. >>> and the commerce department had some unexpected good news. the u.s. trade deficit fell to its lowest level in 18 months. the u.s. imported nearly $43 billion worth of goods, more than it exported. a steep drop in the price of oil helped and exports rose to a record high of $185 billion. >>> president obama is spending a second day campaigning in colorado. this morning, mr. obama appeared at a rally in pueblo. the president accused his republican challenger mitt romney of wanting to raise taxes on the middle class and opposing tax credits for wind energy. yesterday, mr. obama focused on women's issues. for his part, romney has spent the past two days raising campaign funds in new york and new jersey. he left a fundraiser on park avenue this morning. the romney campaign collected five million dollars in donations over the past two days. the romney campaign outraised the obama campaign last month $100 million to $75 million. >>> clashes continue between government troops and rebel forces in syria. government troops are using planes and tanks. iran is hos

the commerce department says that retail sales rose almost 1% in july. that's the biggest increase in the last five months. analysts say lower gas price, stronger job growth have contributed to boost consumer confidence in the economic recovery. >>> homeowners in the bay area are planning to call for a freeze to foreclosures today. a protest is planned in a few minutes at 12:30 on maxwell avenue in oakland. protesters want to stop more foreclosures from lapping before the homeowners bill of rights goes into effect. since 2007, there have been more than 10,000 foreclosures in oakland. americans are using their credit cards more. transunion says the average american credit card debt is now close to $5,000. that's up 6% from this time lost year. and americans owed a total of $725 billion in car loans at the end of june. that's up 5..7% from last year. >>> tv sitcom fans are mourning the death of arnold horshack on the show "welcome back kotter" alongside a very young john travolta, the nasal-voiced brooklyn teen was often seen with miss hand shooting up to

neil: regulations demands we rerun the tame and show it to government officials at the commerce departmentorry. neil: no, best to you, bright smart young lady. you got a music career or a comedy career or both. meanwhile, speaking of comfort, even in tough times, having a tough time cozying up to mitt romney, regulations or no. polls show voters overwhelmingly like the president more. psychotherapist says, and with the environment with regulations like this, you'd think the president would be in deep do-do, but he's not. he competitive if not favored. what is doing that? likeability? >> we are relational human beings. what happens is we make choices based on somebody likable. we think that saves us. rather than thinking about what the presenting problem is and developing a solution resolution for that, we think this person will care for us because we like them. neil: so that's what's giving the president the edge? any other incumbent in an environment like this would be in some trouble. so far president obama is not. to cut him certainly some real factual slack, he did inherit a mess as he

commerce department officials said gross domestic product expanded 1.7% in the second quarter of this year. that's up 1.5% which was the preliminary figure released in july. consumer spending was revised upward to 1.7 prst. it accounts for 70% of american gdp. officials downgraded the growth rate of corporate capital investments to 4.2% and housing investments to 8.9%. foj the positive economic data from the united states, new york profit shares. the dow jones posted higher at 13,107. so how are stocks kicking off in tokyo? we cross over to the tokyo stock exchange. so how are things kicking off this thursday morning? >> it's been a fairly quiet week in terms of volume with many investors taking to the sideline now. that's been the case here in tokyo as well as other parts of the world including new york. we're about eight minutes into trading on this thursday morning. let's see how things are kicking off here. as you see on the streen there, both the nikkei and the topix posting losses. the nikkei average down about .2 of 1%. and the topix also down almost by .2 of 1% on this thursda

commerce department said on tuesday that total sales at u.s. retailers amounted to under $404 billion last month. that's up 0.8% from june and higher than the prediction of about 0.2%. gasoline sales rose half a percent after showing a declining trend. sales of cars and auto parts were up 0.8%. department store sales rose by 0.6% while sales at furniture and home improvement centers rose 1.1%. >>> japan's move to raise its consumption tax is seen as a slight positive factor. an analyst at a u.s. credit rating agency says the tax bill is a step forward, but it will not lead to an upgrade in the country's rating. at standard & poor's they said even if the tax hike brings in $130 billion in extra revenue a year, social security costs will also continue to grow as the population ages. he also pointed out the government bonds that japan issues. they amount to $500 billion every year. >> translator: japan needs to pave the way for comprehensive reform on both its spending and tax revenue. it will be very important to keep both under control. >> ogawa

about all the things you want to eliminate in government, watch. >> we need to eliminate the department of commercef energy, the national endowment of the arts. and i'll tell you what i want to eliminate is the irs. >> cenk: jerry if you eliminate the irs you can't collect taxes and we can't run an government at all. >> yes, do away with the government of united states. you know, you want to have a new conspiracy, these people who want to do with our government, how is that different than all the dictators in the world? osama bin laden wanted to do away with our government. what is wrong with us. >> cenk: the other guy who wanted to was karl marx who thought the government should melt away. they're very similar to marxism. >> it's coming full circle. but this guy cruz is supposedly well educated. >> cenk: he went to princeton. >> what is he doing. >> cenk: i don't get it. was it this bad? were the republicans this crazy back in the day or has it gotten worse. >> clearly it's gotten worse. i disagree with republican ideology. there are intelligent republicans that we disagree with. but the party has

the commerce department says new single family home sales rose more than 3.5% last month to a seasonallydjusted annual rate of 372,000. that matches a two-year high set in may. still, the increase is well below what economists consider healthy. >>> microsoft brings fast change to technology but it is slow to change its logo. on thursday, the software giant unveiled its first new symbol in a quarter of a century. the redesign uses a lighter straight-typeface. the red, blue, yellow and green colors from the flag appear in a box instead of in a curvy template. microsoft debuted the fresh logo ahead of launches, including windows 8 and a tablet. >>> got to switch it up sometimes. er have a good weekend, erica. >>> still ahead, your friday morning weather. in sports, a bean town bash. the red sox and angels combine for 27 runs and nearly 40 mitts in an extra innings slug-fest. ly 40 hits in a slug-fest. the tree house i built with my dad. (girl) really? yeah. there you go. okay, i'm gonna work on the roof. dad, i'll be right back! (announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste, choos

the commerce department reported today july sales rose eight tenths of 1%. the government revised june and may's numbers lower. economists welcomed the numbers, but say there's one thing that will get consumers to spend more-- jobs. >> relying on it which is relying on how much you need to invest, how much they will lead to higher. we thought the economy soldand wod be bad for income growth and consumer spending fall back. >> susie: one retailer nailing it-- home depot. the home improvement chain posted better than expected earnings today, underscoring the recent strength we've seen in the housing market. profits rose 12% in the second quarter. it earned more than $1 per share, four cents more than analyst estimates. home depot said today it's more optimistic about the housing recovery, and it's seeing signs of stabilization. that's why it raised its earnings outlookor this year. retailers are now counting on back-to-school spending to keep up the momentum. spending by families with students high school age and younger is expected to grow double digits to ov

commerce department, and it is the executive branch agency that is in charge of advising the president on telecommunications and information policy issues. we are at the forefront of the obama administration's push to establish a broadband foundation needed to support the innovation economy in the united states. we are looking to produce better and new jobs and position to ensure that america remains at the forefront of the economy in the 21st century. we are working to ensure that all americans have the resources and the skills necessary to fully share in all of the possibilities, civic, social, and economic. all of these made possible by the internet. that is one of the reasons we are here today. he discovered for the administration is the broadband technology opportunities program or btop. this program was established in 2009 by the american reinvestment and recovery act and is administered by ntia. we have nearly $4 billion invested in roughly 230 projects across the country, all aimed at expanding broadband access and adoption in the country. and i want to tell you a little bit ab

. >> officials from the white house and because commerce department were complimentary of it. have you gotten a sense that the plan for the president to issue the memo you call for any time soon? if so, when? >> as market said earlier it is ultimately the president's choice about what he does in terms of the report. it is safe to assume that we would not issue the report in a complete backing. there has been a lot of discussion with all the stakeholders in the white house, throughout federal agencies, and many of the commercial companies, even those that are in some was complaining about different aspects of the report, the world -- they were all party to the discussion before we completed writing it. it is not like we went into a closet and produced this and started dropping it on the president's desk. there was a lot of thoughtful process that went into the development of it. we are pretty hopeful that the president will move to act on the recommendation. exactly how, that is up to him. >> why 1000 mhz? where did that come from? >> first of all, we look at the demand that we

. >>> also thursday, the commerce department will release the number of new residential units that began month. goodwin dough into good window housing. >>> finally, a hefty investment. britain pumped the pounds into its olympic program through its national lottery adding up to 60% of funding for its athletes. upwards of 260 million pounds or $400 million. yielding the best medal count for the uk in more than a century. root root for the home team and team usa, of course. that will do it for us for today. thank you so much for joining me. next week, a look inside start-up nation. a unique technology company that uses the wisdom of the crowd to solve consumer problems. each week keep it right here where wall street meets main street. have a great week, everybody. i'll see you next weekend. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment.  and the gulf is open for business - 

percent despite net profits to be higher and this is on the back of this report goes from china's commerce department over the commodities markets we're also seeing a drop from a local eyes the seen before this is as traders of course worried about the state of potential demand for energy as china is the main consumer of energy and resources in the world now that has not been providing any support to the russian markets where also lukoil is and talks with china's national petroleum corporation to join its west to project in iraq russia's largest private oil company is looking for a partner for a thirty percent stake in the project west kern is one of the largest oil deposits in iraq which is now explored by luko and the country's north well company. as move over to some other markets on the currencies market the euro's continues dropping versus the dollar as excuse me investors are moving into cash and notably the greenback around the world and the russian ruble continues dropping around half a percent against the basket of currencies but the. russian ruble remains under thirty two roubles per dollar

street saw a pretty different picture moderately of beaches of the day when traders welcome the commerce department revising the u.s. g.d.p. annual growth rate all for the so-called beach book showed a steady expansion in the u.s. economy which also benefited the equities moving on to the currency on the currency markets this hour the dollar's losing value against these euro the russians over move all of well and the wednesday's session down against the currency basket will have. the fresh ruble figures as soon as the russian markets reopen a lot them two hours karen rush evens burbank's gains on the back of better than expected first half results didn't help lift the russian equities out of the gutter they finished a little warm wednesday and falling oil prices were certainly a factor there and oil continues its slide on thursday as hurricane isaac spared us production facilities and we recently saw this u.s. inventories are on the rise also the g. seven finance ministers made a lead to world producing nations to lower crude prices to kickstart global economic growth what effect that we might haue

sales rose for the first time in 4 the commerce department re shows retail sales climbed nearly 1%. you spent more money on furniture, building materials and sporting good if you are curious. >>> heroic acts following the storm last night and a mother speaks out after her son is murder. >> good morning maryland at 5 starts right now. >> you are watching the station that works for youp, now, good morning maryland. >>> governor o'malley taking a gamble on the special session and it looks like it paid off. table games being in maryland. >> nobody was happy when they lost power for days back in june. thanks to the fast which weather. it appears -- to that nasty weather and it appears no one was happy the way it was handled. >> we will show you what happened when drivers trappeded in -- stranded were stranded in high water -- were stranded in high water i am charley crowson. >> i am megan pringle. the weather probably made you a little nervous and looks like we could see more. >> woke me up and sure it woke you up, too. lynette will it be around today? >> the storm prediction center has

pretty different picture moderately all beaches held the day went traders really welcomed the commerce department who buys in the u.s. g.d.p. annual growth rate all poured and the so-called big. book also showed the steady expansion of the u.s. economy on the currency market out the moment the euro is gaining ever so slightly to the dollar and the russian ruble ended wednesday's session down to the currency basket will have crushed the ruble figures as soon as the russian markets reopen in less than one hour so i'm here in russia's very banks gaze on the back of better than expected first results didn't help a lift the russian equities out of the gutter they were lower on wednesday and balling world prices were certainly a stock term and the oil continues its slide on thursday as hurricane isaac spared the u.s. production facilities and we also recently saw that the u.s. inventories are on the rise the w g i's this hour has slipped below ninety five dollars a barrel as you can see also the g. seven finance ministers made a plea to the world producing countries to will work crude prices to help ki

spike the commerce department there saying that the trade deficit his narrowing by almost eleven percent in june which could very much contribute to the second quarter g.d.p. figures. and the euro is so far flat to negative versus the u.s. dollar right now whereas the russian ruble saw a pretty strong session versus the euro and it was losing value against the greenback but still below thirty two roubles for the dollar the russian trading session will begin at ten am moscow time that's under one half hours and we saw another slightly mildly positive session on the russian market indeed with the my six there gaining around half a percent boosted by financial stocks. standard chartered is fighting back accusations that it's laundered a quarter of a trillion dollars for iran the bank argues only fourteen million dollars worth of deals were dodgy under u.s. regulations. now the trouble glenda lost a quarter of its market value when new york officials went public with the charges british banks troubles kicked off for transatlantic spats with none other than london mayor boris johnson like usi

fell in july that's according to the commerce department data this is unexpectedly a media reports another reminder of weakness in the housing market despite recent finds a recovery it's not unexpected if you talk to barry ritholtz though who has been out there saying the housing market still has a long way to go we'll hear from him why plus from ghost inventory to zombies we'll talk about the often overlooked underbelly of u.s. housing which is haunting it's we're covering and we're going to forecast for when the foreclosure machinery will be kraken back to life and we all remember this. or simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts of not been reconciled today. it seems like john pours line by just get away with it the new york times deal book is reporting the criminal investigation into the collapse of m.f. global is heading into its final stage with that customer money that still went missing and went out charges expected against any top executives. or in other words. one of these sort of a. deal the moving of money from cloying accounts to buy spanish did not so they go

the commerce department said growth in the second quarter was slightly better than initially thought., the federal reserve reported moderate expansion, in much of the country, during july and early august. but the news barely moved wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained just four points to close at 13,107. the nasdaq also rose four points to close at 3,081. there's been another so-called insider attack in afghanistan. a man in an afghan army uniform shot and killed three nato troops today. 34 such attacks have occurred this year, including at least a dozen in the past month. in all, 45 coalition members have been killed, most of them americans. the president of syria has been heard from again acknowledging that his military is struggling to beat back rebels. bashar al-assad rarely has appeared in public since four of his top security officials were assassinated in mid-july. he spoke today in a t.v. interview in damascus, and said his regime will win the syrian civil war, but not quickly. >> ( translated ): we are fighting a regional and global war, so time is neede

looking at the biggest pickup in worker pay in five years we crunched the numbers from the commerce department found that inflation-adjusted salary climbed at its fastest pace since 2007 ... fish in retail sales report says that consumers are spending more than this money and keeping economic recovery on track we could see hiring in the construction industry the associated press says that the obama administration is releasing a half billion dollars in unspent highway funding to states that promised to use it to an proof transportation and increase jobs ... which country do believe is the wealthiest in the world research says that singapore beat norway the united states and hong kong as the wealthiest nation per-capita by gross domestic product it should hold till 2050 the number million hallett heiress there is growing ... next - inside the special session in springfield.... we're talking with chicago tribune political writer rick pearson. and just ahead -- a sweet treat without all the calories... scientists create a chocolate with half the fat. and live music this midday from world renowned

. >> the commerce department is reporting retail sales i think it was point 8% and auto sales are coming up, we'll see what the market does, good morning, thanks for joining us on ktvu channel 2 morning news. >> right now we are talking about the lake fires that continue to burn. alex savage is on the move trying to get closer to the fire lines and trying to get some good video and he will join us in just a bit. >>> an occupied protest, this time an old library, they moved in and live at the oakland library with what those protesters were doing there, tara? >> reporter: they had planned tonight teaching some -- planned on teaching some reading and computer classes and you can see this gate is secured with zip ties. they blocked off international and foot hill boulevard and police began to shut the library down. they told protesters to leave within 15 minutes or they would be arrested. everyone did comply. now miller library has sat vacant for at least a decade. they placed hundreds of books inside the building and it is named after a san francisco based poet they started the ground forma

. >>> this morning, the commerce department said the u.s. trade deficit fell to just about $43 billion in june. that is down 10.7% from the main levels. they contributed compared to 1 billion. >>> if the need for bear is growing. it hit a new high of 51 gallons last year. that is up 3.7% from last year. china is the world's biggest beer producer. the u.s. holds the second position making nearly 12% of the world's beer. >>> heartbreak of a father. we spoke to the father whose five-year-old son was shot to death outside of his food truck. >>> for the first time, he weighs in on the controversy issue of boy scads. scouts. >>> welcome back, it is now 6:25. president barack obama is now officially opposing the boy scott ban on gay members of. the president believes the boy scouts is a valuable thing and he opposes hate on all forums. mitt romney voiced support for gay scouts back in 1994 and supports their decision on the issue. >>> seven months after the issue, a five-year-old boy was shot and killed outside his father's taco truck. gabriel seni

the commerce department and saltwater. i hear gets even more comforted once there is smoke. everybody laughs and there is applause, but they still haven't gotten rid of that craziness. >> these regulations almost never go away. even if they do, and congratulations that our family farmers no longer have to wear hazmat suits clean up a spill. huge in american history. we are still spelling this out in an astonishing pace. the net burden is huge. some of the new ones make as little sense as the old ones. there is one now about clean energy. it was a new kind of ethanol. a couple of years back, everyone was hot on its future. the trouble is, it doesn't exist. now we have mandates for product that does not exist -- the president should work it out. stossel: thank you, douglas. washington regulators make me wonder if some of them want america to fail? coming up on the story behind a surprisingly popular video that asks that question [ female announcer ] they can be enlightening. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never u

lawn and garden sales still trading higher stocks overall higher has been for a week or so commerce departmentmore shopping last month than expected retail sales numbers stronger than what we predicted. bloomberg index trading up. if you are looking for a bargain groupon's online daily deals may be a place you go the company suffering because of a drop in sales, shares down the company blaming the slow down in europe. shoe fetish many women have them, retailers trying to get attention of shoppers and rapidly expanding shoe sections business has become so lucrative sales top other categories. macy's in new york opens what it calls the largest shoe store ever an entire floor of shoes with 300,000 pairs. yes, and champagne and chocolate bar to boot. i'm jane king. >> ohh! >> to boot, pun intended. >> we should take that hyper sonic wave rider -- talks talks -- [ talking over each other ] >>> let's turn our attention to the weather that is important we have a huge spread, we have this in san francisco and triple digits inland. >> absolutely. clouds starting to roll in from sutro tower towards moun

according to the commerce department, housing starts were down 1.1% in july. however, there were some positive numbers. new permits for building homes rose 6.8% in july to $812,000. that's the highest rate it has been. >>> a new ranking put san francisco high on the list of least affordable u.s. cities for homeowners. the national association of home builders housing opportunity index puts san francisco second only to new york city when it comes to affordability. the median san francisco home price is $650,000. the median income is $103,000. the study finds only 32% of those earning that median income could afford to own their own home. >>> stocks rose today on word of a renewed effort in europe to deal with that area's debt crisis. the dow industrials gained 85 points. the s & p 500 closed at its highest level since early april. >>> the only thing holding up the road on the new signature spin of the bay bridge is this rusty looking framing. it won't be there much longer. >> and i'm back here at 4:20. we're going to look at increasing clouds from the south tha

neil: regulations demands we rerun the tame and show it to government officials at the commerce departmentil: no, best to you, bright smart young lady. you got a music career or a comedy career or both. meanwhile, speaking of comfort, even in tough times, having a tough time cozying up to mitt romney, regulations or no. polls show voters overwhelmingly like the president more. psychotherapist says, and with the environment with regulations like this, you'd think the president would be in deep do-do, but he's not. he competitive if not favored. what is doing that? likeability? >> we are relational human beings. what happens is we make choices based on somebody likable. we think that saves us. rather than thinking about what the presenting problem is and developing a solution resolution for that, we think this person will care for us because we like them. neil: so that's what's giving the president the edge? any other incumbent in an environment like this would be in some trouble. so far president obama is not. to cut him certainly some real factual slack, he did inherit a mess as he reminds

the commerce department reporting sales of new homes reaching 372 over the past year.ales have jumped 25%. >>> fixed mortgage rates moved higher last week for the fourth week in a row. the average 30-year still low, rose to the 3.66% from 3.62% the prior week. >>> july new home sales we mentioned. 3.6% increase from june, 7,000 higher than analysts expected. could the market have finally bottomed out. liz: how many times have we asked that question? ashley: a lot. liz: is it true? joining us in a fox business exclusive, ara hovnanian, chairman and ceo of hovnanian enterprises. you've been with with us since the network started. data is looking better by the moment. have we passed bottom. >> i think we're past the bottom. the market started turning three quarters ago and this reinforced the fact we're there. it is beginning in a big way. people are focusing up 3%, new homes sales over the prior month. up 20 5% over the same month last year. month after month positive results. all the public homebuilders are announcing it. it is happening. ashley: your stock is up as wel

government in the wake of the controversial 2010 las vegas celebration, and a recent commerce departmentde disney world. the ninth circuit court is based in san francisco but includes federal judges from throughout california. and organizers have told the judges they can begin the trip with a fishing expedition or a golf tournament on sunday afternoon. scott mcfarland, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> apple's iphone is losing its share of the smartphone market. the latest figures show that in the second quarter of this year, android phones outsold iphones. samsung and other android phone makers shipped units, giving them 68% of the worldwide market. >>> the survival for children waiting for a heart transplant just shot sky high with a tiny pump. researchers track the use of the fda-approved device on children waiting for heart transplants. they found about 90% of those children live long enough to get a new human heart. it also helped sick children remain active. >> i play games. i go outside the hospital. they ride the exercise bike. they're really doing functionally very active things. >> just

largest speak in five months as americans spent more on cars, furniture, clothing, the commerce department says retail sales up .8% in july. that comes after three straight months of drops. that's one reason why it's so important. this was the first time since april of 2005 that all of the major components of retail rose in one month. so what's it mean for the retail names that we follow? courtney reagan is going store to store to find out. what do you say? >> that's right. today's retail reports are high profit on top of quality growth illustrating consumers are willing to pay for the right products at what they perceive is the right price. michael kors earnings almost hard to believe soaring past expectations, revenues up. and thoroughly impressed. high end department store saks reports a smaller than expected loss. tjs up 30% year-over-year, tjx. and home depot says consumers and areas hardest hit by the housing sector are now beginning to spend on home improvement projects against and helped lift the income by 12%. the retailer to watch is the world's largest, waiting to see if walmart

the commerce department says that sales increased .8% in july. consumers bought cars, furniture, electronics, building materials and sporting goods. the increase is the largest since february and follows three months of declines n that positive note for retail, retail stocks are on fire. home depot shares climbing after beating wall street estimates and boosting its guidance while upscale retair michael kors beat production. groupon is plummeting after missing sales expectations. the stock is down about 70% since its ipo last november. and fedex is doing some belt tightening. that means cutting jobs. the world's second largest package delivery company hasn't said exactly just how many positions will be eliminated but will likely focus on the slower performing express and services units. barbara, over to you. >> all right. julia, thank you. >>> and we continue back to school week with a look at an issue for teenagers as they get ready to go back to school. some are fighting an embarrassing condition, acne. we've all been there. dr. cheryl burgess

silver amongst the biggest losers: 1.5%, gold finished lower for the third straight day and the commerce department reported personal spending actually rose .4% last month, the longes order to increase ase biggest single growth in the u.s. economy right now. liz: breaking news right now, let's go live to the floor of the rnc where republican presidential candidate mitt romney is on the floor. we are still hours away from his speech looks like he is making the rounds right now. david. david: one of the few people that actually has economic players. he has put one forward, got a lot of heat last night laid out the plans, but this guy really has to lay out a key economic strategy for the futures. get the economy growing, his key economic advisors. what we may be hearing from tonight. liz: we look forward to that. on the floor of the cme group in chicago. here we are, the market finishing down triple digits, 106 points for the day. at 13,000 finishing up. what is your read on the market right now? >> triple digits does not mean as much now that the market recovered. multi-year highs post crisis highs.