mary thompson has more. >> reporter: you may feel better after a hospital stay, but medical emergencies can harm your financial health. a 2012 study shows 75 million americans had trouble paying medical bills. fico plans to treat them differently for some under a new way of modelling credit worthy. >> what we found is unpaid medical debt in collection, if someone has an otherwise pristine credit history, it's not an indicator they are having trouble. it's not a sign that they are having trouble repaying debt. it's an anomaly. so as such, it could be treated differently than the fico score. >> reporter: under fico score nine, medical debts held by clek collection agencies would carry less weight while debts held by collection agencies that are paid off, have no impact at all. the result, high eer scores for many consumers. >> for someone whose credit score and history is pretty pristine, they have no other derogatory actions, it could boost their score by about 25 points. >> reporter: but why treat medical debts differently? first, a debt is unpredictable, often causing short-term proble

mary thompson looks where the jobs are. >> reporter: 11 years ago, the maker of easy go golf carts decided it wasn't good at maintenance so the specialized vehicles hired advance technology services or ats to repair and maintain the machines that make its carts. its a decision the plant manager carry tomorrhompson says is pay off. >> we launched 40 new vehicles to market, and we've expanded our engineering work force by 138%. so by allowing ats to focus on the maintenance of our equipment, we can focus on growing our brands and our business. >> reporter: since 1985, ats has been sending teams of six to 60 technicians to factory floors in mexico, north america and more. >> they have to figure out how to do more with less and we're part of the equation. >> reporter: ats vice president brian rabe says his firm brings tools, experience, and skilled labor a facto might have trouble to secure on its own to service the gear. >> if you're in a factory today and you have 5% machine down time. that down time is costing you a lot of money. if we can take and reduce that to 1% down time, you have all

. >> mary thompson, thanks very much. now to seema mody. >> a 14-year high for the nasdaq trading at the highest level since march of 2000. the out performance in tech and bio tech that is catching the attention of traders. when it comes to tech i spoke to brian marshall who says a lot of it has to do with the change in business trends, a slight increase in enterprise spending plus intel's positive results. others like sam soegal say it is evaluation that despite the run tech as a sector trading at a discount to its historical price to earnings ratio. a broad based rally for tech, facebook, yahoo, google, apple along others. bio tech a bright spot. earnings for the most part analysts say have come in better than expected. >> those momentum names back in the spot light. now to market blast. >> check out what is happening with tekmira pharmaceuticals. coverage with an outperform raiding. tekmira has one of the experimental drugs to treat the ebola virus. you can see the stock currently up about 11% helped along by the outbr

i'm mary thompson with a "market flash."hares of conagra, the company is seeking a new ceo to replace gary rodkin expected to retire in the next several months. stock now you can see up just about 0.1%. 2 cents, off the lows of the session. back to you. >> thank you, mary. >>> next guest, the creator of the comic strip "dilbert & company." scott adams said, the financial industry is the world's biggest scam. arguing financial advisers should come with warning labels, like cigarettes. he joins us now from san francisco. scott, are you serious? >> yeah, i'm serious. one has larger dollar amounts associated with it than personal investing. and you've got warning labels on, like you said, cigarettes, which also have it on food. nutrition labels. if a bank wants to make a loan, they have to put an apr on it to be compared to other loans. so why not with personal financial advice, when in many cases the biggest risk to the personal investor is the individual giving them the advises. >> why do you say that? >> first of all, they're

to mary thompson, the usgs estimating the loss could be in the billions. tell us more about that and the insurance costs. >> well, sue, the united states geological survey says when it does come to economic losses, it's tagging the napa earthquake with a red alert. according to the usga's website it suggests to $10 billion, but equicat puts it half a billion to a billion. we know for sure it's a fluid situation, and the numbers will be changing, as the interruptions to businesses are understood. still, this could make it the third or fourth most expensive in terms of insured losses. the last quake to hit that region was back in 199. while the usgs says the there are plenty of vulnerable structures there. adding disruption to the tourism industries and the wineries, and those losses are likely to mount. while california is home to two thirds of the -- and 2,000 known fault lines, only 12% of the state's homeowners actually carry earthquake insurance. the percentage in napa even lower, according to the insurance information institute. cost and high deductibl

mary thompson knows. this times she in augusta, georgia. >> hey there, sue. the jobs, just like these easy-go golf carts, they can be found everywhere in america. everywhere, that is, with a factory looking to outsource the maintenance. i'll have that story, after the break. over 20 million kids everyday in our country lack access to healthy food. for the first time american kids are slated to live a shorter life span than their parents. it's a problem that we can turn around and change. revolution foods is a company we started to provide access to healthy, affordable, kid-inspired, chef-crafted food. we looked at what are the aspects of food that will help set up kids for success? making sure foods are made with high quality ingredients and prepared fresh everyday. our collaboration with citi has helped us really accelerate the expansion of our business in terms of how many communities we can serve. working with citi has also helped to fuel our innovation process and the speed at which we can bring new products into the grocery stores. we are employing 1,000

for "nightly business report," i'm mary thompson. >>> at&t and directv might be one step closer to mergingand that's where we begin tonight's market focus. according to new reports, at&t has come to terms with the federal government on conditions that pave the way for it to buy the satellite tv company. in may, at&t agreed to buy directv for more than $48 billion. at&t's stock rose slightly to $34.51 today. directv up 1% to $85.47. >>> shareholders of ann, inc, ann taylor, are putting pressure on the retailer to explore a sale. engine capital and hedge fund partner red alder delivered a letter to the board saying the company is deeply undervalued and is urging it to explore strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value. the stock popped about 6.5% to 9 $39.49. amazon is buying twitch that let's gamers live stream their games. the online dealer expects the acquisition to close before the end of the year. this comes after reports that google had almost sealed the deal to acquire twitch for $1 billion. amazon rose slightly to $334 and change. meanwhile, class a shares of google fell a f

exchange to talk everything about the markets is steve sax from pro shares advisors, and our very own mary thompson. mary, i had a wonderful conversation with a business school professor from your alma mater, notre dame, today. we didn't talk much about the market. so, fill us in on what the buzz is down there today. >> well, you know, i think today is pretty much a replica of what we saw yesterday, tyler. it's kind of a low-volume day. yesterday was one of the lowest trading volumes of the year. it's going to be similar today. the drift continues upward in large part because we've seen an easing of geopolitical tensions. and then you mix in some good economic data that we received on the cpi as well as the good news on housing starts and some decent earnings, and that allowed the bulls to keep the markets going. you know, as it stands right now, the s&p is just about ten points from a record high. >> steve, you just, i hope, heard professor siegel talking about his argument for dow not 17,000 but dow 18,000. he basically says the market by his measures is not overvalued, that the climate is very p

mary thompson joins me on the floor of the new york stock exchange. you should come down here every day. the market goes up. >> it's very similar to what we saw yesterday. yesterday was when the lowest volume days of the year. broad-based rally today, what's driving it, of course are earnings and the economic data. the data on the housing market, you can see the s&p 500 which earlier today brought through this area of resistance yesterday at 1972. nice move up after that, which we didn't see yesterday. it kind of consolidated to the next barrier. the housing-related stocks are higher, because home depot reported, and then the housing starts numbers were good. existing home sales are on thursday, so look for that. nat gas has popped up. we've seen a little pop here, and that in turnsz is affecting the coal stocks, because that makes some of these coal-fired utilities more attractive. so the coal stocks are getting a bid as well today. alpha natural resources up just about 5.3%. >> some light there for the coal stocks. let's bring in kenny polcari and j

. >> let's get to mary thompson on the floor with more on what's pro moving this morning.rning. >> modest gains for the markets, dow, s&p, and nasdaq over the best levels of the day, and nevertheless, the gains in asia and europe in early trade, it is data here in the u.s. as well as good earnings driving the markets higher today. the dow up 38. s&p punching through that 1973 level, an area of resistance yesterday, now up 3 points. keep in mind, less than 1% away of the all-time high of 1991 and change. nasdaq yesterday after closing at the best levels since march of 2000, extending gains modestly at 6 points. broad based gains with the exception of drug stocks which are weaker. as i mentioned, it's data and earnings driving the markets in early going, specifically the data received on housing today, that being housing starts better than expected, second piece of good housing news received this week, and watch thursday because then we get existing home sales. as a result, the home builders' index continues the strong move off the year lows in july, extending those gains to

. >> let's go over to mary thompson. >> check out allerg eler again vailian. he set an august 20th hearing date to decide a fast-track schedule on the case. both stocks higher, or 1.5% and allergan helped. >> back to the story we led with, the crisis in iraq. this video just in, came in minutes ago. it is believed to be the first video of u.s. air strikes in iraq. you can see the dust cloud, the explosive quality there, reportedly two 500-pound bombs among the presumably other armament ammunitions dropped. this is just into the newsroom also, the first delivery of aid to those refugees on the mountaintops there. iraqi forces helping to distribute packages of food and water, it comes hours after american f-18 war planes did attack syrian terrorists who were firing artillery against the town of erbil, not far from sinjar. retired general mccaffery was on cnbc this morning, an he is not happy with how things are going so far. >> last night we had three aircraft dropped food and water to 50,000 refugees. today two navy aircraft dropped four bombs. you know, this i

nyse, as stocks move a little bit higher today, but we start here in englewood classifies with mary thompson reporting on walgreens. this stock is getting hit. >> you are right, tyler. expectations were that after buying 55% of europe's allianz, walgreens would move the headquarters to switzerland or the uk where corporate taxes are lower. while the firm is paying $15 billion in stock and cash for the rest of the european pharmacy, it will remain head quartered in illinois, where it exto pay a tax rate in the high 120% range. accounting expert estimates walgreens could have saved $2 billion in taxes over four years by rye domiciling overseas, but on a conference call, the ceo saying the board carefully reviewed doing a tax inversion, but decided it wasn't in the best interest of shareholders. >> while we fully understand and considered the significant finance benefits when weighed against the risks, the company and board decided it was not if the right course of action. >> democrats, including president obama are exploring ways to stop firms from inverting. while a walgreens spokesman said p

first, mary thompson has the cnbc market wrap. >> stocks come off the lows of this session to finishht gains. the dow adding just about 14 poib points. the s&p just u fractionally. that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. we never thought we'd be farming wind out here. it's not just building jobs here, it's helping our community. siemens location here has just received a major order of wind turbines. it puts a huge smile on my face. cause i'm like, 'this is what we do.' the fact that iowa is leading the way in wind energy, i'm so proud, like, it's just amazing. take them on the way you always have. live healthy and take one a day men's 50+. a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares. >>> i will have you know, madam, i once did an entire show with president bill clinton. >> oh-ho! i hate to break this to you but i've met him too. >> hillary clinton may have had the ultimate name card in her name dropping last night but stephen cole bay had a point. for a man who hasn't held political office for a decade, bill clinton is omnipresent. the

mary thompson is on the floor. mary, it's the sleepy, the dog days of august, but a pretty good performance so far this morning. >> certainly is a nice rally for the markets, as you point out, light volume. right now we're looking at maybe 2.7 to 2.8 billion shares changing hands here at the new york stock exchange. keep in mind on average the last 30 days, volume has been 3.3 billion. so certainly the rally today is unlike volume we should take note of that because sometimes that suggests the conviction isn't behind it. nevertheless, bulls are in charge with up volume here at the big board, swamping down volume by a margin of about 6-1. the reason for the rally concerns, easing tensions in ukraine as well as iraq. this has triggered a global rally. we saw strength? asia as well as gains in europe today. and that's trickled across here in the u.s. take a look at the leading sectors. we have industrials, consumer discretionary, financial and i.t. all looking strong in today's session. and the s&p leaders really tell

>>> and our mary thompson covering markets here at the exchange. bad start to the week. >> a great start to the week. of course, easing tensions in ukraine helping drive the markets higher coming off strong performances in asia as well as the stock markets in europe as well today. as tyler mentioned as we head toward the close of today's session, the s&p is within striking distance of a record high that it set back in july. less than 1% from that area. the dow about 2% from its all-time high, and the nasdaq, while at a 14-year high, is still 5% from its best levels of all time. quick check of the movers, or i should say the sectors that are leading markets higher today. industria industrials read the transportation stocks, benefiting from lower oil prices. financials are strong along with consumer discretionary. the retailers at play there, of course, because of the deal with family dollar and dollar general as well. the ten-year note, of course, the yields on that rising today. and as a result, we've seen weakness in some of the rate-sensitive sec

mary thompson is there. >> close to the lows of the session, off about nine points giving up earlierrkets took a leg down earlier on the comments by the nato secretary-general who said russia needs to pull back the 20,000 troops that's amassed agent ukraine/russian border. market remaining sensitive to comments about what's happening in ukraine now. consumer discretionary stocks among the biggest winners on the nasdaq thanks to good earnings news that came out from the media side. look at the nasdaq 100 leaders today. the first one being 20th century fox after the company reported stronger than expected results thanks to strengthen its film and cable units. symantec higher after security software firm reported a 50% increase in first quarter profits and netflix up on the news its revenue now exceeded hbo's in the second quarter making announcement by facebook hastings. facebook and apple continue to be favorites among investors looking for a place to put their money safely and favoring big cap tech names according to traders. quick check of the weak spots at nasdaq. retailers are the

mary thompson with details. mary? >> this is from the federal reserve and fdic.ors weighing in on the living wills submitted by the largest bank for 2013. regulators saying these living wills need improvement and they have sent letters on the shortcomings of these living wills to the 11 banks involved, including j 36k morgue, bank of america, citi, goldman sachs and morgan stanley. they say shortcomings include unrealist assumptions about clients and counterparties and that the firms failed to identify needed changes within the organizations for an orderly dissolution. the regulators say the firms should address these shortcomings in the 2015 submission of the living will and failure to do so could lead to a forced sale or restructuring at the banks if the regulators feel this is needed, but that would be a couple years down the road. the harshest criticism coming from thomas honig, who said each plan was deficient and criticized big banks, saying they were vel overleveraged and bigger and more complicated than before the financial crisis. kelly, back to you. >>

mary thompson joins us from augusta, georgia, with more. ecall georgia topped the cnbc list of top states for business. mary, how you doing today? >> good, becky. we're here at a specialized vehicles plant where for the last eleven years they've been using advanced technology solutions to repair and maintain the machines they use to make these easy go golf carts as well as the curbman vehicles and the bad boy buggy all-terrain vehicles made here at this facility. i guess you could call it domestic outsourcing. but peoria based ats says demand is growing for its services. here's ats vice president. >> since our inception in 1985, we've actually grown to 3,000 employees and had an annual average growth rate of about 18%. i would say the demand for our product has been accelerating and it really is this skill gap issue that's one of the primary drivers. along with just global competition in the manufacturing environment. >> demand is so strong ats is hiring 500 workers this year. its technicians are trained to fix and maintain the multiple mach