i'm diana olick. >>> and insurers want to bring in the cost of drugs. and one of the nation's biggest is bringing its plan right to the doctors. will it work and what does it mean for you? >>> shares of michael cores waiver between red and green all day despite a strong earnings report. that is where we begin tonight on market focus, the luxury retailer said quarterly profits jumped nearly 6% thanks to an increase in sales across the region, it gave an upbeat outco outlook but warns. michael kors closed at $97 a share. >>> it was a different story for dsw, shares of that stock plunged after the company posted earnings of a missed estimate and cut an earnings forecast. it blamed bad weather and the promotional environment for the miss. the stock plunged to $23.62. >>> and today investors got a chance to react to a new rating on tesla stock, standard poors labelled it a vulnerable investment and gave it an unsolicited grade, a d-minus, s&p cited the automaker's narrow price focus. shares of tesla closed at $210.24. >>> shareholders of chevron rejected the

i'm diana olick in washington. >>> and demand s for health car seems to be rising as well as costs. now insurance companies are setting limits, coverage caps is that could end up costing you more money. bertha coombs has more. >> reporter: calpert was fed up with paying different prices for the same medical services. >> one hospital could be charging $15,000, another hospital could be charging about $100,000 for the same procedure, for the same length of stay and for the same quality outcomes. that is what drove us to take a broader look at this and say what can we do to standardize that. >> so calpers took a bold step setting a limit for $30,000, telling people where they would get the best care for that. the savings, $5 and a half million, members shopped around and that forced area hospitals to respond. >> a lot of hospitals reduced their prices. they didn't want to lose these patients, the low price hospitals didn't reduce their rates but just stayed where they were. >> under the affordable care act, health care plans can't set spending caps when it comes to overall coverage, bu

diana olick takes a look. >> reporter: sales down. construction down. supplies of homes for sale still well below normal. >> i think you're seeing more people go out there and attempt to get the financing before they actually get it to the market, which i think slows things down quite a bit. >> reporter: tight credit conditions are blamed in the housing recovery as cash investors move out, mortgage-dependent buyers need to pick up the slack and so farther not, especially first-time buyers. >> unemployment for first-time home buyers is higher, it's about 11% for 20 to 24-year-olds. student loan debt is high. so there is nothing kick-starting the low end of the market. >> reporter: mortgage applications to purchase a home last week were down 12% from a year ago. that does not bode well for future sales. >> i hope that we can make up for the spring but we'll see. what we'll see is a slow and steady process from this point on. >> reporter: the only part of the market that seems to be improving quickly is the high end where wealthier buyers are less dependen

diana olick is in washington with details of big changes coming. hi, di. >> hi, tyler, credit is too tight and too expensive. those are the claims of housing industry leaders and now they're getting action. first mel watt announced he will not lower the loan limits for fannie and freddie. his predecessor, who focus odd shrinks thor mortgage giants had considered that. >> this decision is motivated by concerns about how a reduction would adversely impact the current health of the housing finance market. >> now, lowering the loan limbs would have hit higher cost states like california and new york much higher than others. as for.-backs to banks, he said he would relax some of the requirements for relief from those so-called reps and warrants and clarify some uncertainties. watt will direct fannie and freddie to move toward a single security platform. finally, he didn't exactly that's some that ed demarco had refused to do. hud secretary sean donovan announced that the fha, which is the government's mortgage insurer would reduce insurance premiums for

let's bring super broker to the rich and bob pisani's and joined by diana olick and the panel.. bob, thoughts here. zillow was down sharply. you heard what diana said about the earnings report and yet not getting much of a lift. >> remember what's been going on in the overall real estate market. my family has been in real estate for most of my life. my wife is still a realtor and has been for 28 years. the biggest problem they are having and my wife, too, the listings. they can't pull in enough property to show people that's around. this has been a major problem throughout the united states. we heard this from realgy earlier on. i think zillow should be given credit. they are getting more agents and that's one of the things that really drives zillow, how many agents they have on the site. >> did you say shortage, bob? >> i'm sorry. >> did i hear you right, you're talking about a shortage? >> i'm talking about the fact that it's very hard to get listings right now because there's not enough to show people. the inventory levels -- >> sounds like a pretty bullish point, dolly. >>

diana olick has the details in washington. diana? >> reporter:ty her, the number of underwater borrowers is coming down, but the problem isn't over, not by a long shot. we're seeing a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots. according to a new report from zillow, it's just under 19%, but when you break it down by home value, in the lowest priced tier, one third of all borrowers are under water. go to the middle tier, 18% are under water, and then in the homes priced above $300k, the rate dropped to just 10%. the trouble is we need the lower-priced homes on the market. we need that for the first-time home buyers, but if you can't pay off the mortgage, you can't afford to sell it and put it on the market. adding to that is effective negative equity, or when you have less than 20% equity. well over a third of all borrowers are in a negative equity position. now, the numbers obviously vary market to market. so we have made a very cool interactive map on cnbc.com. you can scroll over your local market, so you want to check that out

our housing guru diana olick is coming up later in the show with a look. [ male announcer ] great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. but what if you could see more of what you wanted to know? with fidelity's new active trader pro investing platform, the information that's important to you is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. it's your idea powered by active trader pro. another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. call our specialists today to get up and running. >>> the s&p any positive close, record territory, where we are right now. >> even so, bob pisani joins us right now. we've had that's headlines now, but as the journal points out it's a sideways market, not a lot of volume and every time we bring that up everyone gets hysterical and what's really going on? >> i said last week, this was the year of the chop. traders getting chopped up by ten points, and there was no clear trend established so what they have done is they have flattened their positions out. they are not as l

diana olick is here. let's lift the lid on this one. >> mandy, this number is made up of two number. multifamily apamplts like this behind me. 250 units going into this hole. it's all going gang busters, single family, not so much. they were up barely 1% while multifamilies were up nearly 43%. everybody doesn't like this number, because it's volatility. well, permits we aren't much better, in fact worse for single families. barely up 1% month to month, and subject blame toss forward-looking permits on the weather anymore. builders i spoke to in this area and across the nation say they're building on demand. right now they're just not seeing that demand. mandy? >> all right, diana, i'm going to push back a bit, not on the stats, but -- can you answer the question of why, whenever we have a good housing number, but a large part of that is multifamily, people poo-poo the number. it's still a home, still builders, still jobs, in fact maybe it's a positive, because americans aren't buying and building and live

but where is diana olick? joining us now is real estate super broker dolly lens.'t want to venture a guest today, but it's in outer banks north carolina. it's a terrific spot on the water, just a beautiful area for vacation homes. and i'll tell you, you could see from diana's piece, great for all kinds of sports. i mean, she's a sporty girl, and they're doing the sports there. a really fabulous place. both houses are amazing. they both have a lot to offer. from the north fork to north carolina, i think the big difference is that north carolina is a more unique residence. it has more bedrooms. it has more to offer in general. it's just a terrific house. and the rental on that house is up to $100,000-plus. so you can really own that house and make money on it, if you want to rent it out a bit and use it yourself a bit. to me, i think that house says it all, is the clear winner in this show. >> yeah, i was going to ask you, dolly, who wins. it's clear from the way you described north carolina that that's the one you'd choose, both at $1,050,000. >> yeah, with that re

our morgan brennan and diana olick are all over the trends. first to morgan in l.a.anks, ty. so there's one big topic that every media executive is talking about this week. i'll tell you what that is in just a few minutes. diana? >> reporter: morgan, cash is king in housing today, and that may be a dangerous thing. i'll tell you why coming up next on "power lunch." >>> the city of today's "power house" is the largest metropolitan area in the united states without a zoo. it was named among "forbes'" list of best places for business and careers in 2013. and discount retailer family dollar calls it home. can you name that city? latte or au lait? cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? exactly the way you want it ... until boom, it's bedtime! your mattress is a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the all-new sleep number classic series. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. starting at just $699.99 for a queen mattress. he's the softy. his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock, at 60. and snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for tha

for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. >>> still ahead, a thousand dollars for one pill. why are some prescription drugs so expensive? and what if anything can be done about it? >>> it has been nearly half a year since recreational sales and legal use of marijuana has been legal in colorado, but state officials are still struggling with the economy including how to collect taxes and how sellers deal with skittish banks in an all-cash business. more from denver at the cannabis convention. >> your take is about 20%? >> yeah. >> reporter: they're raking in the tax money five months into colorado's great retail pot experiment. the state collected $8 million in taxes and fees for recreation marijuana sales. >> here we have two. >> reporter: brook gering used to be in residential banks now she runs pot sales and retail sales are out-pacing marijuana sales. she has to keep separate her recreational and medical product and cash for state law. >> cash management is an entire individual sector of our business now. >> reporter: that is because this remains an all-cash busi

diana olick explained how new rules easing credit restrictions may help some home buyers get loans and give a boost to housing. >> reporter: fannie mae and freddie mac, which guarantee the vast majority of new mortgages got new orders today. that could make those mortgages a bit cheaper for both banks and bo borrowers. >> we expect fannie mae and freddie mac to improve margins that affect liquidity in the single family finance housing market. >> reporter: to help loosen credit, fannie mae and freddie mac announced they would relax standards on banks having to buy back bad loans, he would not lower limits from, something they had considered as a way to reduce government share of the mortgage market. >> this decision is motivated by concerns about how such a reduction would adversely impact the current health of the housing finance market. >> reporter: these, in addition to new programs to help some of the hardest hit housing markets like detroit are designed to ease credit as all cash investors move out and mortgage dependent home buyers move in. >> the key takeaway for investors is the

let's bring in diana olick. the data take today out of the equation, at least as of late has not been great. >> no question, let's take a deep dive. >> signed contract to buy a home in april, up over 6% month to month. from a year ago. at this pace, we're still 70%, so think of it this way, not only are these government numbers very volatility. >> so what's the headline here? and the median price for a new home fell 1% builders had been raising prices, but material costs are coming down a little bit, so that could account for some of that price drop, a boost in supply all good. >> thank you very much. stick around, diana. still, though, and could some areas may be getting too hot? what have you found, brad? >> one of the things we're seeing is clearly sales have come back up. but what was happening all year is traffic was drawn, as people that's what the builders ward to see home of the people actually sign up to buy the house. are the builders have been to -- or drop their prices at all to fuel these sales and

diana olick joins us with some of the details. >> reporter: hi, sue, as investors move out and mortgage-dependent buyers move in, the price gains are easing, but still above historical norms. home prices in the nation's top ten and top 20, up 12.6 and 12.4% respectfully. q2 came in all that according to the s&p case shiller report. taking it local, some of the markets see substantial slowdowns are the leading boom to bust markets. l.a., phoenix, las vegas, tampa, of course san francisco is still up almost 21% from aier. new york was the only city to decline month to month. on the flip side, denver and dallas hit new post-crisis highs. also boston, charlotte, portland and san francisco. these price gains are being driven by largely a lack of supply. we did see gains in april listings, but we are not seeing big jumps in new construction, because the builder claim demand is not there. robert shiller said this morning on "squawk on the street", homeowners seem to be losing interest. sue? >> that is never a good thing for that industry. thank you, diana, very much. >>> investors generally speak love d

our reporter diana olick is with us from washington. >> reporter: that regulator is in fact looseningedit, mainly trying to appease the banks. barracks have been charging extra to account for that risk. regulators also saying they will not shrink the size of the loans that fannie and freddie do, still up to $417,000 in most market. is that enough? you have to look at what is stalling the housing recovery. first look at mortgage rates. they were actually coming down a bit, but at the same time you have home prices rising faster than anyone expected and faster than historical norms. they're coming down off the huge annual gains we saw last year, but they're still way up. if rates keeping moving down, that does help to offset the higher prices a bit, but then we're back to the question of tight credit. the fha is offering a break on its insurance premiums if you go ahead credit counseling, so that helps, and that said, fannie and freddie are easing up a bit. but is it enough? if first-time buyers buy, then other people can sell and buy to move up, and that helps the recovery. a lot more

let's get to diana olick with more. that's got to be good news, diana?rter: it certainly is mortgage rates at six-month lows, because they loosely follow the yield the average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming mortgage phet to 4.39 last week from 4.43%. not a for huge, but rates had been above 4.5%, pushing applications to refinance a mortgage up 7% week to week seasonally adjust, just that little drop. you would think most people would have re-fied, but some borrowers are moving. but to note re-fis are still down 70%. applications to buy a house westbound flat to slightly down, down 12% from a year ago. rates have been hovering around 4.5%, moving up a little, moving down a little. now, some had predicted that rates would be above 5% by now, but of course, we haven't seen that, we're not expected to see that. the big question is, is it all about the rate in the housing market, or is it more about that credit availability that we've been talking about so much, guys. >> diana, thank you very much for that. interesting stat. she's saying that refis are

diana olick in washington now. diana? >> well, tyler, signed contracts to buy existing homes in april were up just barely. 0.4% from march and are down 9.2% from a year ago. the expectation was for bigger gains as april brought warmer weather and slightly lower mortgage rates. still, sales were up the most in the midwest and down the most in the west. really unchanged everywhere else month to month. a lot of blame has been placed on higher mortgage rates. but rates are falling again today as the ten-year yield slumps to lowest in nearly a year. the average rate on the 30-year fixed today, right around 4% for the best borrowers. more online at cnbc.com. tyler? >> thank you very much. >>> a food fight. tyson foods jumping in the battle to biuy hill scheyer far hillshire farms. tyson up, look at hillshchlt moving up. dominic chu, who likes food, is outside cnbc headquarters talking food. chef, take it away. >> reporter: tyler, this is all about brands. so we have tyson brands, hillshire, pilgrim's pride and pinnacle foods. w

diana olick, rick santelli, thanks very much. with us at post nine to break down the data and the impact on the markets, dine, chief economist and senior managing director at mesereau, also with us art cashin with ubs financial services. diana, i'll start with you, in town from chicago. what's happening to the housing market recovery we've seen and supposed to bounce back with the better weather? >> it's interesting. the housing market one of the big concerns for the fed as well. we saw in the fed minutes yesterday and what we're seeing is the lack of turn in the market. not only are first-time buyers not showing up to buy but also people unwilling to list their homes. we know that some 10 million home buyers out there or potential home sellers still under water. not able to list their home and clear closing costs. also people unwilling to qualify for a mortgage. i think they will take out home equity lines of credit that's easier and remodel and add on to their home. it is undermining turn in the market which we need. >> the fed

diana olick. >> you're right. it's a strong housing number in april. but it was all about this. you've got 250 units going up in this building. there's another building just like it going up. it's the same nationwide. if you look -- up near 43%. people tend to believe the permits more as a game. the permits weren't much better. up barely down other 3% from a year ago. you can't blame the permit, you actually spoke with a builder in maryland. he said it is all about demand. >> we're not seeing that demand. i wish we were. we are seeing a change in policy where you're seeing more townhouses being brought to the market. but the traditional single-family market is very slow. >> why townhouses? he says because they're cheaper. sue? >>> we are watching gm, the auto maker getting slapped with a fine. phil lebeau is here with the follow-up. >> $35 million fine, sue, but that's just part of the story. the company will also be whether they're actually confined. that story plus a people with the gm recall documentary coming up this weekend when "power lunch" returns. requires precision and

let's get to diana olick who will settle the score for us. diana, which headline better reflects what is really happening in housing right now? >> reporter: well, melissa, it's really both. i think they're just reading the census data differently. but what i hear the most is that the youngest and the oldest homebuyers want to be in urban areas. that's your millennials and your downsizing baby boomers. of course, the builders and the active adult community would want to convince you otherwise on the boomers. but take a look at two data points from april. first off, multifamily housing starts were up 43% month to month and up 70% from a year ago. single-family starts really didn't move much. now, rents are up, but occupancies rose again in april, according to axiom metrics because rental demand is surging. and of course these multifamily apartment buildings tend to mostly be in urban areas. then today the realtors told us that condo sales were up 7% month to month while single-family home sales were essentially flat. now, not all condos are of c

and diana olick is on the case for us in washington. hi, diana. >> reporter: hi, sue. and that's right, existing home sales did move up in april. that's the first month-to-month move we saw all year, but we're not quite out of the woods yet. we know existing home sales up in april 1.3% month to month, but they're still down about 7% from a year ago. regionally much of the nation was unchanged, but the west did see a nice bump up higher. that may be because it began to correct first last year, so it may be beginning to improve for us this year. sales, though, in the west still down 10% from a year ago. let's talk about inventory and price because they're tied at the hip, of course. the number of homes for sale also took a nice bump up. 6.5% from a year ago. now, tight supply has been pushing prices higher despite the slower sales. the median price of an existing home in april up 5.2%, but that is the slowest annual price gain that we've seen in two years. now, what really stuck out to me in this report was single-family homes and condo sales. single-family were basicall

. >> it will bite you, and finally diana olick, one of the heavy hitters on the website.die. he laid out today his ideas for maybe not lowering loan limits. that would essentially open up the mortgage market a little bit more and make it easier for people to get mortgages which might help out the housing recovery a little bit which seems to be showing signs of sputtering lately. mortgage is always a big subject on the website. that story has been kicking it fours, too. >> not as big as the fighter jet. thank you, alan. >> have you been victim to this affirmative action. >> phishing scheme is when someone sends you an e-mail, put in the password thinking you're in the site and people do this. there was a phishing scheme going on, let us know so you can take precautions, the double whammy of the affirmative action scheme. >> such an old school way to do it. this type of phishing has been around as long as e-mail. >> getting more compelling. >> and there's no number to call anymore, and if you want to verify it by calling and talking to a real person you can't necessarily do

diana olick and steve liesman have been walking us through the so-called blueprint, if you will.box" we looked at the foundation, affordability. in "halftime," we looked at the ground floor, supply. now we talk about what makes a house a home, family. it's people like us. and guess what? demographics are changing real fast, right, steve? >> absolutely. one of the key things we've seen is the rise of the single-parent family. that changes the kind of house that you want. i don't know about, but if you're living alone with a couple kid, somebody else to do the lawn or take care of the house, that's why multifamilies -- let me show you the rise here of single-parent families. you can see it's quite a bit up from where it was previously. folks, that's the cue for the change in the graphic. we may not have it there. anyway, it goes up to around 31%, diana, from what was nearly 21% in 1980. that's why we bring in along here. i don't know if we have my second chart. it's a great chart. and what it says is -- >> you're such a tease, man. >> there we go. here we go. brian, do you get the

. >>> let's send it over to diana olick now with a market flash from d.c. >> hey, scott. toll brothers jumped 22% to $706,000 in q2 of this year. that helped the pennsylvania-based builder to double the quarterly profit. new orders were unchanged from a year ago. toll ceo doug yearly saying we are in a leling period in the early stages of the housing recovery with significant pent up demand building. that income came in at 65.2 million, or 35 cents a share, versus 24.7 million, or 14 cents, in yq of 201. high-end housing has been out performing as wealthy buyers are less dependent on mortgage rates and availability. tune in to "closing bell" for a live interview with toll ceo. until then, there's more online at realtycheck.cnbc.com. >>> some of the most recent housing data and pretty good earnings raising hopes that the sector is finally seeing that spring snapback, albeit later than expected. is that truly the case? let's ask bill pulte. bill runs specializing in building products live today in chicago. bill, welcome back. >> hey, scott, how are you? >> good, thanks. the

we're talking about housing, diana olick, a big new report why the housing market is in the state itone. remember the european economic crisis, the piigs? just when you think the problem had got away, there's

steve liesman and diana olick are up next with their colorful take.re is just ahead on the half. ♪ [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today...and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that... remodel. motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. they take a banker. make a my financial priorities appointment today. because when people talk, great things happen. welcome back. news alert on hedge funds. lands down, the uk based equity fund, down 6% through late april according to a recent hedge fund report. that makes them down 6% for the year or so to date. maverick, another fund that has been long tech names, possibly selling out of them. don't know until we get the latest round of filings, down 3% in april, and 3% for the year as of late april. third p

diana olick is coming through the report and joins us with highlights. diana? >> bill, the report shows that while rising home prices are giving homeowners back much needed home equity, the low end of the market is still suffering, and that's where we need to see more inventory and if you can't cover the martz then you can't sell the home. more than 10 billion borrowers nationwide under water. that's just under 19%, but in the lowest home prices tier from zero to 100,000, one-third of all borrowers are under water, middle tee, 100,000 to 300,0008% and when homes are above $300,000, that number goes to 10%. when you have less than 20% equity in your home, effectively you can't move because you don't have enough equity to cover the down payment on another home. it's very market to market. go to cnbc.com. we've built an incredible map. you can see what the equity rate is. a lot of folks talk about tight credit and it's just as much of a hindrance to this robust recovery as we see in tight. >> credit. we now want to bring in stan humphries, receive chist on zillow

number two right now, diana olick wrote up numbers for the first quarter on home buys.rs hit a high of 43%. she gets into how that's putting a lot of pressure on first-time home buyers. you have that investment angle, then you have the real-world home buying angle. >> finally, number three, we hit the tax inversion question again. senator carl levin introduced -- says he is going to introduce legislation to close the whole thing where a company can basically move to another country and reincorporate there and duck u.s. taxes. that's been a hot issue with our readers for the last couple months and been particularly high since the pfizer deal. people are eating that up right now. >> "the journal" has a great little item right now on the fal fact that if pfizer does this, its own employees that hold stock will have to sell it so they'll get hit with the taxes. the irony continues. >>> some states run liquor stores. now colorado may be the first state to help pot shops. >>> the president of uruguay where the government controls that market from beginning to end starting wit

i'm diana olick with breaking news from the realtors pending home sales up 0.4% from april.xisting homes. a forward indicator of closed sales in may and june and that's a miss. the street was looking for a 2% gain on higher confidence and better weather in april. the realtors pending home sales index is now 9.2% lower than april of 2013. total sales for 2014 are now expected to be lower than 2013 regional sales up 0.6% in the northeast, up 5% in the midwest, month to month, down 0.6% in the south and down 2.9% in the west. a lot of blame has been placed on higher mortgage rates this year than the spring of last year bit that's losing year as the average on the 30-year fixed fell to the lowest level since last june. investors are slowing down purchases and leaving the market to mortgage dependent buyers p not the rate but qualifying for the low rate keeping many buyers, first-time buyers, sidelined. back to you, simon. >> slowdown continues. thank you. >>> and the meantime big news made at the code conference in california. apple confirming it is buying beats electronics for

joining us now is our very own diana olick and jeff cox. how bad is it?ing there's an old kenard in real estate that the three most important things in selling a house are location, location, location. it's really about cost, cost and cost and sellers, i think, are getting a hill bit overconfident. recent surveys that diana has reported on very well show that there's not good pricing happening and where we are as far as financial conditions go, it's really creating a big problem in the market. >> how bad is it, diana and how tight are financial conditions? those would argue that lending has gone back to the pre-2008 level. look at that chart. that's an amazing chart that suggests credit availability as recognized by the mortgage bankers and what you look at what the lenders are looking for now, not just the higher down payment and the fico score, really at what people's overall debt is. is being able to though that bet. that's what is keeping people out of homeownership. prices are in the sky. >> yeah. >> i was just wondering look at the mortgage credit a

diana olick story about how all cash sales in real estate are becoming a much bigger norm than history gigabattery factory that elon musk wants to build. california might be open to it. what do all three of those have in common? you want to find out at the bottom of the hour. being a keen observer of the world has gotten you far, but what if you could see more of what you wanted to know? with fidelity's new active trader pro investing platform, the information that's important to you is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. it's your idea powered by active trader pro. another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. call our specialists today to get up and running. can you start tomorrow? yes sir. alright. let's share the news tomorrow. today we failrly busy. tomorrow we're booked solid. we close on the house tomorrow. i want one of these opened up. because tomorow we go live... it's a day full of promise. and often, that day arrives by train. big day today? even bigger one tomorrow. when csx trains move forward, so does the rest of the economy. csx.