alcoa is set to report after the bell today, we will talk exclusively with company ceo klaus kleinfeld. that comes up next hour here. meantime, investors, as we said, not feeling optimistic as history is made in france. the government there for the first time selling bonds at a negative interest rate. essentially means investors will get back less than they are putting in and they are willing to do that. they are paying for the privilege of preserving their cash. >> sign of the times really. >> and it happened in germany as well. more on that in a moment. here is where we are standing today. moment the dow down 61 points. just off the lows of the session. 12,7120. nasdaq is down 13 points. less than half a percent at 2923. s&p 500 index is down about half a percent at 1348. we have breaking news already here at the top of the hour. here is mary thompson at the news desk. what do you have? >> hey there, bill. federal reserve just releasing the report on may's consumer credit and consumer credit expanding on its fastest annualized rate so far this year. expanding at 8% annualized rate. r

klaus kleinfeld of alcoa. markets are still trying to figure out what to make of it. they came in above expectations. bottom line, six cents on the estimate. five cent profit. >> i think the shares fell about 13% over the course of the last quarter. okay. >> more heat in our nation's capital. we are not talking about the weather either. the president pushing to hike tax owes any family making more than $250,000 a year. is it rich? does that constitute rich in america? >> depends where you live. new york city, certainly not. what it means for the looming fiscal cliff. >> the best state in america to do business in. in 24 hours on this show, we will get the answer. scott cohen is live from that state. see if you can figure out where he is. and winning a court case because you are uncool. believe it or not, a verdict goes samsung's way because a judge says apple is like fonzi and samsung is potsie. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about that 401(k) you picked up back in the '80s. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#:

klaus kleinfeld told us last night he's projecting strong demand for aluminum, even though prices are plunging. cummins also on the worry list today. as we mentioned, the truck engine maker warned on sales, cutting its full-year outlook. cummins stock fell nearly 9% to $86.91 a share. heavy machinery maker caterpillar fell in sympathy, down 3.5%. investors also chipped away at chip stocks after a warning from advanced micro devices that we told you about last night. a.m.d. was the s&p 500's worst performer. the firm cut its sales and earnings targets on slumping demand in europe and china. investors bailed on the stock-- it tumbled 11% to just under $5 per share, its lowest level this year. we have more analysis on a.m.d. on our web site, nbr.com. you can find it under the "blogs" tab with michael kahn. compounding weakness in the chip sector-- a warning today from applied materials. the stock fell nearly 3% after a-mat cut its full year guidance on weak demand. investors also took a bite out of mako surgical. mako shares lost 43%. goldman sachs cuts the stock from "buy" to "neutral"

klaus kleinfeld joins us on monday. he'll talk about how the giant aluminum maker did in the 2nd quarter and the outlook for the rest of the year. >> susie: when it comes to customer service, sometimes you have to give customers more than what they ask for. this week lou's been thinking about dandelions. here's author and educator lou heckler. >> my son is not a little boy any more. he just turned 40. i was smiling the other day when i thought about a special moment when he was about the age his older daughter now is. he came into the house and handed my wife a bunch of dandelions he had picked in the back yard. "these are so sweet," she beamed as he looked on with pride, "but they look kind of smashed." "i know," he responded immediately. i stomped on every one to make sure there were no bees. as a business speaker and writer, i think all the time about what business is really about. i know it's about finding a need and filling it. but the older i get-- maybe i should say the more experienced i get-- i think it's reall

i used to talk with klaus kleinfeld at alcoa and i said, you're stuck with that truth model.ut he's an honest guy. he can't do it. underpromise is the way -- >> you don't believe we're in a market like that right now? you don't think that's a possibility? >> i think as melissa said, i think they have to cut numbers. >> on the conference call. alcoa is an honest, good company that raised growth rates in a series of areas and where did it get them? the stock is where the stock was. maybe a tad lower. and they are a really good company. >> and the estimates have been halved in the past month or so to consensus numbers. in that alcoa has been --'s always been the first one out of the gate but it's never been a bellwether truly in terms of the rest of earnings season, maybe it's the case because estimates have been slashed going into this quarter and maybe they are poised to beat at this point? >> i think the problem is we look at where alcoa does business and we think to ourselves, does it even matter? they trim some facilities in spain and italy. that was a terrific idea, but th