were buick excelle models. while auto sales in china have been strong compared to last year, they've actually been declining month over month this year. a possible sign of a cooling chinese economy. june sales slid nearly 2.5% from may and sales were also down the two months before that. still u.s. auto manufacturers are betting big on china. g.m. is the market leader, selling more than 2.5 million vehicles there last year primarily through joint ventures. ford is increasing its exposure there as well, planning to add six new plants in china that will produce more than a million vehicles by 2015. diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," chicago. >> tom: some modest gains drove the major u.s. stock indices to new three month highs today. the day started out with the s&p 500 jumping on the heels of gains in european and asian markets. there was no headline economic data today as the buying cooled somewhat in to the closing bell. the index finished up a fraction. but it was enough for it to continue the trend since june of hig