. >> jeff: two wholesale drug buyers are suing merck. accusing the pharmaceutical giant of blocking production of a generic version of its allergy drug singulair. the suits claim merck fraudently obtained a patent and that's preventing drug distributors from buying those cheaper versions. merck says its patent is valid and plans to defends itself against the lawsuits. there's a lot at stake... singulair sales topped $4 billion last year. >> paul: if you receive medicare benefits, plan to pay a little more for prescription drugs next year. medicare officials say on average, seniors will pay $30 a month for stand-alone drug plans. that's $2 more than this year. since premiums vary from plan to plan, the exact amount of won't be known until october, when the plans are finalized. >> jeff: here's a look at what's happening next week: our friday market monitor guest is mark skousen, editor of "forecasts and strategies." on the economic calendar: tuesday, we'll see july's producer price index along with july housing starts. wednesday, we'll see

take a look at merck, pfizer, elpida, merck. hey, regis is right on this one. >> get me reeg. >> jonathan, 1640. if he gets above 1670, it's interesting. >> they have lagged all year. they have gone behind the s&p. it's up. well below the level right now. look at merck, pfizer, people start to look at the attraction -- hey, look at the balance sheets and the dividend yields. if i want to park my money right now, where's the safety net, i want to look for pharma. >> if you have a pfizer or a merck, you overright the collective premium? >> i do. >> instead of sitting through doing nothing? >> a writer's dream right now to create dividends on top of those you've got, it's phenomenal. >> don't forget, anything related to the health care space, as obama's plan continues to fall apart across the board, it's a good thing for anybody. >> china watch. stocks from the shanghai index hitting bear market territory. 19.7% off of the 2009 high decline of 20% from the high. it's a technical definition of the bull market. you and i have had thi

the health care sector got a shot in the arm when a federal judge ruled in favor of drug maker merck in a patent dispute over its top-selling asthma drug, singulair. an israeli company was told it cannot market a generic version until merck's patent runs out in 2012. john deere saw its sales slashed by 25% last quarter but managed to beat expectations by cutting costs. cash-strapped customers forced the world's largest maker of farm equipment to trim yearly sales forecast predicting its steepest decline in 50 years. the retail sector saw another disappointed when limited reported a 27% plunge in profits. but wholesaler bj's managed to beat analysts's expectations seconding shares up 2% on the day. credit card holders will get a break as new federal guidelines go into effect. some of the changes, bills have to be in the mail three weeks before the due date and customers now have the right to dispute interest rates. keep an eye on shares of barnes & noble and the gap. all report second quarter results today. finally, if you're in the market for a new appliance, you may want to hold off

cheaper versions merck says itsatent is valid and plans toefends itself against the lawsts. there's a loat stake... singulair les topped $4 billion last year. >> paul: if you receive mecare benefits, plan to y a little more for preription drugs next year. dicare officials say on average, siors will pay $30 a month for stanalone drug plans. th's $2 more than this year. nce premiums vary from plan plan, the ext amount of won't be known until octer, when the plans are finalid. >> jeff: hers a look at what's happening next week: our friday market motor guest is mark skoun, editor of orecasts and strategies." on the enomic calendar: tuesday, we'll see july' producer price ind along with july housing start wednesday, we'll seehe weekly report on crude oil and soline inventorie thursday, it'seekly jobless claims and the july leadg dicators. friday, existingome sales for ju. also, nexteek, quarterly results from hewlettackard, home depot, lowe's, sears d target. >>aul: my guest market monitor this wk is james stack, president of stack fancial management and publisherf the investech

jim, i've been working for merck, i returned to medical school, and own some shares merck.ow do you feel about holding the stock over a long term. >> i'm not a believer. i think fred hassle did an incredible job clearing up schering-plough and getting it ready. i think a lot of the fat is out, but there will be obviously some duplications. but i will say this. i think there are some good drug stocks out there, but i don't think merck has great drug prospects. they're having cost consolidations. that's not enough to make me want to pull the trigger. "mad money" is back after the break. >>> i want you to get in on the deal. don't pay more than $17.50,. though. i always say there is a bull market somewhere, and i try to find it here just for you on "mad money." i'm jim cramer, see you tomorrow. >>> next up on kudlow, the summer rallies.s. hear pelosi and her plea. and the grass roots. "the kudlow report," next. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 if i'm breathing, i'm thinking about trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i always have my eye out for a stock on the move. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 doesn't m

merck, mcdonald's, at&t were among shares coming under pressure. the deepest recession hair cut a guy can get maybe at home. a growing number of americans are bypassing the barber and beauty salon and taking matters into their own hands instead. there are growing store sales of electric hair clippers. jane king reporting. >> thank you. we'll see you back at 6:15. >> 61 degrees on tv hill. coming up, another look at your morning commute. >> does the start of the new school year have you concerned about the h1n1 swine flu virus. email us at watercooler@wbaltv.com. watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> visitors continue to pile into arlington national cemetery to get a glimpse of late senator ted kennedy is resting place. the grave site opens to the public yesterday. his grave is marked by a plaque and a simple oak cross. one of only two at the cemetery. the president of the baltimore chapter of the naacp is recognizing senator kennedy's work in congress. it was one of several topics he spoke about while appearing on sunday morning. >> there's no one in the sena

berkshire hathaway up 20% and merck up 21%. are you still with these stocks?>> yes, i am, paul. >> paul: let's have two more. general dynamics up almost 60% and overseas ship 47, you are really on all burners there. are you still with these? >> yes, i'm still with those as well. >> paul: you had one stock you said to sell short, star scientific. sell short at 4.32 and it is now less than a dollar, a profit of 77%. congratulations, john, great call. >> thank you very much. and we have covered that star scientific short now about a buck. >> paul: do you have any new recommendations? >> i sure do and i had-- like to start right out with general dynamics again, even after rising 60s%, it's still at nine times earnings. unfortunately, we're in a world where we need military equipment and i think that's still a good buy. >> paul: g.d. is the trading symbol on the big board. number two selection. >> number two i'd like to go with a small energy company called boots and coots, named after two of the three fellows who started it, their nicknames. boots and coots puts o

>> why are the p/e ratios low on merck, at&t, mcdonald's and walmart if the -- if he's correct?hey should be the most popular stocks, if he's correct. and the reality is, people have gotten very excited about the economically sensitive companies, and they have neglected the wnz that are consistent. and what we're saying is be bullish on the ones that are consistent. and they make up significant parts of the major indices. for example, the dow might outperform the s&p the next couple years, because it's more made up of the higher quality companies that have been neglected while people chase economic sensitivity. the other thing on your economist that you just led in prior to el-erian, last year, we went into an economic coma in between the lehman brothers debacle in about march. so for six months, the economy was in a coma. sometimes economists try to make things too complicated. if our economy doesn't grow this year in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter last year, then the first quarter compared to the first quarter the year before, i will be in total shock. we we

ding today after the government upheld a patent for merck on the allergy drug.and pfizer was up. farm equipment was up, expected to barely break even in the fourth quarter. today was a red letter day for google. not quite happy birthday, more like happy anniversary, fifth anniversary for google because at this time five years ago, it ipo'd. guess how much it was back then? 85 bucks a share. even then some people thought it was too expensive to buy. look at it now. it's now sitting at 448. it gained 350%. >> amanda, it is so gre great -- amazing, isn't it? so great to have you in town from australia. so much of the discussion was whether or not china is strong enough to sustain its recovery and help the global recovery. from what you've seen in australia, so dependent on china, what do you think. >> china is such an important part of the global economy. i'm not sure it's the engine to pull us all out, you look at the way the chinese economy is constructed, still export dependent and who buys a lot of the products. americans, and probably bought it the suit you

merck and schering-plough shareholders overwhelmingly approving their merger. over 99% of investors in both companies okaying the deal. if approved by the ftc, merck will become the world's second largest drugmaker. and target is breaking up with amazon.com. the retailer announcing it will build and manage a new target.com platform that will be launched in two years. amazon has been running target's website since 2001. bob. >> melissa, thanks very much. let's talk about what's going on today in a very interesting day. joining me here, david darst, chief investment strategist with morgan stanley. and directly to my right, jordan kimmel, market strategist with national securities, author of "the method of invest." so gentlemen, let's talk a little bit about the dollar. a lot of people scratching their heads. dollar strong, stocks strong as well. commodities kind of moving sideways. that hasn't happened recently. is this a sign that something -- there's a change in the air? >> global recovery is the theme. you've got germany, you've got japan recovering. the unite

and i think that what we're going to see is strong double-digit earnings growth, specifically at merck and pfizer next year, which probably is going to compare relatively well to the market at a substantial discount in terms of multiples. >> all right. good conversation. we appreciate it. harry, barbara, thanks so much for your time.. we appreciate you joining us today. breaking news right noup. right to l.a., where julia boorstin is there with it. julia? >> that's right, maria. steven spielberg's dreamworks studio has finally secured the financing it needs to be able to start fing on its films. approximately $325 million of senior debt which reliant entertainment an indian company will be matching with its equity, $325 million in equity. disney, which is committed to relation the steelberg dreamworks film will contribute another up to $175 million. maria, this is big news many, many months in the making. back over to you. >> julia boorstin. technology among the groups under pressure today. nasdaq down sharply. up next we break down the outlook for tech, which means it could see some a

the fda just out with a statement that the benefits of merck's gardisil continues to outweigh risks.shares are actually down 1% there. down 33 cents a share. 3115 the latest trade. mandy. >> okay, trish. the first phase of credit card reform becomes lower today. the morgan's card holders gives 45 days to reject rate increases and they'll have the option of paying off their existing balances at the current rate over a five-year period. but some are arguing that consumers with good credit may be hurt by the legislation. are they right? let's bring in jordan goodman personal finance expert and president of money answers.com, and adam levin chairman and founder of credit.com. gentlemen, thank you very much for your time. my basic read of this is that a new legislation is potentially going to give consumers a little more information, a little bit more transparency, maybe a little bit more time to pay their credit card debt back. but it doesn't actually give them too much relief from those higher interest rates and higher fees. is that the right way of reading this? adam, why don't you go

the attendance from washington's elite, hollywood's elite,hree merck presidents, all letting him as my the greatest legislators of our time grid -- all lauding him. >> he was known as the big cheese. i, like so many others in this city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all as a friend. >> it is during moments came from memories. his son lost a leg to cancer and remembered going sledding as a child. >> he said, i know you can do it. there is nothing that you cannot do. we're going to climb that held together even if it takes us all day. >> that there were tales of the humorous side from his son, patrick, who joined his father in the patrick. >> i came to congress. dad finally celebrated saying, "finally after all these years when someone says who does that damn is the thing she is? there is only one in three chance he is talking about me." >> this was a celebration as much as anything else. it was a quick thank-you for his work on the hill and at home. it was another sendoff for another kennedy. >> in peace, let us take our brother t

. >> reporter: merck says after reviewing the new report of adverse events, it continues to be confident in the safety of the vaccine. while the c.d.c. and f.d.a. continue to recommend its use, doctors say a look at the h.p.v. vaccine on girls and women on a case by case basis. >> if you're going to administer the vaccine, you should discuss these risks with your patient. i something else for parents to consider about whether to have their doctor's vaccinated, routine pap spear cans help prevent cervical cancer. maggie? >> rodriguez: dr. jon lapook, thanks, jon. if you want more on this study, go to our partner in health news webmd.com and search "h.p.v. vaccine." at the white house today, foreign affairs took center stage. president barack obama says middle east peace effort are moving in the right direction. he thanked egyptian president hosni mubarak for trying to get the israelis and palestinians back to the negotiating table. this was mubarak's first visit in more than five years. he stayed away to protest the u.s. invasion to iraq. another visitor to the white house was former pres

critical study says major medical associations have been too quick working with the vaccine maker merckurage large scale vaccination campaigns. >> i feel that we don't have enough information or data yet to be able to safely say that will prevent cervical cancer. >> reporter: making the decision to vaccinate all the more difficult. more many parents and pediatricians. john mckenzie, abc news, new york. >>> think about somebody or some thing you never want to find at your front door. now imagine if this ended up on your porch. aagghh! one family's unwelcome visitor. we'll show you what happened next. >>> and father goose? how this gussied up gang of geese saved the life of their leader. >> watch abc 2 news any time on channel 1 with comcast on demand. (employee 1) subject: urgent!! bob!! i need the baker file stat!! reply!! still making changes. circle back later!! what's with the yelling? oh, our internet slows down during peak hours so sending e-mails and large files just takes forever. so, we just yell. ben!!! thanks for the flowers!!! i thought you hated me!!! lol!!! semi-colon! righ

critical study out today says major medical associations have been too quick working the vaccine maker, merckrge-scale campaigns. >> i feel that we don't have enough information or data yet to be able to persuasively say that this will prevent cervical cancer. >> reporter: making the decision to vaccinate all the more difficult for many parents and pediatricians. john mckenzie, abc news, new york. >> our medical editor dr. tim johnson weighs in on whether parents should have their daughters vaccinated. and you can find his views at our blog, "the world newser," a com. >>> and coming up, the latest comeback of a gridiron great, and remembering a journalism institution. ar-sensor-linking, blind-spot-penetrating side mirrors of the all-new ford taurus. so what doesn't show up in your mirror, can still show up on your mirror. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new tauru fd. drive one. u introducing the all-new tauru fd. make me another meatloaf ♪ - ♪ no - ♪ forget the mac and cheese ♪ - ♪ oh no ♪ i want some fun piled on a bun ♪ ♪ i want a manwich, please... ♪ make tonight a m

but merck didn't explain it very well while promoting the drug.dies show after 23 million doses, 12,000 people reported medical problems, usually mild, dizziness, and headaches. are more than 700 reports of more serious problems, including 32 reports of death. merck says it's confident the vaccine is safe. >>> when news broke about south carolina governor mark sanford's affair with a woman in argentina a lot of people wrote it off as a politician straining. his wife, jenny, is doing something else. she talked to "vogue" magazine. she didn't stand by her husband in the tear-filled press conference. at the same time, the couple hasn't ruled out a reconciliation either. why would someone go so public with such a private problem? jeff gardere is here to weigh in on more of what jenny sanford ha to say. she opened up in a public way about this humiliation. what does that serve forre her. >> it's a catharsis. she can free her soul. she suffered through this. she kept her head low and while her husband was making a fool of herself when he was talking abo

mcdonald's and merck and 3 m and boeing are among the big losers today. what kind of economy with car companies owned by the same government. we will look at what jane wells called the bizarro economy. >> there is a crisis and there is opportunity. why this is a great time to rent. >> let's do that. hedge funds have been posting the 5th straight month of gains and earlier today on "squauk box," they hosted the hedge fund summit of sorts with the industry's heavy weights and among the power players, lee cooperman talked about the state of the american consumer right now. >> the consumer is wound and i think most of the people i speak to had a transformational experience in 2008. i don't care what strategy we are at, by and large people lost 30 to 40% of net worth and they are squared. >> we spoke with another legend, michael stein hart about whether this bullishness in the market will continue. >> almost with no exception, no one i know is long-term bullish. no one i know. >> does that make michael bullish? he is a great contrarian. >> he has a great voice

the deal is approved to make merck is second biggest drug company in the world, just behind pfizer. >me back. i'd david schuster in washington. >> i'm monica novotny in new york filling in for tamron hall. while the federal government spends billions, more on wars and more on banks and car companies. at least congress is doing its part to cut back, right? not so much. congress is planning on spending 550 million of your tax dollars to buy eight jets. take a look at this. in 1995, congress spent roughly $1.5 million on travel. today, that number has jumped to 12.5 million. so where do they go when they fly? $275,000 on trips to kuwait, 250,000 to germany and austria and close to 200,000 on trips to poland and china. is all this travel necessary? you may be asking. can they fly commercial like the rest of us and exactly where is this money coming from? >> no members of congress wanted to come on and talk about this, so in "the bigger picture" you may recall when the ceos used three corporate jets to fly to washington and begged for bailout money. do you remember the reaction from congre

much cash do you have and are you going to do more similar deals or get caught up with pfizer and merck? >> there is not a deal that goes down that we are not consulted with or looked at. our way of doing things is to get into an opportunity and something has a lot of headway as opposed to paying a lot of money for something that is there and buying volume. we look at it and that's a great example. a $100 million product and it's now multiple billions. we look at the biotech as an opportunity to really look at the best way to treat prostate cancer and taking the beat for alzheimer's and having a great run there and it's all ahead of us. >> this deal that you were talking about, some are saying it gives you dibs on buying. is that true or something you are looking at and do you expect them to push back legally? >> it allows us to find the opportunity to pick up is what is really does. >> and fired. >> we are very happy going with e land and where we are going with it and also taking that and being able to develop that for alzheimer's. we are happy with what we have available. >> let's ta

merck was higher here, second d best performer in the dow. behind mcdonald's, it is resumed a conviction buy. buy it with conviction, goldman sachs this morning. it was neutral before.e. let's get over to david faber now for the very latest faber report. >> thanks, matt nesto. all right. yeah, let's start with a deal. i'm laughing. listen, it's august. there's no m and a at all. in fact, i mentioned this deal primarily because it is indicative of just what's going on in m and a, which is zippo. we may we may start to see activity when we get back from summer vacations. perhaps in the fall we'll see i'm hearing conversations have started to pick up. who knows. so we want to let your flow that publicis reached a deal to require the razorfish from microsoft. this was a unit of quauntive, if you remember microsoft bought that firm. huge premium, some time back. now selling this for 530 million bucks. combination of cash, 6 1/2 million of publicis shares. microsoft will sold 3% of the capital after the closing.g. >>> take a look at m and a. global

merck is the biggest, up 3 1/3%.hat are the september fashion magazines telling us about the state of the economy? this year it looks like the unfashionably skinny issues sum up the recession. the key thing to look at is that. a couple of years ago it was this it thick. how can they keep luxury retailers from adding up the digital ad spending. peter is strategic consultant for the magazine industry. good to see you, milton, i'll start with you. vogue is thinner this year. is that because of the weak economy or is this a permanent shift? >> it's a little bit of both. the downward shift in the use of print media has been driven by the severe drought the luxury industry is. they look for radical new ideas and online media and marketing is the new idea. >> that becomes a permanent secular shift -- >> yes. what they are finding out is the online media is far more cost effective and measurable. >> peter, what does this mean for the weaker players? i have to imagine there will be shakeout here? >> the shakeout interestingly

i am not a pfizer fan, i've got -- i even prefer merck when it merged. i like lily, i've got bristol myers, i prefer that one too. pfizer loses a lot of exclusivity. jason in georgia. second georgia, jason? >> caller: hey, jim. >> jason. >> caller: i'm going to give you the best player on the planet albert pujols boo-yah. >> i'm not -- i can't disagree. i'll give you pujols boo-yah right back. what's up? >> okay, positioning for the oncoming mobile internet tsunami, what do you think of cy, cypress semiconductor? >> total buy. i'm giving that one a buy, buy, buy. we've been behind that thing since it was at 4, i redouble my efforts and say i hope the market's down so you can get some cy under 10 where i would -- >> all aboard! >> that stock. oh, archie in connecticut. >> caller: jim, i finally get to hear your voice. it's about the time. >> drel, i feel the exact same way. what's on your mind? >> caller: a few months ago you talked about chinese stocks and i was able to find a few and make some money. but i wanted to ask you about one. cfsd, i bought it

native of fort wayne, indiana, savage graduated summa cum laude from harvard in 1998 and a leader merck earned a master's degree from yale law school while on a foundation fellows fellowship at scholarship. ben wittes is a senior fellow with the brookings institute. he's the author of "law and the long war: the future of jestice in an age of terror," published in 2008. his previous books include star a reassessment, which was published in 2002, and confirmation for preserving independent works in angry times, published in 2006. between 1997, and 2006 he served as an editorial writer for "the washington post," specializing in legal affairs. before joining the editorial page staff of "the washington post," wittes covered the justice department and federal regulatory agencies as a reporter and news editor at legal times. his writing has also appeared in a wide range of journals and magazines including sleek, the newbak?v republic, the wilson quarterly, the weekly standard, policy review. what i would like to do is turn to our panel and ask each to speak for five minutes to give an introduc

. >>> and merck and schering-plough agreed to pay more than $42 million to settle a class action lawsuit over their cholesterol drug vytorin and zetia. the drugmakers were accused of delaying unfavorable study results that would hurt sales. and drugmakers are not admitting or denying any liability as part of the deal, bob. >> it's time for the "fast money" final call. goldman's numbers were certainly impressive but today's trader has a new stock that can make it some fast money. here to tell us jon najarian. you know him. the co-founder of optionmonster.com and a "fast money" contributor. you know, jon, i'm watching these financials. i know you want to talk about blackstone. but the volume for the last three or four days in all the financials have been well above normal. blackstone two or three times above normal. >> yeah, bob, it's absolutely been phenomenal, the amount of trading, institutional volume, because we break it down and look at those ten lots, the small contracts that are trading as well as the 1,000 contract trade, which are more institutional footprints. and you've got ins

. >> reporter: this doctor is a consultant for merck, the vaccine's manufacturer.she says side effects have been minor, things like soreness at the injection site, headaches, control is continuing to investigate all reports of major adverse reactions, including 20 reports of girls who died after getting the vaccine. >> there have been reports, but there have been no relationship between those and the vaccine. >> reporter: the vaccine can help prevent stds. dr. kathy woodward specializes in adolescent medicine. she says the rate of stds in her clinic ranges anywhere from 12 to 20% each month. >> 1 in 4 young people are already contacting an std. hpv appears to be just as infectious and as widespread as clumidia, so it really had a harbinger for d.c. parents that if we can offer this protection before the young person is at risk, it's going to be much more effective. >> reporter: other parents considering making the decision should take the advice of their doctor. >> go with your gut in listening to your doctor. >> reporter: news4. >> the hpv vaccine isn't cheap. all

>> i want you to go only with nordic, merck and tanker.ing me. yeah. next thing you know, i'll be going and getting a soda because of the buzzer. n nordic american tanker has the best deal. when it comes out of it, you'll make the most money as you have in the last ten years. nat represents the best value in the group. it has not worked yet. but since i started the show it sure has. ron in north carolina. ron? >> caller: jim. a huge tar heel boo-yah from beautiful charlotte. >> well, i got to tell you something. charlotte is -- look, i'm not fighting on that. if they'd move the whole thing down there, i'd do it in a heart beat. what's up? >> caller: i tried to get you yesterday and missed. >> i was all jammed up. i'm sorry. >> caller: did a switch-a-roo on my oil companies. i got rid of conico phillips in a wash and bought rdsa. is the future clear to 75 on that? >> you know, if you want dividend rich and this is a difficult one, i would still send you to bp, the old british petroleum. however, i am never going to give a fight to a person

and, in fact, speaking of price controls and government takeovers, even they have done well with merck leading the way, pfizer and johnson & johnson. looking at these data points, the protests, the populous protests, have they dwon good for mr. obama or harm to his program? >> i think they've done tremendous harm to his program. i think what they've illustrated is the american people are turning out by the thousands across the country to express to their representatives their concern and frustration. this piece of legislation which is enormous. it's like war and peace without the plot, very convoluted. no one understands it. if you don't understand it while it's being debated, imagine how difficult when they're trying to implement it. president obama said some things that are not so. he said aarp endorsed the proposal. they have not done so. he's gone around the country saying if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. if you're working for a company and your boss says i don't like my current health plan, i'm going to go for the public option, you're now in the government opti

i think there are some good drug stocks out there but not merck.nly you'll have is cost cuts and consolidations and that's not enough for me to pull the trigger. at your chevy dealer, but funds are going fast. so hurry. let us recycle your older vehicle and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back on a new, fuel-efficient chevy. your chevy dealer has more eligible models to choose from. more than ford, toyota or honda. now get an '09 cobalt for under fifteen-four after all offers. and get it for even less if you qualify for the cash for clunkers program. go to chevy.com for details. boss: so you've been helping people save money doon car insurance.ut there gecko: aw thank you, sir. boss: but i think there are a few other things you can say about what a reliable company geico is. gecko: right. uh, well maybe how geico's the third-largest car insurance company in america? nice tidbit there. boss: exactly. and i've been thinking, looking a bit more businesslike might help too. gecko: oh my. uhhh, no it's, what's, what's the word...

. >>> big dow winner today is merck up holding a patent for his best selling product. this one truly got our attention and the attention of our intrepid sports business reporter, espn magazine, $1 for a whole year. is it a good play or a last gasp breath before death? >> it looks crazy on the surface and it's an offer that's hard to believe. current subscribers getting the chance to renew at 4 cents an issue and get the insider which sells for $40 a year for free. the premise, help draw attention to the magazine website come bow deal, get more people to use the website and convince them it's worth the full price a year from now. >> this is really not about retention of magazine subscribers, this is really about an aggressive attempt to get people who experience the insider in the way we've just upgraded it. we want them to get to know it within a year they are saying, wow this is worth more than a dollar obviously. >> espn the magazine, has 2 million subscribers is feeling effects. the rest of the industry has with ad revenue dropping 20% in the first half of 2009. and

merck murray, political director for nbc news. what do you have for us. >> that's right. sonia sotomayor vote is going to take place tomorrow with all democrats and a handful of republicans set to vote for her. her confirmation is looking assure of a thing as you get in washington nowadays. also tomorrow, secretary of state hillary clinton will remain in kenya before heading over to south africa on her big trip to that continent. and then finally, president obama hits a fund-raiser and also a rally for virginia democratic gubernatorial nominee creigh deeds. that virginia governor's contest is a marquee race in 2009. >> and mark, you know, we've been talking a lot about the return of those american journalists. do we have a timeline? >> i know that wane on your list. do we have a timeline of president clinton and when he might speak? people are clamoring to hear what he might say. >> i'm sure he's going to be the next big get on any type of interview. we didn't hear him speak today. obviously someone like andrea mitchell will have plenty of it stuff on nightly news tonight

druck manufacturer merck was today's top gainer after a court upheld a patent on singulair. and shares in swiss bank ubs fell almost 3% after it agreed to hand over details on more than 4,000 secret accounts to u.s. authorities. tree trying to determine how much of the $18 billion in those accounts is the result of evading u.s. taxes. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." >> january 20th, and i want to know, why are you people ignoring his struggle? >> lower your taxes. >> how dare you? >> no more lies. no more lies. >> what are you going to do to restore this country back to what our founders created according to the constitution? >> i'm not a lobbyist with all kind of money to stuff in your pocket. >> nazi policies as obama has? >> welcome back to "hardball." rowdy crowds some carrying guns showing up at town meetings in all parts of the countries protesting health care reform and some protesting the way things are going in this corrupt. are they mad about health care or the presidency or what seems to be the nature of the 21st country?

. >> well, without merck and ibm pulling the dow down, we finished stronger, much stronger into the close. i think the big thing here is that demand is definitely up for technology. we know that, we've heard it from john chambers, we've heard it over at intel, and then we heard it last night from michael dell. that's good news, the bad news is that the upgrade cycle is still several months out into the future. so i think the people that wanted to hold the longs right now just naked are exactly wrong. the people that want to sell into this, take some profits, particular in tech with the upgrade cycle we've talked about, i think those are the smart money traders. >> going deeper into technology. and when you take a look at dell, for instance, up 88% in the past six months, even though a giant like ibm fell 1% on the session. >> we were positive on dell. we've been talking about it for a while. we thought dell, the stock, could rally, doesn't mean we love dell the company. they made comments on july 13th that were negative, they beat what they said in early july. good quarter, not great, val

schering-plough is poised to merge with merck. both stocks trading lower. trish. >> here's the story we've been waiting for. did bernie madoff have more secrets than a ponzi scheme. a new book by cheryl winesteen says she was his mistress. so who is this woman, and what can she tell us. mary thompson joins us with intriguing answers. >> hi, trish, the book comes out on august 23 25th and she claims she saw madoff, quote, up close, for more than 20 years. madoff's other secret, love, money, bernie and me. spoke with her and eight other victims on the day he pled guilty. here is how she met him. >> i had the privilege of knowing bernie, financial head of a charitable organization, and there was a donor in france that wanted to make a considerable contribution to the organization. the stipulation was that the funds remain with mr. madoff. >> at the time, winesteen was president of a women's charity for american jewish ties to israel. through 1998, a spokesman said it invested with a total of 80 million. the account had reportedly grown to over $100 million. th

we did see an upgrade with merck. we saw some strength there.ut there's been no flight into the other defensive. so it's a sell to cash rally if it's even a sell rally, or it was, we're seeing there. one other thing that catches my eye, i'm calling it irrational immunity. the top three percentage gainers over the past four weeks in the s&p 500 are not giving up a nickel today. in fact, they're all still substantially percentagewise higher here today. gannett's up 144%. aig with a 100% gain.. and cbs with an 85% gain.. the gold, the silver, and the bronze, melissa, as you would know. all up still. >> all right. matt nesto, thanks so much.. up next, we're coming right back with the closing countdown. >> and after the bell, will bank of america's rejected settlement with the s.e.c. have a major impact on the future of both the bank and ceo ken lewis? some answers ahead at 4:00 p.m. every sunday, lasagna at mom's was a family tradition. when she started forgetting things, i was hoping it was nothing. grandma! what a nice surprise! mom, it's sunday.

selling their holdings, abbott labs, baxter, johnson & johnson, eli lily, merck, pfizer and the genericaker. coming from a 13-d filing issue -- or filed, i should say, this afternoon. back to you. >> thanks very much. >>> karen, you follow these things and you were making comments about whether you follow bill and melinda gates. >> we actually never follow them. >> why? >> for a couple reasons. they don't have the reputation of being particularly successful investors. and i don't think they're in any way involved with the running of the foundation. >> of cascade. >> right. >> right. okay. >> so, there you go. >> okay. let's move on. after a hot week, gold, sugar, oil all dropped along with the markets. is it time to buy them on the dip? dennis gartman joins us today. >> hi, melissa. >> are you buying on this market? >> no. this market is awfully overbought. everybody his dollar is short the dollar and long the commodity market. you need to have a correction. it's all today was. it may last for a couple of days. you've taken copper, what, up 50% in the course of five weeks. you've taken

>> i mean, without merck and ibm pulling the dow down we finished much stronger, in fact. the big thing here is that demand is telephone up for technology. we know that. we've heard it from john chambers. we've heard it at intel. we heard it last night.t. that's good news. the bad news is that the upgrade cycle is several months into the future. i think the people that wanted to hold the ons right now, just make it, are exactly wrong. the people that want to sell into this, take some profits and wait for a pull-back, in particular in tech with the upgrade cycle, i think those are the smart money traders. >> tell managed to make some gains today even though a giant like ibm fell 1% on the session. >> let's talk about dell. we were positive dell. we've been talking about it for a while. we thought dell the stock could rally. doesn't mean we love dell the company. frakly they made comments on y'all thenth pretty negative. they beat what they said back in early squul. good quarter, not grade. valuations a little rich for me. again, i'd rather own hewlett packard over dell. i d

the report suggests drug manufacturer, merck, used money and influence to promote the vaccine withouterly pointing out potential dangers and points of interest. the vaccine is generally safe, another source says. >>> straight ahead, is secretary of state hillary clinton about to return to familiar ground? we will talk about that and why the white house might ask the former first lady to help in its health care strategy, perhaps behind-the-scenes. could that move backfire? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. (announcer) what are you going to miss when you have an allergy attack? achoo! (announcer) benadryl is more effective than claritin at relieving your worst mptoms. and works when you need it most. benadryl. you can't pause life. i just gave you some at the restaurant. yea i know. i threw them out. they were old so... old! they are rollover minutes. they are as good as new. ya know not everyone gets to keep their unused minutes. and these days we can't afford to be wasteful. savi

separate, critical study says major medical associations have been too quick workingith the vaccine maker merck to encourage large scale vaccination campaign >> i kneel we don't have enough information or data yet to be able to persuasively say this will prevent cervical cancer. >> reporter: making the decision to vaccinate all all the more difficult for many parents and pediatricians. johncickenzie, abc news, new york. >> to the weather now as hurricane bill picks up steam in the atlantic, forecasters say it could become a category 4 storm sometime today. bill is not on track to make landfall but it could kick up some very rough surf and dangerous riptides as it moves between the east coast and bermuda over the weekend. here is an interesting look at bill from above. this is the view from the international spac station. massive looking storm. >> that is really cool to look at. >> here is a look at your wednesday forecast: severe weather in the middle of the country. powerful thunderstorms, hurricane strength winds and hale and a chance of tornadoes from oklahoma city to chicago.jo showers and

here's merck, which is helping it drag down the dow industrials today.see, they've helped as safe havens as the market came back, but maybe sort of underpinning and looking like they're getting a little rich. schering-plough down about a percent today as well. although it is up 39% over the last year. these moves, again, not particularly news-related, it seems. the big pharma stocks traditionally defensive plays, which explains why a lot of money has been moving into the sector in the past year. again, that relative to some others, but as we look at the pharmaceutical index it's interesting to consider whether these stocks really are starting to turn now, and if so do they just get too pricey or are investors feeling less defensive now? are we at some sort of an inflection or rotation point? it's an interesting sector to look at, bob. >> yeah, and the important thing is whether or not investors -- if the market keeps moving up, scott, will look for broader exposure than just techs and financials that have led the market so far. i think it's a very intere

cisco, boeing, amex all pushing higher, but merck, pfizer, and intel not taking part. >> google's upas well. 4.61. five years after that $85 a share ipo. find out why dick's sporting goods seeing an 8% rally. carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday, was it really for fun, or to save money on heat? why? don't you think nordic tuesday is fun? oh no, it's fun... you know, if you are trying to cut costs, fedex can help. we've got express options, fast ground and freight service-- you can save money and keep the heat on. great idea. that is a great idea. well, if nordic tuesday wasn't so much fun. (announcer) we understand. you need to save money. fedex >>> okay, folks. welcome back to "the closing bell." let's take a look at some of those under the radar stocks. you hear the sonar. let's talk about dick's sporting goods. dks is the ticker. the second quarter profits slipped 2 1/2% to $39 million but it came in better nan expected and they also hiked their full year sales forecast. gamestop, tough day for them, reporting second quarter profit, down 32%. $39 million was

researchers say merck gave grants to medical groups which promoted gardasil. merck told "the washington post" that it did give about $750,000 to the groups to let them develop their own independent info and everything was done in an appropriate manner, it says. >>> we got fooled again! brett favre is picking up the football again, and it's for the green bay packers' biggest rival. oh, no he didn't. hi, rafer. >> robin, let me -- minnesota is the most hated team in green bay, even more than chicago. and if there was ever any question before, now they really are the most hated team in wisconsin. packer fans are reeling today because, well, they remember this dramatic moment. >> as they say, all good things must come to an end. >> bravo! sean penn has not given a better performance. by the way, favre has signed and then practiced for his new team tuesday. here's why i say this -- i realize that this has all been part of favre's plan since day one. he knew all along since leaving green bay he was going to go back to minnesota to play for the rival team. he dispute

and merck convicted abroad, you can receive life in prison.hese sentences are much tougher than they would otherwise receive in their home countries. we will have more for you coming up in about three hours. bill: thank you for that. patti ann: dick cheney saying president obama's partisan investigation will hurt cia morale and endanger american lives. bill: and gearing up for another full day of town halls. it is still august and there is still time to hold a town hall meeting. pothole:h no...your tire's all flat and junk. oh, did i do that? here, let me get my cellular out - call ya a wrecker. ...oh shoot...i got no phone ...cuz i'm a pothole...so....k, bye! anncr: accidents are bad. anncr: but geico's good. with emergency road service. ding! you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. call or go online for a free supply and up to $160 in offers from authorized postage ven