when angelina jolie had confirmed she had bracka genes. the court unanimously struck down those patents. the writing is that dna is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely bus it has been isolated, the justices ruled dna modified in a lab is patentable, referring myriad's innovation. myriad hailed that part of the decision. at first investors did, too. take a look at that stocks. at first it went to highs, myriad fell down 5%. quest diagnostics saying it now plans to offer a brack 151 and 2 tests later this year. they say myriad's test is going to be hard to match. >> the devil is really in the details. you need to tow what all those mutations mean. without the benefit of having a database, which myriad has and which a competitor at this point has not, it's going to be really difficult to argue that a, say, $800 com

. >>> for your "first look" at business, we turn to cnbc's bertha coombs. >> stocks leapt wednesday even as the economy grew less than expected in the first quarter. in a bad news is good news interpretation, investors feel perhaps the fed may not be so quick now to end its stimulus program as was thought last week. and a deal in congress to keep student loan rates from doubling may be on the verge of collapse. senate majority leader harry reid says he will not support the bipartisan measure. and how much would you pay for lunch with yahoo!'s ceo? bids in a charity auction are up to $95,000. final bids at charitybuzz.com are due at the end of the day. i'll take you to lunch but i don't know if i'll pay $5,000 to do that. >> i agree. >>> collision course. from a $40 million nfl career to handcuffs and murder charges. things are looking grim for aaron hernandez. sports highlights from around the globe next. >>> nirchg patriots tight end aaron hernandez is behind bars charged with murdering a friend. >> hernandez is being charged in connection with the death of oden lloyd, a 27-year-old sem

. >>> now for an early look at business we tern to cnbc's bertha coombs. good morning. >> good morning, betty. troubling news when it comes to people paying their debts. more people are falling behind now on their car payments. transunion says the rate of late payments rose in the first three months of the year as banks have started extending financing to more borrowers with less than stellar credit. >>> and the ford f-150 is now the most american vehicle. the pickup tops the annual cars.com american made index. replacing the toyota camera which has held that crown since 2009. it ranks vehicles by sales, the amount of u.s.-made parts and where they are assembled. >>> and looking at stocks, stocks could rebound today after falling on monday on continuing concerns from the fed meeting last week. and worries about china's economy. today we're going to get data on durable goods, housing and consumer confidence. have a great day, betty. >> you, too. thank you, bertha. >>> a recent gallup survey of 150,000 american workers found that only about 30% say they are

bertha coombs back by popular demand, live at cnbc headquarters with all the latest details. good to see you, bertha. >> good to see you, jon. those looking for a rebound aren't likely to get it. the futures are pointing the a lower start by as much as 140 points on the dow. the markets are coming off their worst week since mid april. investors are very concerned about the fed easing back on its stimulus program and what kind of effect that's going to have, not to mention weak economic data out of china, weak performance from the chinese markets overnight as well. this week we'll get data on durable goods, housing and personal income. the dow did manage to rebound on friday after two days of losses closing up 41 points to 14,779, the nasdaq slipping eight to 3,337. the dow poised to open about 140 points to the downside. facebook says it inadvertently exposed personal information of 6 million members in the past year. they blamed the data breach on a glitch on its archive of contact information from its 1.1 billion users. facebook says it has fixed that bug and there's no evid

bert bertha coombs has more. >> the test is what alerted angelina jolie she had a high risk of. the supreme court struck it down. they said dna is part of nature and not patent i celigible. they call it a win for invasion. >> it's going to allow smaller companies and sicientists to develop new tests without fear of reprize l from mononotary public lee and -- monopoly. >> they said we believe the court appropriately upheld our claims on cdna and ensure strong property protection for a test. a test which represents 75% of myriad'sish shups. play ton to welcome a one and two test this year. >> there will be other lab tomorrowries that will offer tests, and i think all the lab tomorrs will test a much larger number of genes that can also confir inherited risk of breast and ovarian cancer. >> bill quark says the test set as high bar. >> you want to know what those mutations mean. having that database, it will be difficult to argue that a $800 test will be equivalent. >> the door is open for other genetics testing and advocates say ultimately that's a big win for patients. >>> we begi

big time, bertha coombs watching the trade. >> sellers are very much in control of gold.it did close about $1200 an ounce. dipped below that afterwards. trading saying that is not a support level. just a signing logical big round number. last time we close bred that was august 12, 2010 and looks like we are headed for there as we go to the end of the quarter here. gold and silver on track for worst quarterly decline ever, at least since we have been keeping records. what is interesting is disparity. not a lot of volatility, gld right along with gold to three-year low. take a lock at minors today. some of the miners are starting to head and miners look good and so did mining etfs. very interesting disparity. back to you guys. >> thank you very much. and to seem wa and josh as well. do you realize, maria, this is the best three-day gain of the year since january. that's strength. we started the year with a bang. remember that in january 3rd and beyond. >> it does indicate resilience. we talk about a lot of the buy on mentality but when you talk about the buy as nervous as w

bertha coombs at cnbc headquarters has more on that. rtha, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jon. man, i'd kind of like to have that job shooting the hiking trails in hawaii. futures this morning are pointing the a higher start. it looks like stocks after having a three-pete might be heading for a four-pete, the dow posting its best three-day gain in a year. the dow starts the day back above 15,000 at 15,024 after jumping 114 points yesterday. the nasdaq starts at 3,401 after rising 25. google is looking to branch out beyond smart phones and tablets. the "wall street journal" says the company is working on a video game consul and a wristwatch to combat what apple may be developing. the "journal" says google wants to develop and sell the devices itself and may release at least one of the products this fall. very interesting. folks may be talking to their phone, very dick tracy. >> i like the dick tracy reference. i was excited when they first came up with those phones you could take around. >> all you need is a "get smart" shoe. >>

let's go over to bertha coombs for a look at what apple showed off. evening, bertha. >> reporter: good evening, larry. apple ceo tim cook and co unveiling new products in getting better battery life for devices. cook showed off a new sleek macpro desktop and amped up graphics performance. meantime, the battery on the new mac book air laptop will reportedly run all day without a charge, and the new ios 7 has a new graphic look, and as expected an ad-supported streaming radio service built into the new itunes. the market yawned at the news, but apple's marketing chief took a dig at detractors. >> can't innovate anymore, my ass. >> reporter: innovative perhaps. one big change for the macoss. no more cats. they will be replaced with mavericks which is a surfer favorite near half moon bay. >> bertha coombs, thank you very much. thank you for that quote. very interesting. meredith whitney was the woman who saw that the housing bubble burst all over wall street as well as the big banks. that a couple years ago so what do you think now in the rest our panel t

bertha coombs has more on what that could mean for businesses, insurers, and pays for health care and more. >> reporter: obesity has long been called an epidemic with more than 35% of americans very or extremely over weight. now the american medical association has decided it's time obesity itself is classified as a disease. >> we want to prevent and cure type 2 diabetes and stop cart vascular disease. >> reporter: the obesity society among those who have been calling for a disease designation hailed the move. >> obesity that affects a third of the population is something that people don't routinely discuss with their doctors until it starts resulting in things like diabetes and heart disease and joint disease. >> reporter: it's because of those costly serious chronic conditions most large employers have been on the forefront of fighting obesity in the work force. one in ten offer incentive payments for reaching wellness goals. more than half cover lap band and surgery under insurance benefits. >> they will continue doing that because they are looking at different ways in which to man

. >>> looks like another lousy day ahead for the markets, bertha coombs live at cnbc world headquarters. good morning, bertha. >> good morning, scott. literally a case of the mondays. futures pointing the a lower start of the dow, down about 140 points. coming off the worst week since mid april. investors concerned about the fed saying it is going to cut off its bond buying program starting at the end of the year and finish it about a year from now. we're going to get data this week on durable goods, housing and personal income. that will all weigh into the fed's timeline and decision. the dow managing to rebound on friday after two days of heavy losses, closing up 41 points to 14,799, the nasdaq slipping eight to 3,337. the lau looking like it will open down about 140 points. back to you. >> we'll continue to cover that throughout the day. thank you, bertha. >>> emery fill's pixar winning at the box office. this is pixar's 14th move view. previous movie "brave" didn't do well, "cars 2" got a 39% of rotten tomatoes. you have to go all the way back to 2009, "up," one of the best picxar m

bertha coombs, live at cnbc world headquarters with details. also a look at how futures are trading. a decent start to the day. >> looks like it so far, jon. in 15 minutes we'll get a final reading on first quarter gdp, the pace how the economy degrgr during the first three months. new home sales and home prices helped the nasdaq snap a four-day losing streak. dow rose 100 points to 14760 and also the nasdaq as well break that losing streak, rising to 3347, adding 27 points. microsoft going to take wraps off of its new tune-up on flagship windows 8 software today. it's dubbed windows 8.1, code name blue. aimed at addressing the gripes people have had with the latest version of the operating system. one of the chief ones being the lack of start button on the lower left hand corner of the screen. update free for microsoft's partners. it will be available to general public later this year. we all think we like change but you move things around on us and it's annoying. >> especially when it comes to technology. i like to keep it simple, streamlined

bertha coombs right now at cnbc world headquarters with the latest details along with a look at how the markets are doing this morning. so far, bertha, it's safe to say good morning for the futures. >> it is a good morning for the futures. i'm still thinking about the toll on the milky way whether you have ez pass where you wouldn't have to bring out change because it would probably float away. way too much overthinking. even though we had the not-so-great report on gdp showing the economy grew less than expected, it could be a case that bad news is good news for some investors in the market. we get bad data, that means the fed won't be so quick to end the stimulus programs. you'll recall last week the markets fell out of bed at the thought the fed was ending qe 3 as some people call it. >>> today we'll get weekly unemployment claims, personal income and spending and pending home sales. the dow, we'll see whether it gets back above the 15k mark, starting at 14,910 after rising 149 points. the nasdaq sparts at 3376 after adding 28. a deal by congress to help student loans from doubling c

. >>> now for your first look at business, we turn to cnbc's berth th bertha coombs. >>> investors are reacting to the fed meeting and supporting economic data out of china. this week we'll get data on u.s. durable goods, housing and income. >>> prices at the pump are falling which is unusual. the average gas price dropping four cents to $3.59 a gallon. but, another part of fuel is going up. starbucks is raising drink prices by as much as 10 cents starting tomorrow. however, the coffee chain says less than 1/3 of its beverages will be affected by the chain. drip coffee will not be affected. commodity costs make up less than 10% of starbucks overall expenses. got to have that coffee in the morning. >> fuel. you're speaking my language. thanks, bertha. >>> according to forbes, nba championship will net lebron james $7 million in income. >>> twinkies lovers have a twinkle in their eye. the super sweet sponge cakes will be back on the shelves on july 15th in what they're calling the sweetest comeback in the history ever. >>> the latest survey shows americans are feeling better about their

bertha coombs live at cnbc world headquarters and your wednesday look how futures are trading. good morning. >> good morning. we've got the futures pointing to a higher open at this stage of the morning. stocks rebounding tuesday on the back of better than expected data on durable goods, new home sales and new prices. nasdaq snapped a four-day losing streak, 45 minutes from now a final reading on first quarter gdp which should show the economy grew at a modest pace during the first three month of the year. the dow rising 100 points 14760. the nasdaq yath a adding 27. bp taking out a full-page ad in the "the washington post," new york times and "wall street journal." mounting an aggressive campaign to challenge billion of dollars in settlement payouts in result of the oil spill. >>> the federal trade commission is telling google, yahoo! microsoft to get with mobile these days. telling them they have to do a better job of identifying what search results are and paid ads are. the move comes as so man us are using s.m.a.r.t. phones to search the web. text labels aren't easy to spot

for your first look at business, we turn to bertha coombs. good morning. >> good morning. we've got the futures pointing to a lower start after stocks rebounded yesterday on the back of better than expected data on durable goods, new home sales and prices. ftc is telling google anya high school to better identify the difference between ads. and bp takes up full page ads in major u.s. papers as it mounts an aggressive campaign to challenge what could be billions of dollars for businesses hurt by the 2010 gulf oil spill. that's it. back to you. >> straight ahead, a war of words breaks out between a-rod and his yankees boss. that's coming up next. every parent wants the safest and healthiest products for their family. that's why i created the honest company. i was just a concerned mom, with a crazy dream. a wish that there was a company that i could rely on, that did all of the hard work for me. i'm jessica alba, and the honest company was my dream. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped a million businesses successfully get started, including jessica's. launch your dream at

bertha coombs joins us now with zimmer's side of the story. ning, bertha. >> good evening, larry. that's right. the company has postponed tomorrow's scheduled shareholder meeting in the wake of the ouster. and george zimmer is making it clear he and the board are splitting on bad terms. in a statement to cnbc, you've got to imagine that famous deep basso profoundo voice saying this -- "over the last 40 years i have built men's wearhouse into a multibillion-dollar company with amazing employees and loyal customers," he says. "but over the past several months," he says, "i have expressed my concerns to the board about the direction the company is currently heading in. instead of fostering the kind of dialogue in the boardroom that has in part contributed to our success, the board," he says, "has inappropriately chosen to silence my concerns through termination as an executive officer." the stock today fell more than 1%. i guess they didn't like the way that looked on wall street. but year to date the stock is up 19%, outperforming the overall mar

bertha coombs at the nymex.at it looks like. all the major averages are in negative territory. the s&p is perched just above important technical support at 1600. we will talk about that and the fact that the home builders are down 6%, 7% today after the break. >>> par rena bartiromo just sat down for an exclusive interview with house speaker john boehner. here is what he had to say about the fed-driven market losses. >> the sell-off is in large part due to the policies that we've had coming out of the federal reserve. you know, you can't continue to deflate our money and deflate it and deflate it, have the equity markets go up without some change. now, bernanke has made it clear, he's doing these policies in the absence of the government doing its part to help improve our economy. that's why democrats and republicans here on capitol hill and the president need to deal with -- fix our tax code that would help us promote more economic growth and deal with our long-term spending problem. >> a timely interview with

bertha coombs joins us from cnbc headquarters with more. we're coping, bertha.y have seen stress in the markets, right? the fed today will meet with bank officials behind closed doors in boston to discuss the latest round of stress tests. the 18 largest u.s. banks are required to submit their own self-run test by july 5th showing how they'd fare under a severe economic shock. the fed won't critique the results but banks must make them public by the end of september. on the list of topics, residential and corporate loans and counterparty credit risks or how much banks could lose if one of their trading partners goes belly up. rise interesting rates are also expected to be on the agenda. t"the wall street journal repo " report"s banks submitted a proposal to u.s. regulators on how to pay for restructuring a too big to fail institution in the event of a future crisis. this is part be an effort to preempt tougher government rules. the plan would require banks to hold a certain amount of debt and equity to be used to prop up any failed company seized by regulators. s

bertha coombs has more on marissa mayer and the one-year anniversary and what we can anticipate fromst shareholder meeting, louisa. it's interesting because yahoo used to be headquartered in santa clara, so in a sense, they're going back to their roots as they look to their future. mayer was named yahoo ceo on july 17th last year, coming over from google. and the stock has responded fairly well under her tenure. at one point, it was up nearly 70%. now nearly a year later, it is back a bit, still up a respectable 54% for her tenure. analysts say much of that gain, though, has come from share buybacks and the sale of yahoo's assets, including ali baba. mayer has revamped key products, such as yahoo's home page and e-mail and jump-started acquisitions, notably, last thursday, the company finally completed its $1.1 billion purchase of blogging site tumblr. at the reuters global technology summit last week, they say yahoo is working on ways to expand its video content. reports say yahoo is in the bidding for hulu, the online tv programming hub owned by disney and news corp. online video c

bertha coombs looks at how metal prices have been tarnished as well. bertha?ld seeing biggest drop since april 16. if you look to the massive sell off, once fell through the support level, 1325.00 an ounce. silver getting hit even harder, closing near three-year low. only positive in the met als pit was volatility spiking to two-month high. at this point, traders say with higher interest rates, and economy not picking up enough to spur demand particularly for copper. you don't see any reason for metals to move higher in the near term. back to you. >> thank you so much. hedge funds taking heat. kate kelly with that update. >> for a lot of macro hedge fund, is a pain of merging markets. china, russia and brazil are down huge today. more than 5% on date if you look at one of the more popular etfs here. that adds up to 17% for the year so far and pain is felt across the board in emerging markets across asset classes. bonds and asian sovereign debt are taking hits, along with currencies too. take a lock for example at mexican peso, a type of currency hedge funds pl

bertha coombs with the details there. bertha? >> ugly indeed if you are long, mandy.aying they were just taken aback by the big fall that we saw again today. they think that there was some technical liquidation that happened overnight. gold closing here at a near three-year low, and for the quarter with just two days left, we are seeing both gold and silver poised for their worst quarterly performance since we've been keeping records on this. that's 40 years for gold, 50 years for silver. and at this point, mandy, traders see nothing to really stop this downward slide. >> in fact, later on, we're going to be discussing why gold does seem to have lost its glitter as a safehaven investment, right, bill? >> exactly. and meantime, with about 15 minutes left, we are hanging on. so the stock that being offered for sale in a big way, apparently is being pared out, being matched. it's up 159 points toward the close here. >>> also, healthcare is usually considered a defensive sector, but up next, davis seeberg says why that sector's performance today is a bullish sign of the m

. >> thank you very much, bertha coombs. >>> homes under contract last month hit its highest level in six years, as josh just mentioned. but now it's jumped by the most in 26 years. these are huge headlines. they seem to be conflicting. are they? >> well, no, look, they're huge numbers, no question about it, brian. but it's all about rising mortgage rates, rates that threaten to rule the housing recovery. take a look. the average rate on the 30-year fixed contract jumped from 44.6%, that according to freddie mac. that's the highest since 2011 and the biggest weekly jump since the spring of 1997, but we're told those rates are already higher. rising rates that started in may are behind the spike in signed contracts to buy existing homes. up an existing 6.7% month to month, they say buyers on the fence were scared into signing. others, though, on the twitter feed, are saying that isn't it. they say it's the jump in homes for sale with new listings and the fear of rising prices. of course, rising rates will hit those rising prices. >> this really is a momentum in terms of home price appr

bertha coombs is tracking the action over at the nymex. >> hi, bertha.sing here at a one-month low even as the dollar is weaker at this hour. a lot of traders on edge ahead of tomorrow's press conference by fed chairman ben bernanke. those weak housing start numbers certainly didn't help copper today which closes near a six-week hoe and palladium has been under pressure all day. some really weak car-buying numbers coming out of europe, palladium, platinum used for catalytic converters, both of them under pressure today. >> thanks very much. to the trading floor, bob pisani is on the floor of the nyse. bob, what are you watching right now? >> well, trade remembers worried about mr. bernanke's press conference and certainly not showing, it two days essentially where the markets have moved to the upside. the important thing is i think people are getting more comfortable with the concept of tapering occurring, and i'm sure he's going to talk about that. he can't let that really get away from himself too much here. the important thing is we're seeing stocks t

. >>> i'm bertha coombs with your cnbc market wrap. the dow plunging 206 points. falling 22. while the nasdaq lost 38 points. stocks sinking after federal reserve chairman ben bernanke suggested the fed could scale back on its $85 billion a month bond buying program later this year. >>> mortgage applications took a hit down from last week. this after interest rates hit their highest level in a year. blackberry shares dropped after an analyst downgraded the stock one week before the company's earnings report. that's it from cnbc. we're first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >> welcome back to "hardball." they're angry out there and they're loud. let's watch. >> how many people here believe that an individual who has less than a high school education pays more in taxes than they get in government benefits? would you raise your hand if you think that's the case? wow. now, i've asked that question to thousands of u.s. citizens, and not a single one of them thinks that a person who has less than a high school education pays more in taxes than they get in

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bertha coombs has an update on the emerging markets trade. that's been a tough one of late. >> it has been. you know, alec is not the only one who is not all that cheered by the market whisperings. certainly we're seeing a little bit of a recover are you but yesterday these etfs were hammered. yesterday the fxi, the ftse 25 stock index was actually down 19%. so just a modest recovery today. analysts are saying the predominant strategy on the emerging market fund in particular has been involving investors selling the in the money puts to roll down and get long lower strike puts. so you're seeing a little bit of a recovery, but long term people are with alec on this one. >> at what point do you have enough confidence in the story to put money to work? >> not this year. if you believe in the bullish nikkei, if you believe the yen is going lower, then the emerging markets can't work. their currencies have to be lowered, and the currencies continue to be lowered to be competitive on exports. that's going to have capital outflows -- >> but if you h

bertha coombs, a lot of pain down there for thoeps those hoping for a rebound in gold. >> a lot of pain the bulls and traders saying what they are seeing here is technical liquidation. let's not forget, we're two days to the end of the quarter, and it is shaping up to be a record for both gold and silver. both of them on pace to have their worst quarterly declines since we've been keeping records. that's 40 years for gold. 50 years for silver, and copper has gone along for the ride, although a relative outperformer. sue, back to you. >> bertha, thank you. >>> i mentioned session highs on the dow jones industrial average. the s&p also performing at session highs. josh lipton is here on the floor of the nyse. boy, a tale of two markets. gold plunge and the dow jones industrial average solidly in the green? yeah. look at the blue chips up another 135 right now. plant the market leaders and put these up, the dju, the rmz and drg so that's utilities, reits and pharmas, your gainers. on the other hand, though, look at the commodity stocks, clf, vale and alcoa, we'll end with the russian softw

. >> i'm bertha coombs. a mixed day for stocks. the dow dropping fine points. nasdaq was up four. apple's ceo tim cook took to the stage to unveil a new line of macbook air computers along with updates to apple's mobile operating systems and a new music streaming service. facebook jumped nearly 5% after an analyst upgrade from a hold to a buy. there's speculation the social network giant may be added to the s&p 500 within the next year. that's it from cnbc. now back to "hardball." >>> welcome back to "hardball." a trio of white house controversies and a nassive security leak having kept republicans occupied to their enjoyment in many cases. while most of the rhetoric particularly surrounding the irs and benghazi issues have taken aim at destroying the white house, there are signs they have woken up to a bigger and more important political reality for their own party. immigration reform. in the election we all know democrats took the latino vote by a margin of more than 40 points. if republicans know what's good for them, they may get aboard quickly on the issue

prices are closing and bertha coombs is tracking action over at the nymex. >> reporter: we're seeingf the session but still near the three-week lows, the levels. rising interest rates, the fed tapering, these are things that are seen as a real headwind for gold. black rock says rising interest rates are a negative and those with positions in gold trim those this hour. that said, yesterday the spider gold trust said they saw the biggest inflows into that fund in over a month. copper also falling to a one-month low on today on concerns we won't see a pickup in china after that data we got over the weekend. guys, back to you. >> thank you, bertha, very much. to the action here, we've dropped about 25 points just in the last couple of minutes, down 75 on the dow. bob pisani? >> wondering what's going on, it's not about the stock market but about the interest rate market. we're very much hostage to the interest rates. i want to put up the healed on the ten-year. it really is that simple. we've seen as interest rates started moving off of their lows. interest rates started moving up and we