for that and the rest of the news before the bell, let's turn to hampton pearson. good morning, hampton. >> thanks, scott, we'll start with the futures which are on the back of strong earnings and markets flipping yesterday and the nasdaq snapping the first-day winning streak and get data today later on unemployment and earnings from the like of caterpillar and gm and verizon. the dow falling 12 points and the nasdaq down 34 closing at 4126. now, apple's latest earning report easily beat wall street's forecast. the company selling nearly 44 million iphones in the most recent quarter thanks to a new sales partnership in china. investors are also cheering buy apple to return cash to shareholders by increasing stock buy-back program. apple also announcing a 7-1 stock split. these would appease shareholders to put more of its cash to use as we all wait for apple's next big product line. >>> the sec set to propose new rules today that could give internet providers more say over how fast content moves on the web. this would signal a retreat from the agency's previous stan

hampton pearson has the story. >> reporter: at the first public hearing on the proposed $45 billion mergerbetween comcast and time warner cable, lawmakers on the senate judiciary committee voiced concern about higher prices for consumers and too much power over what americans watch on tv. and on line. >> consumers want to know where a combined tcomcast/time warner will be in a position to provide high speed internet access, will consumes have more cable bills and more or less content? >> this issue touches people's lives every day and touches their wallets every month. >> a post-merger comcast will serve anywhere between 20 to 40% of the high speed internet market. but not at the expense of consumer choice. a top executive from comcast says that is because the competitive landscape is changing. >> while this transaction will make us bigger that is a good thing, not a problem. most of our real competitors are national and global and larger than us, like the bells, satellite companies, apple, google, sony and netflix. >> however, critics repeatedly pointed to comcast ownership of nbc univers

for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson in washington. >>> coming up on "nightly business report," how the young and healthy really feel about paying for health insurance. and why it's such a challenge to get them to sign up. >>> another large group of americans has found a different way to save money on medical coverage. young millennials are opting to stay on their parents's insurance plans instead of signing up and paying for their own. bertha coombs explains. >> reporter: for jay lundeen, navigating health insurance was a lesson in stick shock. the 25-year-old opted against taking benefits from his employer because under the aca, he was able to get coverage on his dad's insurance. >> he managed to work it out with his company and basically just get me covered without any extra cost to him. so at that point the calculation was very easy to make. it was oh, i can pay for health insurance through my company or i can stay with my dad and it doesn't cost him anything and doesn't cost me anything until i'm 26. >> reporter: more young workers like him are taking the mom and d

hampton pearson starts with a look at why there's hope for an economic spring thaw. >> reporter: springtime hiring is in full bloom. just last week first time unemployment claims hit a seven-year low, dropping by 32,000 to 300,000 on seasonally adjusted basis. a jobs report showed employers adding 192,000 jobs to the economy, enough for a complete recovery of all 8.8 million jobs lost during the recession that began in 2008. that's according to the bureau of labor statistics. leading economists say people who had given up looking for work are coming back into the job market. >> we're beginning to pull those people back into the labor force and we're not causing a big increase in the unemployment rate. . they are not only able to look for work but find work. >> auto sales rose 6% last month topping 1.5 million vehicles. the biggest monthly gain since last fall. as well as construction, hiring up 20,000 in march, the best move in the last three months. treasury secretary jack lew says there's a potential for a bigger construction boom in the housing sector. >> we have seen housing values retu

for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson in washington. >>> two influential members of the fed with slightly different timetables on when the central bank may decide to raise a key interest rate. dennis lockhart, president of the atlanta federal reserve bank, predicted today if the economy grows at a rate of around 3% over the next year, the federal funds rate could see its first hike in years during the second half of 2015. meantime, in an interview today james bullard, the president of the st. louis fed, said that hike could come as early as the first yacquarter of next year. >> a major ruling from the supreme court today that goes right to the role of money in american politics. in a 5-4 ruling, the court struck down a key part of the federal campaign finance law saying that it's okay for individual wealthy donors to give as much as $6 million to political candidates and parties. john harwood joins us now from washington with more on today's ruling. so john, this sounds a lot like this decision is a replay of citizens united. what do you think? >> reporter: it's a little

hampton pearson was at that senate hearing and has more. >> reporter: heavy equipment giant caterpillar avoided paying $2.4 billion in u.s. taxes under a corporate restructuring 15 years ago that shifted most of the profits from parts sales worldwide to a subsidiary in switzerland. that's the major finding in a just released report from the senate permanent subcommittee on investigations. what turned into a five-hour marathon hearing began with committee chairman, michigan democrat carl levin, saying closing off shore loopholes should not be held hostage to a complete overhall of the tax code. >> we cannot tolerate the loss of our taxable revenue the way it is currently lost to uncle sam, which is the use of these tax loopholes which are unjustified and which are exploited and pushed over the limit at times. we've had hearing after hearing which shows that. >> reporter: caterpillar and its long-time tax consultants, price waterhouse coopers, which was paid $55 million for its strategic advice, say they are obeying the law. pointing out caterpillar's effective tax rate is 29%. three poin

hampton pearson has a look at some workers who are benefitting from the growing economy. >> reporter: the march jobs report shows the economy withstood harsh winter weather, adding more jobs than previously thought in january and february. up 37,000 for the two months with a revised february headline number topping 197,000, which also topped today's report. half a million americans got back in the labor force last month, and most of them found work. >> that's a sign that people think they can find work. and we know because the unemployment rate stayed steady that they actually were able to find work. so we're getting into those people now, we're beginning to pull those people back into the labor force. >> reporter: the job gains were broad-based. professional and business services adding 57,000 workers to payrolls, foodservices and drinking places up 30,000, both construction and health care adding 19,000 workers. >> when we look at the composition of job growth in this report, it was extraordinarily broad-based, almost every sector added jobs. >> reporter: in fact, says the bureau of

back to you, brian. >> hampton pearson, big decision there for the broadcast industry.h. our parent company is comcast, so this ruling could impact or parent company, but approach it in a neutral perspective. >> what i make of it is they're basically saying the broadcast signals are free. that's ludicrous, i think as -- >> so you have to look at nexstar, interactive, they're all up pretty much, so they're not joining any inference from what's going on. >> it's like high frequency trading. they're pulling a signal out of the air and reproducing it to some extent. they even have a feature where you can save the show that you haven't paid for in the cloud and you can watch it that way. the only legal argument that they're really making to justify this is they're saying, well, if we weren't providing this as a service, anybody could take an antenna and do it themselves. they're just institutionalizing it. i don't see how that's going to hold up. the same argument was made more than a decade appear with naps terr and peer to peer. they were saying anyone else can share with

for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson at the supreme court. >>> comcast, one of the broadcasters involved in the supreme court case is the parent company of the nbc network and of cnbc, which produces this program. separately comcast reported earnings and revenue today that beat consensus estimates, helped by the rise in revenue and the winter olympics. the companies added 24,000 video subscribers, shares of comcast up almost 2% on the session. >>> and gilead signs say they post out blowings. revenue came out over a billion below estimates, results boosted over the company's new treatment for hepatitis c. shares were halted after the announcement but when the stocks reopened shares initially were up after hours, the shares were up, closing at $72.86. also, after the close, another company out with different results, amgen was hurt with costs and profits and the earnings fell short of expectations. the company reiterated the forecast earnings, shares fell after hours, the stocks closed 2% to $119 and change. harley davidson's earnings topped estimates. the market said that the fir

our hampton pearson is in d.c.h the key takeaways. >> the supreme court justices were basically conflicted and skeptical about that area of technology which carry i don't claims is for the benefit of the consumer in terms of being ability to stream free over the air broadcasts reported for later playback, if you will. the justices skeptical in the sense of saying at one point justice roberts among others, how are we to be convinced that all of your technology is simply designed to get around the copyright laws, which was at the heart of the case, and the chal ink made by the major networks. aereo kept come coming back that they're enabling the consumer. on the flip side, the chief lawyer for the broadcasters arguing, wait a minute, no, this is -- they're doing something other folks, including cable and satellite folks don't get to do. that's take the content, put it out there, and not pay some sort of royalty or licensing feel, if you will. the other piece, as far as the argument from aereo was the court should be

. >>> i'm hampton pearson with your market wrap. stocks managed slight gains. rises ten, s&p adds six, nasdaq up 33. after the closing bell, alcoa kicked off the start of earnings season with its first quarter report. profits were better than expected, but revenue was light. and drivers hoping for a break during the summer travel season may be disappointed. the energy department expects gas prices to fall just a penny to $3.57 a gallon. however, it is the lowest since 2010. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. don't worry! the united states

. >>> imp hampton pearson with your "cnbc market wrap." stocks end lower across the board.lls a fraction. the s&p sheds two, the nasdaq slipping 38 points. jobless lines were a little longer last week. filings for first-time jobless benefits rose by 16,000, more than expected. the trade deficit widened in february as exports fell to lowest level in five months. and mortgage rates ticked higher last week. the 4.41%. they remain near historic lows. that's it from cnbc. discover card. i missed a payment. aw, shoot. shoot! this is bad. no! we're good! this is your first time missing a payment. and you've got the it card, so we won't hike up your apr for paying late. that's great! it is great! thank you. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness. your chance to watch full seasons of tv's hottest shows for free with xfinity on demand. there's romance, face slaps, whatever that is, pirates, helicopters, pirate-copters... argh! hmm. it's so huge, it's being broadcast on mars. heroes...bad guys... asteroids. available only on mars.

hampton pearson joining us out of washington. pedro is staying with us.e's had a long-term short position on this stock. you don't like netflix. one of the stats i want to bring up, netflix video content can account for 30% of all worldwide internet traffic which is a staggering figure. this deal with comcast to smooth the airwaves or broadband system so it can deliver quickly and effectively, how key is that for netflix? and what does it mean for the industry? >> it's a very good question. the issue you have is that right now every user of the internet is seeing the experienced slowdown and paying for netflix to distribute their streaming content to investors. it does make sense that a company like netflix does pay the cable providers to access rather than consumers who are not clients of netflix to do so. it's true, we have a short position on netflix. it's not been a long-term short position. we traded the stock three times in the past three years, two times on the short side successfully and one time on the long side quite successfully. our ratio has

hampton pearson is joining us with the details. good morning, hampton. >> how are you doing, ross?t feel like this is the perfect follow onto your discussion in the last section about bitcoin. we're going to be talking about square. the mobile payment company that makes credit card readers that plug into a smartphone or tablet. cnbc has learned that square has secured a new resolving credit line reporting in the hundreds of millions of dollars. the deal when was the eighth this weekend was led by goldman sachs, morgan stanley, jpmorgan and barclays. wall street has really taken a big interest in square since it was found by jack dorsey back in 2009. the former gull van cfo, david recently work for government. while square isn't profitable, it has raised more than 340 million from investors including sequoia capital and visa. the financial times that drop box is lined up. half a million dollars in financing following a 350 million bid earlier this year. provides dropbox to free stories using the ftc. the money goes partly to building the instruct as it expands its global operation.

. >> hampton pearson has those details. hampton? >> reporter: how long you doing, scott.e have the senate judiciary committee holding the first public meeting on the proposed $45 billion merger. top executives from the number one and number two companies did their best to reassure skeptical lawmakers their merger would not harm consumers with 30 million subscribers post-merger, covering about 30% of the pay television market and between 20% to 40% of the high speed internet market, with you a top comcast executive argued not at the expense of consumer choice. >> traditional boundaries between media, communications and technology companies are becoming obsolete. while this transaction will make us bigger, that's a good thing, not a problem. most of our real competitors are national and global and larger than us, like the bells, satellite companies, apple, google, sony and netflix. >> but consumer advocate groups told lawmakers a bigger comcast would have free rein to raise cable rates as well as too much leverage over what americans watch on television and online. >> the t

the offshore strategy, hampton pearson joins us in the flesh with more on that story. good morning. >> good morning, guys. and thanks for the compliment, i think. back to that report, just released report from the senate subcommittee says caterpillar shifted $8 billion in profits to an offshore slick affiliate and over a 12-year period avoid paying about $2.4 billion in u.s. taxes. from 2000 to 2012 caterpillar pace more than $2 million to implement a strategy redirecting its profitable taxes from sales of replacement parts. in exchange for a small royalty, caterpillar transferred about 85% of those profits from its international parts and dust biegz business to this facility. in a few hours, carl heavyin will be grilling caterpillar and cooper house about that strategy. levin says they a member of the corporate shifting club that has shifted billions in profit to avoid paying taxes. caterpillar says it takes seriously its obligation to follow the tax law, pay what it owes, averaging about 29%. one is the highest in the u.s. among manufacturers. price water house coope

> another big -- another big industrial company being grilled today, hampton, thanks so much, hampton pearsono rick santelli. we just asked the domino's ceo whether he thought it was long lasting. he didn't think so. >> well, do you know what, that's the great thing about the grain markets and commodities in general. they don't adjust quickly because usually cycles whether you are trying to fatten up livestock or bring on new livestock or grow a crop like corn or beans, you need a growing season, but, yeah, from growing season to growing season things can change fast and nobody's faster at covering fast than my buddy frank, i call him uncle frank. we just heard carl, basically the best commodity return in 18 months where i come from we're basically talking the best quarter in six quarters. and just look at some of these numbers, uncle frank. cheese at record highs. dairy's soaring. coffee, arabic.a and double digits on grain. which one would you like to talk about first? >> beans have an interesting story. >> we'll start off with soybeans. >> soybeans we had the report and it was a two-part c