cnbc has learned that the government has testimony from a former top paulson official appearing to contradict a part of its own case, specifically, cnbc has reviewed documents that questions the government's contention in its case against goldman sachs that the wall street firm misled the insurance company aca about paulson & company's intentions to short the deal. the government's complaint reads "unbeknownst to aca at the time, paulson intended to effectively short the rmbs portfolio it helped select." however, cnbc has learned that a top paulson official, paolo pellegrini, told executives that they intended to short the portfolio. they asked him about a meeting with laura schwartz -- "did you tell her that you were

pelligrini denies comment to cnbc.he deal was structured in such a way to provide upside of $900 million for paulson, the downside of only $20 million to the hedge fund. trish? >> steve, let's back up here. the government saying, of course, the aca had no idea that paulson was going to short here. this testimony, obviously, seems to contradict that. so, might the government be looking at something else that, that would -- i would have to assume that would give them pause to think that aca had no idea. >> i think that's a good idea, trish. could be looking specific or only at the offering documents which do not apparently state that paulson was involved in helping to select the portfolio and other testimony or other evidence to that effect. >> if aca knew, in fact, that paulson was going to short this, should they have had an obligation to tell their clients then? does aca bear some of this responsibility? >> interesting question. what we need to remember about this, trish, aca ended up being a major investor in this de

we are "the call" on cnbc. we need cowboy monitorism. >>> the dow back above 11,000 as euro done -- also on traders' minds, the earnings season which kicks off after the bell today with alcoa reporting results. the dow right now is trading to the plus side by 23 points. 11,020.63. the s&p 500 also in positive territory by about 3 1/3 points. aig, titanium metals, st. jude the biggest percentage winners. nasdaq to the plus side by almost four points. about a tenth of a percent, 2457. let's head to bob pisani on the floor of the new york stock exchange with more. what's moving? >> the important thing today is they're trying to figure out where we should go with the earnings situation. the wonderful thing about starting with alcoa -- there's three months on aluminum. $2,400. this per metric ton. do the math simply. about $1.10 a pound right now for aluminum. it's been coming off lows since the middle of february. it was below a dollar. it's been coming off. that's the good news. here's the bad news. on a longer te

in this letter to clients obtained by cnbc. yes, john paulson made $1 billion or so, taking the short end of the abacus deal, but he says everything he did was transparent and open. he did have a hand in picking the mortgages in the deal. on that, pretty much everyone agrees. but aca, the biggest investor in the deal, as you heard, had in the long side of the deal, had the final say, paulson writes. "paulson did not structure or originate the abacus transaction," he says, which seems to contradict the s.e.c.'s assertion that paulson was secretly pulling the strings. by the way, back in early 2007 when this deal was done, mortgages were viewed as among the safest investments possible. the fact that paulson was betting the other way didn't seem to dissuade people back then, suggesting his testimony wasn't as material in 2007 as the s.e.c. claims it is today with hindsight. still, they say goldman sachs didn't disclose it and the question remains does that constitute fraud? also the question, erin and mark, ikb, the german bank th

cnbc contributor and professor of school of business, peter navarro. peter, good to see you. give us your reaction to the goldman sachs story? >> well, the dodd bill went from a 50-50 gamble to a near certainty in terms of passage. i think that that's bearish for the markets. in terms of bob's conspiracy theory, i think that there is quite a bit to that. but i think that we will have the dodd bill no question about it. >> okay. the timing on this, you also say is suspect, and something that art kasian mentioned to me as the news broke that the timing is something to take a look at. but, timing or not, i mean, the reality is that the implication is that we are probably goi ingo see more activity on the regulation froonnt, peter. >> yes, this is what troubles me. john paulson and if the allegations are true, he did everything wrong as bernie madoff and jeff skilling did, because it is irreprehensible with the billion dollar screw job to go in and manipulate the deal, and the investors get really stripped of their wealth. i mean, that is crazy. and the po

"fast money," 5:00 eastern on cnbc. first in business worldwide. >>> by the time earnings hit the street, the easy money's made. so "fast money's" peering into the future of retail. shopping for red hot returns ahead of the reports. >>> plus, have you laid the printing press to rest? get with the times. papers are popping on the charts. we've got all the stocks that are fit to trade when america's post-market show continues. (announcer) roundup extended control does two jobs... at once. one: kills weeds to the root. two: forms a barrier, preventing new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control. ♪ well, look who's here. it's ellen. hey, mayor white. how you doing? great. come on in. would you like to see our new police department? yeah, all right. this way. and here it is. completely networked. so, anything happening, suz? she's all good. oh, my gosh. is that my car? [ whirring ] [ female announcer ] the new community. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. >>> welcome back to the after-hours

you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. >>> all right. if turns out the s.e.c. vote on whether or not to proceed with the case was split down party lines. mary schapiro and two other democrats on the commission voted for, and two republicans voted against. so is this investigation nothing but a political stunt? here is tom kern of pekar and abramson. what's your quick take on this? i've called the s.e.c. thing, they are attempting to regain their manhood or womanhood, do you have a thought of that. >> i think the enforcement under mr. khuzami has made big gains. they are acting as an independent agent, not tied down by what other agencies or attorney generals around the country are doing. they're bringing their cases as they see them. the steamford case is a perfect example of that. i think we're walking toward making the enforcement more efficient. >> why was it split? 3-2, harvey pitt commented on this, you know, it's interesting for a crusading s.e.c. trying to straighten thing out. that's kind of a squishy vote. >> let's hope the s.e.c. is not crusa crusadin

he joins us first on cnbc to give us his outlook for profits and the economy. that's today on "power lunch." jim owens of cat. it's going to be 1:00 p.m. eastern time. >>> trish, over to you. >> thanks so much. >>> when we come back, we're going to talk about small cap stocks, they're rack of double digit gain. do these tiny little titans still have room to run? >>> plus the euro taking a hit as germany drags its feet over aid for greece. we're going to head live to athens for the latest. with fidelity, you can take your trading around the world, because now you can trade u.s. and foreign stocks online, in 12 markets, 24 hours a day, all from the same account, and settle in u.s. dollars or the local currency. plus, we'll guide you with international research and realtime quotes, so you can diversify your portfolio, wherever -- whenever. and we'll be on call around the clock, while you trade around the globe. fidelity investments. turn here. >>> welcome back to "the call." i want to get you caught up on these markets. still in positive territory. barely there. p

cnbc's cnbc. is this survival of the fittest of who gets the first flight out, stephane?> the largest airport in france is not back to normal yet. we have 800 flights scheduled for today, which is approximately 40% of a normal day. air france gives priority to its long haul destinations, including some flights to new york, which the company hopes to reach 80% of its schedule today. that being said there are still a lot of disruptions in europe because of traffic restrictions, but also because some airports in europe are still closed. the french transportation minister is confident that the situation will be back to normal within the next three days and he hopes that 85 dozen french people should find their way back home by the end of this week. also they're confident that the new ash cloud which is in the uk right now should not impact the traffic in france in the next coming days. was it the right decision to ground so many planes so quickly? the engineer admitted that the first measure to estimate the density of the ashes was made only yesterday, which confirms that the

phil lebeau for cnbc covering the auto industry for us.n that dramatic rescue of a 2-year-old toddler who fell into new york city's east river this weekend. it's just amazing. the father, david anderson jumped into the river to save his little girl. by time he drove in, a good samaritan was already in the water. david spoke exclusively to matt lauer on the "today" show just this morning and described the moment we're watching. >> we didn't have a conversation in the water. >> right. >> but i looked over and i was immediately going over, and there he was. he had her up, had her head up. she was crying. and i just went right in. and he handed her to me. and luckily there was some wire hanging down the pier. we were able to grab on to it and hold her. >> how cute is she? no one has been able to identify that good samaritan. the mysterious frenchman jumped into the cab after the rescue. the toddler's mother said she'd like to offer him her best wishes and talk to him personally. >>> shocking allegations of abuse on the set of desperate housewi

find out what i'm talking about after the break on "street signs" on cnbc. to the all-american meal. french fries, and our national passion for them, are legendary. classic. iconic. but times change and people want better foods. so cargill helped a restaurant chain create... a zero trans fat cooking oil for their french fries...

the ftse cnbc global 300 is down 29 points. most asian stock markets were down today, christine, and so are european stock markets. >> that's right. a bit of a correction going on. why? because we have gains in the past weeks and investors are taking the opportunity to cash in and take profits off the table. the nikkei 225 using the strong yen as an excuse. the shanghai composite off 0.9%. we did get news that the pboc is draining some liquidity from the market. the hang seng is down 0.3%. elsewhere, the kospi is one of a few markets which ended to the upside. the bombay sensex trading down 1% and the aussie market trading off 1%. overall, we're seeing a correction here in asia all because of fears of higher interest rates in the u.s. nicole. >> and that's the focus, christine, today. we are getting more fed speak out of washington today. we're getting same-store sales in the united states. market futures are lower about 42 below fair value at this hour. this is after the dow finished farther away from the 11,000 mark yesterday

not everyone else will. >> cnbc rocks! hey can i play with the toys ? sure, but let me get a little information first. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. aflac is not more benefits at greater cost to your company insurance. aflac is not how do i fit it in my company's budget insurance. aflac is help protect and care for your employees at no cost to your company insurance. with aflac, your employees pay only for the coverage they want or need. and, the cost to you - nothing at all. if all you know about us is... duck: aflac! ...then you don't know quack. to find out why more businesses provide aflac, visit getquack.com. >>> we're back with howard ludnick and peter navarro. howard, your business is booming. y

of course we have to mention that comcast is in the process of buying cnbc's parent, nbc universal. back over to you. >> thanks very much, julia. up next a case of government gone wild? find out why a proposal by a california state legislator could prevent folks in the

let's check in with cnbc's silicon valley bureau chief jim goldman. jim, you've been on the conference call, about 33 minutes in right now. what is the latest you're hearing? >> you know, the interesting thing, you guys are hitting on some of the key points, but you wonder if the company's gross margins may have been a little squeamish because you're thinking maybe if gross margins were better the company would have been able to increase its full-year eps a little more, and that's what's going to come up in the q & a part of this conference call. did gross margins sink to a level where 11.20 could have been 11.25 or 11.30? are the problems the company is seeing operationally to meet that gross margins miss going to continue on into the second, third, and fourth quarter? that's sort of what i'll be watching on for that. you mentioned the backlog, the $134 billion. right now you know the company is saying that erosion in backlog is now lower than it's been at any time in two years.

the apple hype machine is in overdrive and cnbc is there. the view, out. new details on what you'll actually get on saturday if you're lucky fluff to open up the white box, will it be the death the laptop? stay with us. with fidelity, you can take your trading around the world, because now you can trade u.s. and foreign stocks online, in 12 markets, 24 hours a day, all from the same account, and settle in u.s. dollars or the local currency. plus, we'll guide you with international research and realtime quotes, so you can diversify your portfolio, wherever -- whenever. and we'll be on call around the clock, while you trade around the globe. fidelity investments. turn here. aflac is not more benefits at greater cost to your company insurance. aflac is not how do i fit it in my company's budget insurance. aflac is help protect and care for your employees at no cost to your company insurance. with aflac, your employees pay only for the coverage they want or need. and, the cost to you - nothing at all. if all you know about us is... duck: aflac! ...then you don

not really surprised that bank stocks rose today after the president's speech, as was reported on cnbc, because what this is to the large financial institutions on wall street is taking the bailout ideas of t.a.r.p. and making them permanent. this is a permanent wall street bailout. house republicans and the american people oppose that approach, and sadly the president embraced it today when he visited new york city. >> it's interesting, by the way, congressman -- by the way, i love talking stocks with you. not all the banks went up. a lot of these big banks went down. citigroup, jp morgan chase, and u.s. bancorp actually fell. but you're right, the u.s. bank index was up. what would it take to gain your

eastern time on cnbc.ng to take a break right here but take a look once again at the senate floor. and we promise you it is live because if you look very carefully people are moving in that picture. >> the woman in the orange. >> she was doing the same thing -- >> it's on a loop. >> she was walking -- >> maybe we should wave because i think they're watching us. >> it's like the movie "speed." >> they've got a big screen up there. >> they're almost done voting. we'll have the vote count hopefully on the other side of this break. stay tuned. >> one of the most well-defined moments in markets is when a stock is at a conventional buy juncture. that is, right at past tops, toying with the prospects of breaking out above those tops. lots of stocks are doing this right now. it's where there's a lost bullibullot of bullish momentum. ball corp. two-year charkts 59 chart the 55 point very precise. weekly chart. ur giant-brained, multi-armed, wicked-fast, tireless, robotic trading engine, also known as automated trad

that, plus a whole lot more. >>> a cnbc exclusive. chair the fic sheila bair why bigger banks should pay bigger fees. >>> instead of counting calories or carbs, this restaurant you to count carbon. fast food founder of otarrian will explain her carbon conscious philosophy. >>> plus, the latest porn scandal and, no, it's not tiger or jesse, it involves the government agency and your taxpayer money. the findings will be sure to shock you. the second buttoned up hour of "power lunch" starts right now. >>> and welcome, everybody, to the second hour of "power lunch." i'm tyler mathisen. the white house says it backs greece's move for aid. >> i'm michelle caruso-cabrera oil is rising after this morning's home sale numbers and sharon epperson will have more. >>> despite flat markets today 110 stocks hit 52-week highs including industrials, tech and even real estate. >>> i'm sue herera. president obama making a big push for financial regulatory reform. what will reform mean for banks and consumers? joining us in the studio right here with an

of course we have to mention that comcast is in the process of buying cnbc's parent, nbc universal. back over to you. >> thanks very much, julia. up next a case of government gone wild? find out why a proposal by a california state legislator could prevent folks in the golden state from enjoying their favorite brew or cocktail. boss: y'know, geico opened its doors back in 1936 and now we're insuring over 18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> here's what to watch for tomorrow. >> i'm steve liesman at cnbc global headquarters. tomorrow we're waiting for testimony from former fed chairman alan greenspan before the financial crisis inquiry commission. and then later in the day, current fed chairman ben bernanke will talk about economic policy challenges past, present, and future. that's 1:30 p.m. eastern time from dallas. >>> rick santelli on the floor of the cme gr

how is all this impacting the ftse cnbc global 3 hunl index? let's check to see how that is faring in light of what's happening in the equity market. we are waiting for it to come up. just give us a little bit of time so far. nicole, it is one of those things on a thursday morning. what can i say? >> i like to call it a friday eve, christine. it makes it sounds a little better. regardless of the charts, let's take a look at what we're seeing in the united states. lower across the board with dow futures down about 8 below fair value right now. excuse me. they are a little bit lower, actually. so are nasdaq futures and s&p 500 futures. we have about 100 of the s&p 500 companies reportsing already with 85% of those beating earnings expectations. pepsi, nokia, blackstone are some of the one withes we're looking forward to today, christine. >> joining us to talk more about the issues or the day, aaron smith, managing director of europe fund financial. aaron, good to have you with us. we are focused on the earnings coming out from the u.s. right now.

on cnbc. ♪ well, look who's here. it's ellen. hey, mayor white. how you doing? great. come on in.uld you like to see our new police department? yeah, all right. this way. and here it is. completely networked. so, anything happening, suz? she's all good. oh, my gosh. is that my car? [ whirring ] [ female announcer ] the new community. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. money halftime report." time for a special "bring your child to work day" edition of "trade to go." a lot of special traders are joining us today. william kaminski, what's your trade to go? son of gary. >> north carolina. because my brother james is going there. >> karen, you've got your two twins here. >> william, what do you got? >> hasbro. >> i like tj maxx. >> ross? >> i like the yankees. >> that is a good one. that does it for us here on the halftime report. on tonight's "fast money," we've got all your after-the-bell action on microsoft as well as amazon. steve, what are you guys working on? >>> we're watching the market very closely on power lunch and in addition, we're watching greece. is

>>> welcome to cnbc's "worldwide exchange."et's cross live to tokyo and check in on the trading day there with ken moriyasu. moriyasu san. >> hi there, christine. tokyo stocks rebounded about the 11,000 mark gaining 189 points from the day. apple's strong earnings report and the bigger yen like mitsubishi jfg financial. a & a shares climbed 3.2% after resuming regular flights to europe. after the six-day hold caused by the volcanic ash, flights are likely to operate at full pass for several days. panasonic began sales of 3d tvs today. rival sony plans to unveil its lineup of 3d tvs in june when many workers receive their summer bonuses. toe see back is expected to join in this summer. and in a country notorious for speaking bad english, here is another big below. geos filed for bankruptcy today satellite saddled with a debt of..5 billion yen. geos will hand over 3,500 schools and the rest will be closed. it follows another major english school which went out of business in 2007 and that was the nikkei business report. back to y

as you might imagine from a cnbc audience, wow. look at that. of course, our demographic is the highest demographic in television and that goes to the point the critics would make which is it would benefit those who are at the top of the income scale. >> exactly. >> i mean, you know, let's just be honest for you 86% out there. you're not getting a flat tax. i mean, i'm just going to state the fax. >> steve forbes has been a guest on this program numerous times discussing the merets on the flat tax and interesting to see those numbers. >> if you just play it out hypothetically if you were to do it and then you're going to be getting rid of. i'm not saying these are good things to get rid of or bad things. personal economy, how many jobs in america are linked to the bloated and ridiculous tax code that we have? it might be bloated and ridiculous. >> is that necessarily a bad thing? you wonder about the revenue side and fairness. when was the last time we had significant tax reform in this country? it's been a long time. >> have we ever? >> yes, bi

the chairman is joseph ficolara, and he joins me on a first cnbc interview. great to have yu on the program. welcome back. >> thank you, maria. glad to be from ohio. >> yes. let me ask you about ohio. you had arizona's desert hills as well, and can you tell me how this plays into the growth strategy and why these two acquisitions were important in ohio and arizona? >> well, this particular am trust am whicquisition was $11 billion to retain a $8 billion deposit base which was down $3 billion from the high. so obviously we have a franchise with the ability to grow, and in fact, despite the fact that this is an fdic-assisted transaction, the deposit base has been growing all through the first quarter. so the deposit base in ohio, in florida and in arizona is actually up. the addition of desert hills just adds six more branchs to the existing 12 in arizona, which makes the franchise even more viable. very, very pleased with everything that we have found here. the people that we have working in the ohio savings bank are the people who were core to the company, an

john harwood is cnbc's chief washington correspondent and is on location there, and cnbc's steve leaseman both joining us. first to you, john. the speech, your impression of it. was he tough on wall street, not tough enough? what do you think of the political tone that came out of the speech today? >> i think the tone, and rhea, reflected the evolution of the political debate in washington. you know, when the president gave his weekly radio address last weekend, he was very tough on wall street and republicans talking about cynical and deceptive arguments that were being made. today there was more conciliation in his remarks. we talked afterwards to a prom negligent hedge fund manager who said, yeah, he spanked us a little bit but not all that much and tried to bring people together. interestingly, he closed his speech with a version of that famous it ration that he had at the 2004 convention when he said there's not a red america or a blue america, there's one america. he said there's not a clear divide between main street and wall street and we all rise or fall together and if that unif

cnbc's trish regan has this scoop on the pot.ey, trish. >> reporter: the way that you rolled off 420 off of your tongue, erin -- >> right. >> -- let's back up real quick and let our viewers know because not everyone knows what 420 is. it's a counterkumture holiday that started in the 1980s. so just kind of like you have the 5:00 is the time to drink, well for marijuana enthusiasts 420 p.m. around the world is the time to light up a joint and most especially on april 20th at 420. so with that in mind we have a huge special report today on marijuana, an in-depth special on the economic, the politics of marijuana in america. and it shows that despite efforts for legalization of recreational pot used in california and the majority of americans are still opposed to legalization for any purpose though they support it for medicinal reasons. now according to our poll results on cnbc.com, 55% of americans oppose legalization for any purpose, but the one-third of the country is in favor. soap you can see right there, 33%, about one-third o

eastern, only on cnbc.

in an interview with cnbc, obama said a value added tax works in other countries and would be novel in the u.s. many european countries impose a value added tax which taxes the value that is added at each stage of production for certain commodities. >>> well, ben franklin has gotten a high-tech facelift because counterfeiters love $100 bills so much, the government unveiled a new one wednesday. it's a lot tougher to copy. among the new features, a blue 3d security ribbon on the front plus an image of a bell inside an ink well changes color as you move the bill. the new $100 go into circulation next year. >>> and what do you get for that special someone who has absolutely everything? how about their own personal greek island. 40 private islands are now available for sale. they're beautiful, but they don't come cheap. one could set you back as much as $13 million. and, emily, when you think about it, that way houses can be 20, 30, 40, 50. a whole island for $13 million? it's kind of a deal. >> and nice to have friends in high places. thank you, ashley. ashley morrison here in new york. >

this is "the call" on cnbc. >>> financials taking front and center this morning. citigroup continuing its remarkable comeback, easily beating wall street's earning forecast. everyone is still talking about the sec fraud charges against goldman sachs. also adding to positive sentiment, the index of leading indicators rising for the 12th straight month. right now take a look at how the s&p 500 is trading. essentially flat on the session. exactly flat. take a look at the dow as well. up almost 10 points. 9 1/2, 10% above 11,000. the nasdaq. oil as well? why not. oil down sharply today. about 2.5%. still above 80 bucks. 81.18 the last trade there. a lot of that on

welcome back to squawk here on cnbc. i'm carl quintanilla along with michelle crusoe cabrera and andrew ross sorkin. and andy sewer is our guest host here. making a couple of headlines, saven haven buying is being cited related to volatile currencies. the crisis hit nearly it's biggest three-month high for gold. what is that price now? >> it's $1,157. >> you know, in the united states, when ash cashin says keep enough gold on hand to cross the border, we always laugh. but if you're living in greece, a good part of the world looks to gold and says, if they're going to run my currency into the ground, i want to have a backup. >> the imf will be coming along in days rather than weeks, that this is -- we are now at the last -- >> for greece. >> yeah. >> we'll see. fed chairman ben bernanke receiving the hamilton award last night. he said the central bank's decisive response to the financial crisis prevented another great depression. >> in hollywood news, ron merkel and bob and harvey weinstein offered $600 million for disney

so call me at 1-800-743-cnbc.ow it's pretty clear that most people in this country like this group of seventh-graders i taught over at that kings collegiate over in brooklyn, they view wall street as the modern-day equivalent of sodom and gomorrah. it's like wall and broad intersected, sodom and gomorrah intersected. everybody wants to talk about whether or not goldman sachs is really a bad actor. i know that's not what you want to hear about. are you making any money on that? on "mad money" we don't want to get lost in the sodom and gomorrah of things and end up turning into a pillar of salt. like lot's wife. we could care less about goldman and sorting it out because you know what we're really about? we're about the benjamins. fear not about being in the arena a la teddy roosevelt. we're helping you try to make money in the market. even on a xwla blah blah day like today, with the dow gaining just 8 and the s&p, i don't know, .12%. hey, don't give away the story there, jim. we could care less about what some 30-

"mad money," next on cnbc. first in business worldwide.

cnbc scott cohen flying last night on continental to new jersey said the pilot gave a warning. >> he came back on and said i want to reiterate, you're not allowed to having anything on your laps, especially cell phones and computers. if we find anything on your lap, i will divert the flight. >> reporter: two f-16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the united flight. al madadi who was wearing sandals was searched. no explosives were found. a frequent critic of the department of homeland security says the government's response was just right. >> the air marshals from all that i know did exactly the right thing. what he did was absolutely stupid and irresponsible. >> reporter: the justice department decided not to file charges which would have been legally complicated because al madai has diplomatic immunity, but qatar agreed to send him packing back home tomorrow. >>> pete williams, thanks. >>> we turn to our coverage in west virginia and a bad setback for the families of four trapped miners. rescue teams went in just before 5:00 a.m. but they were turned back. our own tom costello

. >>> cnbc, first in business news! >> all right. >> their mouths hopefully to your eyes. thanks for watching. time now for the "closing bell." >>> technology earnings back on the forefront and we are live here at the nasdaq covering the action in tech, microsoft leading the way, and investors are gearing up for another slew of technology results along with numbers from american express after the bell. hi, everybody. welcome to the "closing bell," i'm maria bartiromo today coming to you from the nasdaq marketside. it is busy afternoon in times square and investors keeping a close eye on the after-bell results out tonight from likes of microsoft, and amazon.com, and american express. we have instant analysis coming your way on the numbers and the investor reaction. the issue of the day is financial regulation taking center stage in new york after president obama spoke before executives in new york earlier today urging business leaders to support his push for more oversight. we will have more on that as it continues to develop coming up on the program. but first, how we are

you are watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. >>> welcome back. shares of united and us airways traded higher today as investors have had a day of news of their merger talks. could there be a third suter to make it a love triangle? we have a guest who thinks it is so, and also julius joining us as well. thank you, gentlemen. julius, you believe there could be a third bidder here? >> well, i think they the whole thing is united airlines and continental airlines. i do not believe they would buy into usair which is in deep financial trouble, because certain mergers have never worked in this industry. >> would a continental deal work? >> yes, for a fundamental reason, you have to have support of the pilot groups, which you do at united and continental. >> interesting. you don't think that deals work in general, but the continental deal you think would work? >> absolutely. if you look at why the delta and northwest merger succeeded, is because the chairman, mr. anderson, had an agreement with the two labor unions. >> do you agree with that? how real of

. >> reporter: today president obama told cnbc he's not embarrassed by the nearly one million he got from goldman and its employees during his campaign. >> i lot a lot of money from a lot of people and the vast majority of money i got was from small donors across the country. >> reporter: this may turn out to be one time when corporate cash to candidates doesn't drown out the voice of the people. >> lobbying money in this context can only take a company so far. politicians are looking at voters who are extremely angry at wall street and angry at washington for not doing anything. >> reporter: in fact, just today a senate committee approved tough new regulations on derivatives, those complex financial instruments that are at the heart of the goldman sachs fraud case. >> >> this bill will bring 100% transparn city to a currently unregulated dark market. >> reporter: that legislation on derivatives will have to be married to the rest of the financial reform package. democrats would love to hold a vote right away, but republicans want more time to negotiate. katie? >> couric: and, nancy,

joining us, chief political strategist and cnbc contributor. greg, i think that the obama people and geithner in particular have played this delicate menu rather well heading off the protectionists on the one side and keeping you on revaluation of some kind alive. what is your political take on this? >> it's a really good story for the markets. we've avoided a trade war. we all know they manipulate. but we can't really force a fight right now because we need them on iranian sanctions and we need them to buy our debt. i think it was a pretty detroit compromise. >> let me just ask this point because i heard a lot of opposition. when you say i know they manipulate the peg has been there now for 15, 18 months and before then the peg was in place for many years and then they controlled it on the upside, so it was up 20%. in other words, is china, they don't make many changes in their currency. i wouldn't call that manipulation. in a sense, i worry that we are the manipulators. >> are you going to say -- >> i think king remninbi. the dollar is rising

trish regan from cnbc.nks so much. >>> it's one of the most hotly desired new devices of the year. today, fans of apple's ipad finally got their hands on that flat computer. following generally good tech reviews from those tech writers, as many as 300,000 ipads were expected to be sold this weekend alone. among the new ipad owners? nbc's george lewis. >> from the l.a. area -- to the streets of new york. >> three, two, one! >> reporter: the stampede began this morning as apple stores opened for business. and the mobs were there for just one thing. >> ipad. >> reporter: some people had camped out for days for the privilege of being first to get their hands on one. and in chicago, they waited in the rain. >> it's my wife's birthday. >> reporter: tech blogger robert scobel was first to emerge from the apple store in palo alto, california. >> pretty nice. it's very, very light. >> reporter: the hype has been going on for more than two months now. >> we call it the ipad. >> reporter: since late january when apple

you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. we're back with that story next up. >> announcer: monday on "squawk on the street," what one of the best-known investment firms in the world is telling its wealthiest clients when it comes to making the right move with their money right now. you don't have to be a client to get the information. you just have to walk "squawk on the street," live from the new york stock exchange, 9:00 a.m. monday. boss: y'know, geico opened its doors back in 1936 and now we're insuring over 18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

allen mulally, we'll be talking with him first on power lunch on cnbc. allen mulally, he has a track record over overdelivering, underpromising, and so wall street has been way off over the last four quarters. i would not surprised if wall street is off today. we'll have the exact numbers about 25 minutes from now. guys, back to you. >> phil, thank you for that. we'll be seeing you in about 20 minutes' time. phil lebeau, in deereborn. >>> one analyst answer, is there more room to run? we'll have that answer when "squawk box" comes right back. >>> welcome back. texas instruments offer a better than expected profits. what did they do, buy cheap machines when people said they didn't need capacity, but that's paying off? >> that's early, actually. that's the move. in the downturn, they took advantage of a company going out of business, kimondo, and they bought those on the cheap. you're going to see that coming online late this year and late next year and allow them to gain share and have about a 30% cost advantage. that is significant, but not driving the r

. >>> then cnbc plays toxic avenger. we're buying a toxic asset and carefully deconstructing it to see what the experience is like and what we can learn. let's just hope we all don't grow a third eye. >>> volcker pushing a back tax. states raising more income taxes. where is it going to end? all that plus the fast money halftime report. >>> welcome back to "power lunch" phil dudley making a significant speech about the role of fed policy and asset bubbles and he's saying, yeah, we know it's difficult to identify them and pop them, but that difficulty should not stop, is not grounds for the fed not to act. and he says he underlines three different ways that the federal reserve can pop asset bubbles using the bully pulpit. talking them down, regulations and then also monetary policy. but he says that using the bully pulpit are far better than monetary policy because monetary policy is a very blunt instrument. then he identifies a sort of three-part test for the fed to make to pop an asset bubble. first, the asset bubble sh

john harwood of cnbc and "the new york times." kind of conflicting headlines.ll street journal" says ceo pay falls again and "the washington post" saying they're not learning the fundamental lesson. >> wall street, of course, the paper of wall street. >> the post is trying to say they haven't learned the lesson the obama administration was hoping they would learn, which is bay-pay on long-term performance, not short-term g e gain. >> what the administration is trying to do is shift the incentives, give shareholders a greater say and not have circumstances where people are rewarded for taking huge leverage and risk in the short term that might pay off in one quarter what caused big problems for the economy in the long run. and, look, people on wall street go to wall street for a reason -- they care about money. they want to make money. they're going to try to get around these things if they can. it's sort of like people get eternally surprised that journalists have a certain set of interests or people going into any sort of field have a certain set of interests.

answers. >>> i'm brian shactman with your cnbc "market wrap." wobbling to a mix finish a flood of corporate earnings today. the dow jones industrial's up about eight points but s&p 500 slipping 1.34 points. the nasdaq added 4 points to the plus side. >>> starbucks posting better than expected and boosting its full-year outlook. shares moving higher in after-hours trading. >>> but ebay shares selling off on earnings coming in flat to slightly better than expected. and. >>> then there's boeing which finished at the to the dow. with shares soaring nearly 4% but it did lower its outlook. >>> at&t shares dipping slightly despite topping forecast. the telecom giant add nearly 2 million subscribers but investors are worried that the market may be getting a little saturated. >>> energy company transocean sliding nearly 2% after an explosion in one of its oil rigs off of the louisiana coast. >>> that is it from cnbc, first in business world wide. now back to "hardball." >>> welcome back to "hardball." there's a big fight unfolding in the state of arizona

call 1-800-743-cnbc. out how you can speak with the wizard of wall street on the "lightning round." and later, cramer takes all your questions and gives you the quick-fire responses you so crave. cramericans, we want to hear from you. so send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com. and stay tuned for some rewarding replies on "mad mail." all coming up on "mad money." >>> it's time! it is time for a very special apple-related "lightning round" on cramer's "mad money." just kidding, but i love it. hey, what's that "lightning round" about? rapid-fire calls one after the other. you say it, name of the stock, i tell you whether to -- and then the lightning round is over! are you ready, skee-daddy? it is time for the "lightning round" on cramer's "mad money." why don't we start with rose in cal? rose! >> caller: hey, baby, ba-pa-di-pa-boo-yah. >> i like your attitude. you came to play. you are all fired up and so i am. >> caller: i am fired up. >> let's do some business. >> merger. merger. >> caller: a few months a

for cnbc. first, a news update from c-span radio. >> in the headlines, overcast skies over the kennedy space center in florida has delayed space shuttle discovery's homecoming from the international space station. mission control skipping the morning's first landing attempt, which would of been about 8:48 and now aiming for second opportunity at 10:23 a.m. eastern time. some encouraging news about the volcanic ash that smelled air travel in europe. forecasters say the new plume is lower and less of a threat to aircraft. austria, sweden, and finland have resumed some operations. meanwhile britain is sending navy ships across the channel to pick up some stranded by the ash. president obama will be taken to the road to try to sell reform in the financial and history. today mr. obama has to los angeles for fund raisers for senator barbara boxer. meanwhile, vice president joe biden will be facing the ladies of "the view" this week. the show's producers say he will be the featured guest on thursday a

well, cnbc's sports business reporter darren rovell joins us live from wrigley field with much more. hello, darren. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, larry. scott's miracle grow doing really well in this economy. people doing their own lawns. there's a new marketing pitch. have your lawn look like wrigley field. the company actually selling a wrigley field grass blend for $21. it's $8 more than scott's standard variety. stores like home depot and lowe's responded well to the initial idea. >> i think it's an idea that's so obvious we just haven't gone after. we've gone to present to some of our retail partners the idea, their viewpoint was why are you doing this already? it's nice to hear this sort of thing. we're definitely excited to capitalize on the opportunity. >> reporter: the seed put together by cub's ground keeper roger bare is hitting the marriage. scott's optimistic that it is a real market. >> we think it's going to be a fairly strong line for us this year. we're launching it in five different markets. we're going to see how it goes. so far we're off to a good start. advert

>> a cnbc original, "business model: inside the sports illustrated swimsuit issue". here's darren rovell. welcome to the atacama desert in northern chile. this exotic landscape has been used as a hollywood backdrop and as a nasa testing ground. now it is one of the breathtaking settings for the 2010 "sports illustrated swimsuit" issue. a franchise that throughout its history has made more than a billion dollars for its parent company. time inc. this isn't just a photo shoot. there's a story unfolding, involving big money and high stakes. everyone hoping -- >> beautiful. >> -- that the perfect shot will catapult them or their product into fame and fortune. >> great. here we go. you will be walking straight. >> it's only 8:30 a.m. but the work day actually began before sunrise. three vans trek by road, then sand to the middle of nowhere. as the sun begins to brighten the skies and warm the chilly air, the crew pulls into death valley. ♪ a place most people have never seen until now. >> what's the shot going to be? >> we are going to shoot julie on the horse. then we ar

how is all this weighing on the cnbc ftse global 300 index? up 30 points, 4,697. and ross, good to have you back. >> hey, christine. great to see you. we're one hour into the trading day in europe. stocks up around 1% across the board. basic resources the biggest gainer right now of 1.4% for the cac quarante. a little bit less for the smi. looks like greece will get their money, 45 billion euros, $60 billion. but there's suspicion they'll need more. but it will ensure they avoid a default in the short-term. whether they'll have to then do more restructuring remains to be seen. banks are up, travel, leisure, industrials and energy all firmer today. let's get an early look at what's happening in the u.s. hi, nicole. >> very early look, indeed, ross. good morning to you. it's 4:00 in the morning in new york. and we're expecting markets here to open highary cross the board. you mentioned the greek drama pushing the dollar a little bit higher. dow futures are up about 13 above fair value now. nasdaq futures also higher about 4, and s&p 500 futures up about 2. this,of c