. >> panasonic is demonstrating a product it hopes will rede issions and return the company to profit. >> is is a low energy microwe oven, and this is a rice cooker wheryou can cook in stead -- instead of water. this is a refrigator. this is the basef the refrigator. >> there are solar panels on the roof and fuel cells in the back garden. ev the toilet is designed to us lessater, and power consumption in the house is ntrolled electronically. spite the neon-litities, japan is relativy energy efficien it is the second bigges economy, but only the fif larges emitr of grnhouse gases. t government wants the coury to be a world lder in eironmentally-friendly technology. campaiers sayconsumers should t think just buying a more efficien fridge wille enough to be truly gre. >> of course, energy efficiency is very important. and to buy energy efficient products i the first thing you can do, but still you have to thin abo the source of electricity, how it is made. >> in the panasonic case, even the curtains d lights are automatic to ruce power consumion. the company betting that whilpeople mayan

. >> in a mocked-up pace, panasonic is demonstrating some of its products it hopes will reduce emissions and return the company to profit. >> this is a low-energy microwave often and this is a rice cooker where you can cook with this instead of water. this is a refrigerator. >> there are solar panels on the roof and fuel cells in the back garden. even the toilet is designed to use less water, and power consumption in the house is controlled electronically. despite its neon-lit cities, japan is relatively energy efficient. it's the second biggest economy, but only the fifth largest emitor of greenhouse gas. japan's government wants the country to be a world leader in environmentally friendly technology. as part of its strategy to try to beat the recession. but campaigners say consumers shouldn't think just buying a more efficient fridge will be enough to be truly green. >> of course energy efficiency is very important, and to buy energy efficient products is the first thing you can do. but still you have to think about the source of the electricity, how it's made. >> in the panasonic case

. >> this panasonic is the world's first portable blu ray player, to allow to you watch them on the gos a little bulky because it comes with this stand. it also is very expensive. this is $800. which is debatable on whether or not you even need it because most of the laptops we're seeing nowadays come with whether -- blu ray players already installed. >> you can also use the blu ray player to log on to youtube and photo sharing web sites. >>> facebook and twitter and sites like it have tens of millions of fans but not everyone is sold on them. a new survey of 1,000 adults found 87% prefer dealing with other people in person instead of over the computer. in fact half the respondents said they don't even use social networks. >>> finally, it appears net flex can see the future. the movie rental service can now tell you which movies you might like before they are even made. the sixth harry potter just hit theaters but you can already add the next two installments to your netflix cue. pretty helpful for planning the rainy friday night at home with the family two years from now. >>> for info

and then lastly, panasonic, there we go, i wonder you guys recall what panasonic's actual name is versus the trade name which it adopted much to the delight of the north american consumer. but panasonic higher here today. they're seeing a swing to operating profits in the coming quarter. so nikkei english news service. guys, back to you. >> thank you. >>> up next, stocks around the globe starting off in a pretty good mood. a big day for data here in the states. in fact, it's going to be a big week, erin. we have a lot of data this week. monthly auto sales, ism on top today. of course, we end friday with the big labor department report. the word on the street and the buzz beyond on the other side of the break. >> that's right. markets up to where they were not at the beginning of the year, before lehman. >> wow. >> talk about something there. who knows if it will last, but that was a statistic of the day for me. later, casino stocks, if the economy is going to rebound, will vegas be one of the first beneficiaries of a little bit of positive thinking on the country? specter spotlight, this

. >> this panasonic is the world's first portable blu-ray portable. you could watch your movies on the go. comes with a stand. it is very expensive, $800. it is debatable on whether you even need it. most of the laptop's we're seeing come with blu-ray players already installed. >> sites like facebook and twitter get tens of millions of fans. but not everyone is sold on them. 87% of adults preferred dealing with other adults in person. half of the respondents said they do not even use social networks. it appears netflix can see the future. they can now tell you which movies you might like before they are even know it -- even made. the site will predict how many stars you might give these movies. helpful for planning movies in years in defense. for more iormation, log onto the tech page at abcnews.com. those are your tech bytes. i am vinita nair. >>> 5:21 is your time. 70 degrees outside. >> heavy hitting in d.c. >> later on "oprah," the 900- pound man. what life is like when you're battling obesity. with her son off to college, liz turned to target for

in terms of earnings, panasonic closed 0.1%. but after the market closed, posted a smaller than expected quarterly loss of $540 million. it drastically improved or cut operating loss forecast for the sixth month. reports suggest it could swing into better than expected earnings. we saw good gains in many of the gold stocks. talking about hsbc, that stock up 0.8%. >>> i'll send things over to bertha. >> in the u.s., we're kicking off a very big week with a lot of economic data. the big number is going to be the employment report on friday. today at 10:00 a.m. new york time, we'll get monthly construction spending data. also this morning, we'll hear about the july numbers. ford is expecting to see its first gain in two years thanks to the cash for clunkers program. earnings before the bell today, watching for insurance kucompan humana, marathon oil and tyson foods. after the close, pulte homes, chesapeake energy and petroleum. >> shares in barclays trading higher after the group saw a pretax profit jump 8%, just under 5 billion u.

panasonic, sanio? who is it going to be? >> the asians are the leaders today. in the u.s., we have a very small company. very little revenue. but it is a company with the only u.s. manufacturing base at this point. and you recently saw the department of energy give grants to smaller battery companies to kind of get started up. we think they're likely to be one of the winners over time. it's early. >> if you're an investor right now, fresh capital to put to work tomorrow, where would you remember them put it? >> well, right now in solar we like first solar. it's toning out to be one of the best houses on a bad block. we underweight solar. this is the company that has the lowest cost of manufacturing. it's got a strong return on capital. one of the problems, there's going to be growth, but you don't see a lot of profit yet. this is a company that's very profitable. investors are focused on prices coming down, collapsing their gross margins, so i think it's early. but first solar is a name we want to own. >> what is the best tech name that you'd go for in the sola

it's the panasonic dmp bd35. here is a bonus. once you get the blu-ray player, it can still play all your old dvds. if you don't have an hdtv; you don't need a blu-ray player. the pioneer dv or 10v is about $100 and gets pretty good marks from consumer reports. another good option is the lgdn898 for $80. we've got lots more consumer news you can use on our website, w usa9.com. click on living smart. >>> paula abdul says she is not coming back to "american idol." the now former judge made the announcement last night on twitter. abdul and "idol" apparently couldn't come to an agreement over money. as we reported monday, the other female judge, kara dioguardi did sign a new deal. the show's producers released a statement saying they are saddened that paula abdul is done. >>> now her announcement about the departure went out to more than 1.3 million people who follow paula abdul on twitter. but it's not teens. it's mostly adults. that's because many teens aren't twittering these days. lindsey mastis explains. >> reporter: paula abdul

panasonic is one of the places you can play this, pc, because these are the guys that are teamed oneanyo. these guys have significant progress. samsung, lg, a lot of the asian makers are well ahead on the lithium batteries. >> i'm looking forward to seeing what the new gm looks like when they are going to ipo it, which is sometime first quarter of next year. that would be interesting to see what a newly restructured, new cost basis gm, new cost structure gm looks like. >> and this acceleration of production everyone's bringing up this plays back to the coal names because goldman sachs has brought it up. they see demand for steel starting to pick up here and over in asia and because of that there's some upgrades today in some of these coal names. very, very impressive day. let's move on to analyze this. earlier this summer cisco's ceo john chambers saying the company was experiencing a'll leveling out in its latest quarter. meanwhile emc's cfo said the company had better visibility, more kovs in the second half of 2009 in its latest report. are we setting up for a pickup in tech spend

i'm adapting something fm the old panasonic fos, our new tto's going to be "just ightly ahead of ourtime." i know the conseatives of this country are not with me these issues today. but i know equal well they will be with me on these iues in theuture. they are just going to lea it, unfortunely, a harder way. >> moys: the book is "comebac conservatism that can win again." david frum, thanks forng with mon the journal. >> thank y. >> rublicans have a better solution that n't put the governme in charge of people's health care, tt will make sure we bring dn the cost of health care for all americans. anthat ensures affordable access for all aricans, and is pro life becau it will not put seniors in a position ofeing puto death by their government >> moyers:hat's it for the journa your lette and e-mails are lling us what you think of o coinuing coverage of the health care debate. we'll be staying with thistory foas long as it takes, and it's usefufor us to read your comments, bo pro and con, out our work. we read erything that you post. over theext two weeks we're presenting t important doc

i'm adapting something from the old panasonic folks, our new motto's going to be "just slightly aheadof our time." i know the conservatives of this country are not with me on these issues today. but i know equally well they will be with me on these issues in the future. they are just going to learn it, unfortunately, a harder way. >> moyers: the book is "comeback: conservatism that can win again." david frum, thanks for being with me on the journal. >> thank you. >> republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of people's health care, that will make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all americans. and that ensures affordable access for all americans, and is pro life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government. >> moyers: that's it for the journal. your letters and e-mails are telling us what you think of our continuing coverage of the health care debate. we'll be staying with this story for as long as it takes, and it's useful for us to read your comments, both pro and con, about our work. we read e

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panasonic set up this model home to showcase its latest ideas on eliminating carbon emissions. >> you reporter: inside, an energy management network reduces consumption. >> and hydrogen and goes in and reacts here to produce electricity. >> reporter: while fuel cells combine with solar power and batteries to provide what power is needed. it's an elegant vision of the future. but in the present, the family says building an ecofriendly house means making hard decisions. >> i have to decide which one to introduce and which one i cannot introduce. i have to decide every time. >> reporter: she says the important thing is the house is not just ecofriendly, it's also comfortable. and that's not easy to plan. morgan neill, cnn, kawasaki, japan. >>> a manhunt is under way in israel for a gunman who opened fire at a youth club for gay teens. a 17-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man were killed in the shooting late last night in tel aviv. 11 other people were injured. police are treating the attack as a hate crime, and israel's only openly gay lawmaker agrees with that approach. >> we didn't exp

panasonic set up this model home with their latest idea for carbon emissions. inside an energy management network reduces consumption. >> oxygen and hydrogen goes in and reacts here. >> reporter: while fuel cells combine with solar power and accumulator batteries to provide what power is needed. it's an elegant vision of the future. but in the present, this couple says building an ecofriendly house means making hard decisions. >> i have to decide which one to introduce and which oneky not introduce. i have to decide every time. >> reporter: they say the important thing is the house is not just ecofriendly, it's also comfortable. that's not easy to plan. morgan neill, cnn. >> for more information on how to build an ecofriendly home or just other important environmental news you may be interested in, just head to our website, cnn.com/ecosolutions. >>> looks like changes are on the way. the postal service may switch out how you get your mail. it may even mean fewer deliveries and longer trips to the post office. >>> the suspect accused of creating a bomb scare at