. >> also this hour, tough times for eddy lampert. his big bet on sears, not exactly what he had hoped for. much we'll look at what's next for the hedge fund titan. plus, the white house set to trim its deficit forecast. is this a sign that obama-nomics is working? >> and get ready for the "fast money" halftime report in a half hour. "power lunch" is back in two minutes. these days every penny counts with everything you buy. every head. every bite. every gallon. every shoe. every book. every cereal. well, maybe not every cereal. but every stem. every stitch. every tune. every toy. pretty much everything you buy can help your savings account grow because keep the change from bank of america rounds up every debit card purchase to the next dollar and transfers the difference from your checking to savings account. it's one of the many ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier. >>> getting word now of a new age discrimination suit against at&t, the equal employment commission citing an at&t policy that prohibited workers

eddie lampert bought a fairly significant stake -- just shows you how old i am -- back 2006, early 2007 in citigroup. we asked the same question, does that mean that eddie lampert who's been right on so many things at the time, that pressure is off chuck prince, this is a bullish sign for chuck prince. maybe it was for a little bit. but as you know, chuck prince blew up anyway, had to believe. >> you're saying no. >> i would give you a teblttive yes but i gave you the reason why sometimes it doesn't work out. >> chaz, thanks so much. on-air editor. >>> coming up next, he's got the action on best buy. we'll tell you if he thinks it is a buy. >>> why the stocks at the bottom of your screen made our list of top and drop today. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and

eddy lampert's investment in the retail giant not what he hoped for. >> and i'm michelle cabrusso-cabreabrera. the most powerful college football conference cracking down on fans who post their own game video on websites. is this the first shot in a war on social media? >> i'm steve liesman. live at the kansas city fed conference in jackson hole, where central bankers from around the world are gathered here to visit the ghosts of monetary decisions past, present and future. what's worked, what hasn't worked. we've talked to some of the players, and we'll give you some of the trail talk coming up. >> i'm jim goldman, live in the silicon valley bureau. google has been on a steady climb, and despite losty levels, the internet store is at it today. the firm saying google has finally come up with a way to enjoy some returns on its $1.6 bin

eddie there. now investors want to know is paulson the next lampert? let's go off the reportcord wit chaz gasparino. >> how about chuck? >> i call you other things, but that's all right. go ahead. >> all right. different environment, right? remember may 2007? didn't have mark to market accounting. we don't know enough about -- the disclosure requirements are different than they were back then. and i think, you know, paulson probably has his eis dotted, ts crossed. we know that they may have some commercial real estate exposure. we know they've refenced a lot of bad assets. the fed and the treasury are saying, hey, take as much risk as you want. interest rates at zero. make some money. there's only a few dealers left, right? >> are you making a call here on bank of america? >> i don't make calls. i just -- >> i'm not sure where you're going. >> it doesn't matter where i'm going. >> it could turn out better for paulson is what you're saying? >> if you look at the facts, different environment, i think it's -- you know, it was -- listen. i brought up the l

it is dimming investor hopes the billi billionaire investor eddie lampert can turn this retailers around. and currently the tech, software maker oracle getting a price tag of $1.4 billion. >> i have to imagine it was the short squeeze and some people were betting the stock would go down. there seems to be a feel good in the financials and we did get good economic data in the manufacturing numbers and that off seset some negative views o housing and delinquency and everyone focused on the manufacturing data that came in at a good reading. >> thank you very much. >> now to housing where we are still setting records on the foreclosure front. cnbc diana has the report. >> we're still setting record. total loans past due climbed to 30% of all loans out standi ing and the culprits are changing, t the delinquency rose in the past quarter. subprime fixed most dramatic in the past three years leveled off in the past quarter, same with subpr subprime a.r.m. and it was flat thanks to banking loan industry modification programs also due to a big moratorium in illinois. it's always good in those four

money" goes off the record with charlie gasparino to debate whether john paulson could be the next eddie lampert. melissa and the traders live at 5:00. michelle michelle? >> we've got more than 20 minutes before the closing bell. >> consumers keep cutting back on their spending, michelle, that's helped some retailers become big winners during the recession. are there retail names you want to own ahead of an economic and consumer spending recovery? some answers in just a moment. >>> and after the bell, colin frostbanker was the first financial to turn down tarp funds. we're going to ask the chairman and ceo if he thinks the government should step in to help small banks and if he thinks the use of mark-to-market accounting rules should be expanded. you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... >>> walmart reporting better than expected second quarter earnings and much of the retail industry has been quick to follow walmart's price cutting path. what is the state of discount retail wit

the retailer which is owned by hedge fund manager eddie lampert is prepping for what is expected to be a tough holiday season. it's going to open toy departments in some sears stores as well as offering lay away for the holidays. after the bell today the nation's largest specialty retailer reports its result '. two weeks ago gap has upbeat forecast saying earnings would be between 30 cents and 32 cents a share. forecasts have climbed since then. they're looking for profits of 32 cents a share on revenue with 3 and a quarter billion dollars. the gap stock has been on a tear over the last six months, amade signs turn around appears to be taking hold. importantly, sales decline appear to be slowing at the old navy unit and international operations have shown signs of improvement as well. as the company has been keeping a tight control on both cost and inventories. mark, back to you. >> mary, thank you very much. >>> for more on sears, let's see what the brain is thinking about back at hq. david faber? >> softer side? >> thank you, mark. you know, interesting, of course, mary doing the num