average to its best gain in three weeks. bank of america gained 3.3% on heavy volume. this is b-of-a's highest price since mid-september. j.p. morgan rallied 2.4% to its highest close since early may. j.p. morgan is due to report third-quarter earnings a week from tomorrow. the third quarter earnings season unofficially begins on tuesday when alcoa reports its results. and there were buyers today ahead of that news. it was one of the biggest percentage gainers of the dow, moving up 3.3%. the stock shrugged off an analyst at j.p. morgan cutting earnings estimates for alcoa. the analyst pointed to weaker aluminum prices during the quarter. meantime, steel maker u.s. steel saw a small rebound in its share price, up 4.4%. but it's been a tough year for shareholders as the steel business has been hit by price cuts and weaker demand. u.s. steel is down 25% this year. global cement mixer cemex did something it hasn't done since early 2009-- it is talking publicly about its financial future, expecting sales to show a small increase

the 160-point gain on the dow is half gone. 100-point gain right now as we head toward "the closing bell." maria? >> absolutely. we're losing some momentum. stick around. we're just getting started on this huge edition of "the closing bell" today. >>> still ahead on "the closing bell" show me the money, our are fund managers about to pour billions into the stock market to prop up year-end performances? >>> plus all that glitters is not gold, especially when the precious metal traditionally melts down. >>> and hurd mentality. the president of oracle wants the world to let the tech giant run the cloud. is this a good idea or just a pie in the sky plan in. >>> and what is it really like to work with the excentric billionaire, larry ellison? that's all ahead on "the closing bell." [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are

the s&p 500 gained more than 11 points to close at 1,440. a nice rebound after its biggest weekly drop in four months. healthcare and financials were the market's top performing sectors, both gaining more than 1%. financials were led higher by better than expected earnings from citigroup. the banking giant saw strength in its core businesses, particularly mortgage lending and a big jump in revenue from bond trading operations. citi earned $1.06 a share in the third quarter, a dime better than analysts predicted. results exclude a huge writedown tied to certain brokerage assets in its holdings unit. shares of citi climbed more than 5% to close at more than $36 a share. but the stock is still struggling to regain its footing. bank of america and goldman sachs also were big gainers today, each adding more than 3%. goldman reports its earnings tomorrow. bank of america on wednesday. over in the healthcare world, shares of eli lilly gained on word the drugmaker's experimental stomach cancer treatment may improve survival rates. and, the stock has

we have ten schools who posted double digit gains. the third category were schools that we noticed doing a commendable effort at closing the achievement gap. these are schools demonstrating higher than the overall growth but in both subject areas for targeted sub group of students and had 30 students or more of the targeted groups we counted them in. schools recognizing them that closed achievement for african-americans are listed here. closing the achievement gap for latino students are listed here. english language learners similarly. so one thing we asked our principals to share with us is in your voice what you attribute to some of these accelerated growth areas into, and recently we had the opportunity to hear them share with their colleagues and we tried to summarize a few examples of that. i'm not going to read all of these points but i want to point out some of the things that were mentioned by our principals starting with the first row there. our principal at rosa parks, paul jacob son and you were recognized as a school clos

as longs you don't too hard to gain short-term moves. from the stories i read, from pundits, the lessons are already being forgotten. i can't have that happen, not on my "mad money" watch. i've been one of the loudest opponents of buy and hold, and in this new age of meltdowns, many fools have tried to change their tune or they've been discredited that no one listens to them anymore. it doesn't mean you should write off the idea of long-term investing too. doesn't mean stocks can't make you money over an extended period of time. although that's what many of you think -- might think if you confused long-term investing with buy and hold investing. buy and hold was always bogus, but the truth is stocks are still the best way to make money for your retirement, 529 plan to send your kids to college or build up a savings so you can afford house, a car, vacation. especially stocks with consistently growing dividends that allow you to compound your wealth by reinvesting the kind of dividend payers i highlight in "getting back to even." that said

the dow gained 12.5, the nasdaq is up 15, and the s&p gained five. >> susie: the job outlook is important not only for investors, but for voters and the presidential candidates who will be talking about jobs in their first debate tonight. joining us now is one of the economists who put together the data for today's jobs report: joel prakken, chairman of macro- economic advisers. you know, joel, we regularly get revisions on these kinds of statistics about the job market. so what is your take on the picture, the true picture of the job market? what do you think, is it perking up? >> recent data produced either by adp or the bureau of labor statistics suggests that employment is growing, but grudgingly slow. today's number, for example, from the adp national employment report of 162,000 gain in jobs in september would barely be enough, if enough, to push the unemployment rate down this month. so we're making progress, it's painfully slow. the hole we're in is very deep, we're climbing out at a very slow pace. we need to do more. >> susie: the number that is supposed to come out on friday mo

amazon shares ended up has well, gaining a little less than 1%. speaking of apple, the stock got a bit of its shine back today, after recently losing nearly 10%. the widely held company added $5 a share to close at just under $635. last month, apple sparkled to an all-time high of more than $700 a share. we'll have more on ape in a few minutes. shares of sprint nextel fell a fraction today, despite news of that softbank merger deal we told you about. and, gold lost some of its luster today, after those positive reading on the u.s. economy, some on wall street believe today's retail sales report may be taking pressure off the fed's future easing plans. december gold futures dropped $22 an ounce to settle at $1,737. that erases all the gains we've seen since the fed launched its latest round of bond buying. and finally, four of the five most actively traded e.t.f.'s ended higher, while the ipath s&p 500 v.i.x. fell over 3%. that's tonight's market focus. google or apple? which is the better stock to own in your portfolio. that's an issue jill maland

as if somehow in and out of stocks for short-term gains.e judgments, we're here to make money. i think picking long-term winners is more lucrative. i like it. but if you find your portfolio does better when you're managing your money more actively, hey, meaning trading in and out of stocks more frequently, more power to you. i'm not going to judge you, although never forget, you do not have the horses to compete with the high-frequency bandits or the hedge funds with multi million dollar research budgets to support their operations, one of the reasons i prefer longer term investing. at the end of the day, the bank doesn't care if it was short-term trades or not. we've seen banks launder drug money from cartels, they're not going to draw the line at money you made from trading stocks. the teller, presuming you can find a human isn't going to say i can accept this deposit, but not that one, it's dirty money from trading. take it elsewhere. fact is, the only difference between trading and investing has to do with your time horizon. trades are

taco supremes, they were prayed to eat fast food every day to see why some people get sick when they gain weight and some don't. we tag along as they pig out on a fast food binge. >>> deep and treacherous canyons, modern day explorers searching for corners of americas where no one has been before and we tag along for a journey into unchartered depths. >>> revenge of the lawn gnomes, they are popping up in front lawns everywhere. why ceramic men in pointy hats make for a surprisingly big business. >>> good evening, i'll bill weir and for those who salivate at the very sight of a drive-thru window, it sounds like a dream gig or scam. get paid thousands of dollars simply to chow down on greasy burgers or taco combos, once a day, every day for three months. but this was a real dp perexper a jufrpg food binge in the name of science y some people get diabetes or hypertension when they gain and some don't. here is john donvan. >> two sausage buttery burr ti- >> a number three. >> he goes to the drive-thru. again and again. and again. >> thank you very much. >> and why? for science. dave giocolo

the national retail federation is predicting a 4.1% gain in holiday sales. that would not be as good as last year, but still above the ten-year average. but as erika miller explains, there's greater uncertainty than usual in the forecasts. >> reporter: past the halloween decorations, the candy, and costumes, you will find the artificial trees, wreaths, and tinsel. stores like this kmart are displaying christmas merchandise early, hoping for a greater share of holiday spending. >> they are coming in and looking at the trees and getting the thought in their mind that christmas is coming, and start to think, "what can i start shopping for now?" >> reporter: but forecasters say it's more difficult than usual to predict consumer spending this holiday season. the big wild card is the presidential election. >> this is the most difficult year we've ever had to predict our forecast, because there's never been this level of uncertainty in terms of tax and spending policy really in our history. >> reporter: his organization, the national retail federation, is forecasti

capital gains also apply to land.ne point to keep in mind there is that you cannot push the rating too high. people become reluctant to sell their assets. you are not taxed until the asset is sold. there is an upper limit to how far you can push it. but you could still hit 14% with more revenue. host: -- guest: some have indicated that the rate is around 28%, where would not affect what people decided to sell. on the corporate tax question, general electric has paid billions of dollars in dividends over the last 10 years, yet the federal income tax rate has been 1.8%. it is hard to argue that that doubles taxation. host of democratic line, bill, massachusetts. caller: i have a question. -- host: democratic line, bill, massachusetts. caller: i have a question. we had a huge stock market crash in 1987 and a tremendous recession in the northeast. the fdic took banks all over the region. president george herbert walker bush back in 1990 raised taxes from 28% to 31% and put a phase out on deductions. it started to stabiliz

the reagan &p9.3% rate.the second biggest gain was laat month: 8733000.s follows losses of 1955000 and gdp s growing at a gust. - dismal 1.3% -- less than the rate of poouuation growth. unbelievabll, huh?in its august unemplooment report basee oo interviews of 30,000 adults,,gallupphinted that if the officcal unemployyent rate didn't iicrease then someone isscooking the booksslooks llie the white house has a new cook.for ake of argument, letts suppose last month's number is correct. september'ss7.8% unnmployment rate is similar to when obama took office at 7.6%. the number of employed is nnarly the same at about 155 million. although full-time employment example, part-time workers increasee bb 581,000 last month alone wwile full-time jobs decreased by 216,000. herr's the big change: since 2209, nearly 8 millioo people haae been moved from the "uuemployed" category to "not in thh laboo force." although they don't have jobs they're not counted as unnmplooedd if they were then the official unemployment rate would be 13%. or more on this story vvsit behind th

and ash party leader gains control of the continent's second biggest ward city and immediately calls them war and dependence for flanders blaming the belgian government for draining the region the story more after the break. i never thought i could earn a living this way. natale issue of oil is the norm or should test small arms so those photos to machine building plant not are the source to count of all the weapons she's fired over the past twelve years. i got so used to it sometimes my friends ask me to join them at the rifle range and i say no way i'm so tired of shooting. the clowns history goes from making firearms doing world war two to ballistic missiles from nuclear submarines during the cold war the bulk of the soviet industry was moved here in the 1940's to flee the violence in germans so i was here also became the heart of soviet military production closed off to foreigners for hoffa's century it thrived on the massive moods of the soviet military when the u.s.s.r. collapsed but life here was shaken to the core which some adapted to better than others. this is the year old

mean a long time in the making and concessions to be made by both sides this is the alex salmond's gaining the rights to sixteen is seventeen year old says the state is the state in the usa to ensure that this referendum will be legally binding the holy week is going to be one says the legal power as she drove this referendum under what's known as a section thirty i think it's very important this is one hundred years for this and i think she put it i think it's stupid. yeah i don't know because like they've been part of like british invasion stuff i think we need to work together i think. it's really. i just think it's about the you know the return years ago from the public family except except for me schieffer and go a bit more and there you go so the decision now was the pose muesli back up the fact that the majority of the scottish public but now are in support of remaining in the union it's around. a quarter of the scottish public when the polls are carried out they want independence but of course that vote will be held to the end of twenty forty seven. to play for and that will be eig

i would actually raise the tax on capital gains. why? you get gains when you sell stocks. i don't want people to sell stocks. i want them to own stocks, not sell them. plus if you raised the tax on capital gains, the company that do these stupid buybacks would continue to do them, continue to waste is the shareholders' money like they do now. put the money in the owners' pockets, not the sellers' pockets, by encouraging saving, not flipping. point number two, we have to clean up these markets. clean up the markets and encourage people on the sidelines to come back in. make them. clean up the stables, like hercules. i would do that by appointing preet bharara as attorney general of the united states of america and have him go after all of these insider traders and crooks that populate the banks. they should be indicted, not need to settle where they can pay the government in money funded by the shareholders rather than the wrongdoers. at the same time, presidential candidate interested in higher stock prices should vow to bring back arthur leavitt. the best sec chair we've

the euro is gaining to the u.s. dollar at this hour and the ruble is also a strange thing to the currency basket and prove this hour is next u.t.i. is down after the international energy agency slashed forecasts for global demand crude price volatility threatens russia's growth since its budget largely depends on oil revenues former finance minister alex they couldn't explains what to prepare for if the strength continues. the first scenario which is also the base one is the status quo given the current gold prices institutions and markets will improve but at a slow pace the second scenario involves a sharp drop in crude prices triggering a major cuts in infrastructure and education spending the third scenario is the most difficult one it involves the improvement of public institutions that compensates for falling oil prices this scenario requires white support to get implemented. and up next on our t.v. it's peter lavelle at this crosstalk. well. science technology innovation all the most developments from around r

and the my stocks tracked overseas gains and. and over at super science it was a bit of a currency's now see what's happening with the euro dollar and ruble when it comes to the euro it is gaining against the u.s. dollar strengthening and the ruble gained against a currency basket on monday as i said updated figures coming up in less than two hours from now actually but i want to stay with her and talk about c.n.n. because the battle for b.p.'s fifty percent stake is now hitting up and it's continuing of course the main contenders is the they are consortium as well as all dried roles that they are has now hard the rothschild group which is set to organize the loan to help they are acquire that fifty percent stake but many analysts believe that they are will end up losing the battle to the oil giant let's take a listen. i do really think. would be able to buy out b.p. is sure it's too much so the only real scenario i think right now it would be discussion really rules new have to buy. from b.p. so rules could become number one in

assume there are strong gains in the house, strong gains in the senate. that the republicans control both houses of congress and the presidency and there's strong criticism of the fed. bernanke could maintain his policy and his independence, and yet that combination in congress and the administration would rewrite the fed's mandate. tricky thing as to how the fed would maintain its independence. >>> a reminder, the fed is expected to release its latest decision on interest rates and its view of the economy at about 2:15 eastern time. >> you can read all this about this discussion we just had on cnbc.com. >> we'll do that, thank you. >>> street signs is also going to be all over the potentially market moving news with the reaction and analysis, including pimco's number one guy. >>> break news from the bond market. $35 billion in 5-year notes up for auction. rick santelli track being the action at the cme. earlier this week we had an a-plus-plus auction. what's this one look like? >> today it is nothing but average. it gets above the sea today for 35 billio

strongest quarterly gain since q32007. this is the quarter in which they registered all the sale tickets for the olympics. that increased q3 gdp by 0.2 percentage points on their own. rest of the growth led by services production. construction still very weak. in fact it fell. it is worth pointing out total output here is still 3.1% below the pre-crisis peak that he we hit in the first quarter of 2008. nevertheless, the prime minister talked about still good news to come. i'm not sure the markets were expecting quite this kind of news. sister length dollar hitting the session high at 1.6125. chris, second quarter was weak. there was always going to be a bounce back. one quarter doesn't make a trend. what do you take away from it? >> well, qualmly there's a temptation if you're a glass half full or half empty type person to be able to read into the headlines what you want. leal reality is q2 was weak. there was a lot of talk before we've seen the revisions and everything else. but i think the message here is that if you're

still, on wall street, stocks struggled to gain ground-- the dow fell 18 points, the nasdaq lost two points, but the s&p rose a fraction. one stock getting a lot of buzz here on wall street today-- sprint. its shares surged almost 15% after the mobile carrier said it was in talks with japan's softbank. those negotiations could lead to the japanese tech giant taking a major stake in sprint. sprint may have a savior-- it could use help and money from softbank. sprint has been struggling for seven years-- a disastrous merger with nextel, and an expensive tab to modernize its wireless network. but sprint insisted today its talks with softbank are in the early stages. "although there can be no assurances that these discussions will result in any transaction or on what terms any transaction may occur, such a transaction could involve a change of control of sprint." reportedly, softbank would invest nearly $13 billion for a majority stake in sprint. that could go a long way to help sprint compete with rivals at&t and verizon, and pay for its investment in mobile broadband provider clearwire

earlier this week we began with a 95-point gain, 128-point gain.es ago we were talking about vikram pandit stepping down at citigroup all that's happened since then. >> we've had such volatility in this market. you have to believe this it all about fundamentals. we know the global economy is slowing. we though we've seen cracks in the armor in europe. that's the least of it, obviously. but, you know, now we're getting to see the impact on earnings. at the end of the day, investors put money to work in this market because of growth in earnings. the revenue has been light. even if earnings are beating expectations, they're getting there in a number of ways that really does not suggest economic growth. >> it is easier to finesse and finagle earnings than it is revenues. there are lots of ways you can help eps. you can buy back stock. >> you can cut to the bone, which is what many companies have been doing. but revenue is really an indicator of end market demand. that's why we're so focused on revenue as well as guidance. >> and we knew there was a slo

the utility sector lead the gains, up 1.3%. the financial sector was up 1.2% as was the energy sector. with new home construction growing, homebuilding stocks continued building onto their gains. k.b. home jumped 8.7%. pulte group gained 5.3%. those two are at new 52 week highs. d.r. horton was up 4.2%. after a quiet few weeks utility stocks were moving higher. this was one of the hottest sectors earlier this year as investors went in search of dividends. the utilities sector exchange traded fund rallied 1.3% rising to a two month high. bank of america's earnings hit the tape today. i should say results because b. of a. didn't earn a profit, but it didn't lose money like it was expected to either. the bank reported earning nothing in the third quarter. that's much better than the seven cent per share loss analysts were expecting. shares barely moved, down just two cents but volume was heavy. it is the best performing dow stock year to date, up almost 70%. after the close tonight, american express was in focus as a barometer of

led the gains up 1.3%. the nasdaq one hundred tracking fund was down a fraction. and that's tonight's market focus. >> tom: despite the stock market gains this year, there is no shortage of worries for investors. tonight's street critique guest finds many of the worries stem from politics. john hailer is the c.e.o. of natixis global asset management. kind of spritesing here, because the economy is barely growing. we've got weak job market growth, corporate profits are stag nant if not slowing, but it's politics not business fun meants that worry investors. why do you think that is? >> yeah, i think we created a business economic environment that was negative a few years ago, but now it's turned into a political economic mess. basically i think investors are concerned when they see potential for taxes, potential for regulatory changes and a lot of them are concerned and they see that huge deficit and how we're going to get that paid down. i think that creates a lot of certainty in th marketple. >>o your survey of thousands of global investors, more than nine out of

it's a positive spiral gain for all. and that all of them opposes on the golden rule of jew day owe christian morality. it's at good fortunately of others is also your own. and it's just the image of capitalism is some vicious predatory system as the opposite of the truth. socialism, when you cut off the future through socialism, block off the horizon of change and creation. and image of your creator. then you really do have a zerosome gain and everybody fights in the lobbies of washington. and that is ugly facet of the welfare state. >> george, are you working at all with the romney campaign? >> i'm not working with it. it's i work for george romney who was mitt's dad and i wrote a book for him called the mission and the dream which was never published because wriewl from the race. it was because i wrote that book they could write wealthy and poverty so rapidly. it really or yepted originated. a lot of the research in a book i wrote for