penney's may catalog.uietly, largely and without pro test advertising is starting to reflect new attitudes. >> why is that so funny? >> our cultures change and i think the broader consumer and the spending power in the country has become more progressive. >> reporter: there are gay couples on prime time television shows. >> it might be a little awkward at first. but i think after some time -- >> reporter: and now gay couples are coming out of madison avenue's closet. and more interracial couples, >> here we are because of an online dating site. >> reporter: -- reflecting the rising number of mixed race marriages in the u.s. now 7%. and in this commercial, a grandmother is the caregiver for a young child. >> thanks, grandma. >> reporter: what message are they sending, subliminally or overtly? >> we are you. we know your struggle. we understand what you are going through. we understand what it's like to raise a family with one person. same-sex families, interracial families, we understand the challenges of 2

can i put in jc penney? jc penney, would you buy jc penney?> well, i'm staying away from whether i would buy it or not. this is one of the great, i think, marketing decisions that was disastrous. everyday low prices sounds like a great idea. but people get used to sales. and apparently they missed them. they have told you that. the buyers obviously want to see the sales back. >> are you as short-term as bob? on a four-year strategy? >> well, you know, ron johnson, the former apple executive is runni innin inning jc penney ri. obviously his strategy of moving away from the coupons which they call drugs -- >> i beg your pardon. >> they have to wean them off the coupon addiction. it's going to take time, but the strategy makes sense, but you have to be in for the long-term. >> 19% drop in sales has to be one of the worst quarters in retail history. i hope they'll have the time to -- >> if the customers are going cold turkey, what did you expect? >> that's the point. >> i get it. >> listen, they don't do that at ross stores, for example. you don't

has jc penney hit an iceberg?t's herb right now, by the way. >> gm also not liking facebook for outspending. will they be the first of many major advertisers to ditch the social network. is facebook simply too big to ignore? we'll ask ford's marketing chief. stay with us. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there i

. >>> bill ackman's bullish on jc penney. so is herb.re they crazy or just genius ahead of their investing time. >>> outrage of the day. we'll meet the ceo whose pay went up $7 million even as the stock stayed stuck. nice work if you can get it, mandy. >> stocks are high. but an early rally has faded some what. the dow up 156 points earlier. a rise today would be only its fifth positive session of the month for the s&p 500. fairing a bit better than that. it is up for the fifth time in six sessions. and the nasdaq also higher today, but still looking at its biggest monthly loss in two years. we've got courtney standing in for bob pisani today. rick santelli, as well, is going to join the crew. courtney, always ladies first on "street signs." still a bit of a rally. the question from here is sustainability. >> that's exactly right. again, we look to our global trading partners really steering trade today. art cashin tells me some of the strength we saw early were from some reports that china's considering a stimulus package. also some ear

you're long jc penney. you looked on a hero on barnes & noble. >> right and green mountain, too. >> i won't say you look like a zero now but the stock is heading closer to it than where you thought it was going to be. >> yeah. it's important to understand. we're buying more and view this as an opportunity. our view of how much jc penney is worth five years from now isn't changed and it's important to understand why this happened and the reason is jc penney like many department stores got in the cycle of running like 800 promotions a year and conditioned their customers to only shop when they were getting a huge discount and in fact the number floored me. before ron johnson came in, 0.2% of what they sold was actually at the price marketed on the merchandise. so they had conditioned the customers to never buy based on the actual price. and ron johnson came in, said this is crazy. destroying the brand, the relationship with the customers and going to stop it cold turkey. last quarter, two thirds of what they

jc penney will be the main event later this afternoon. let's run down the e tail reports moving stocks so far. dow component home depot reporting profit in line with expectations. disappointing revenue and less than hoped for profit and sales guidance sending shares lower. completely different story for dick's sporting goods. the largest publicly traded u.s. sporting goods retailer handily beating the street on the top and bottom line and raising full year outlook. here's a surprise. tjx profit beats the street on strong sales in europe. tjx raising guidance. the shares up about 7%. jc penney reports after the bell. the street is expecting a loss of 11 cents per share. the retailer no longer offers guidance, though ceo ron johnson expects sales to take a hit for the first half of the year. a complete transformation is costly. macy's cfo says it's taking share from jc penney, though it's hard to quantify how much. the big question is how much of a hit will jc penney investors tolerate and for how long. according to fitch solutions, spreads

maybe there's hope for penney after all.her than take to the airwaves, promising all new merchandise while simultaneously eliminating coupons and markdowns, something that alienates pretty much every shopper out there, dyer quietly repositioned his various divisions. chico's was known as a specialty boutique for women in their 30s. those were the company's roots before it decided to switch gears by offering merchandise that was too young and sexy for its clientele. dyer went back to the original model, increased accessories, too, quietly, and brought the old customers back. and white house black market, a more upscale store that also lost its way, he repositioned the brand subtly as a designer alternative, going back to kind of roguish, raffish roots. it had been a hot retailer. dyer went edgy, raised prices and it worked. before dyer came in chico expanded everywhere with different size stores including bigger, less boutiquey ones. dyer spent more on infrastructure to make sure the merchandise arrived in a timely fashion. h

penney's store at the woodmore town center in glenarden. audrey barnes has the story. >> this is surveillance tape of the women at work filling their purses with designer perfumes and cosmetics at the j.c. penney's store in glenarden. >> they normally work in groups. they go inside a store with very large bags and take the items from display, put them in the bag and walk out. >> loss prevention officers at j.c. penneys recognize czar keisha wilkinson and latasha mungo and called police. they had $7,000 of stolen merchandise on them when they were arrested from just one hit at the store. >> they normally hit the store three or four times a day and so far we have $20,000 worth of stolen perfumes and product. >> reporter: shoppers at woodmore dawn center are worried about the theft's impact. >> i think -- town center are worried about the theft's impact. >> i think it's horrible. we finally got some good stores in pg county and i don't have to drive all the way to virginia. >> reporter: police say the thieves also pulled off similar robberies

giving up the penney.e penney. >> you recognize it's a bad investment? >> trying to save money every way we can. i would rather do away with the penney that fire a teacher. right? >> sure. >> for example, so i think it's a smart move. what a line-up we have for you today. we saw the jobs report on friday. positive but not as good as people were hoping. secretary of labor, hilda solis will be here in studio to take us all through the numbers and what they mean. she will be with us in the next hour. we are also going to talk about apple making great products but making paying no taxes and we will talking talk to david sarota, a good friend from out in denver on am 760 in denver and he is going to be joining us as well achlthsz later. but first: >> this is the full court press. >> well, on this tuesday, headlines making news, bill shaquille o'neill, the four 5 nba champion you should call him dr. o'neill. he earned a doctorate in education from berry university in miami over the weekend. this is not an honora

penney launched, no more sales. we'll just go with cheap prices all of the time.o well and the company is really paying the price. we'll let you know how bad it got and what they're going to do about it in a moment. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. >>> a very expensive lesson for one of the nation's best known store chains. turns out we really, really like it when stuff goes on sale. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. i'm talking jc penney and a strategy that really burned them. >> somebody needs to tell the new ceo that people still like sales because what he did was he took away those sales. bef

>> jc penney i'm short also. i think it can go lower.s pulled back about seven points. >> we'll go around the horn when we come back and get final trades. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ that's my world. if you made a list of

how do i play jc penney at these levels or do i not play it at all? >> i don't know if you play it at all, tyler. i'll tell you why. it takes a long time to change an image. i think that jc penney has had an image problem for a very long time. i'm not saying that it can't be done. i would say that you may want to look at something like family dollar. interestingly, ackman actually reduced his holdings of family dollar last quarter. and we think that that's more of a play. it has a small dividend. a little over 1%. they don't have an image problem. sue, over to you. >> thank you very much. >>> the oil market was stronger this morning. not so right now. down about 21 cents on west texas intermediate crude. one reported reason for the surge earlier on was pessimism over those on again, off again nuclear talks with iran. light sweet crude off about 20 cents on the trading session. oil clearly is also an issue for europe's house of economic cards. just last week europe vowed that starting july 1st an eui ban on iranian oil will begin. global market strateg

where did penney go rong?de a top-down decision without any actual feedback from the customers. i'm calling it pure arrogance. gap is going the total opposite direction. bottoms up approach. they recognized they have no idea what the consumer wants. so the company's putting a ton of effort into figuring it out. last six months of 2011 gap put more time, energy, and money into making sure they were in front of their customers and talking to them. the plan is for gap executives to read the results across its entire fleet of stores, then reallocate to those storms where the product is performing better and pull back on the allocations where the product is performing less well. they're getting immediate feedback from store managers, even posting comments from customers and having their merchants respond instantaneously. and this plan, ladies and gentlemen, is working. the company's investing heavily in market its plans for the first time in years because they're so much more confident in the product. at gap they'v

a conservative groups of moms going after jc penney again. the group 1 million moms is upset with jc penney for using this catalog photo which shows a lesbian couple with their arms wrapped around each other and their daughter. both women are wearing wedding bands and the text across the photo reads freedom of expression. in february, 1 million moms launched a campaign demanding the retailer fire ellen degeneres because she's gay. that campaign failed. >>> well, this one is nothing short of a major feat. it's 4:50 right now. we take you to some major league baseball history. we'll tell you about a no-hitter served up by the angels. >>> plus, get ready for the summer block busters. hours away from the opening of the avengers. we'll have a preview next. >> i want to see that. we're looking at 101, a smooth drive through the north bay. novato construction, we'll talk about the rest of your commute coming up. hey, your high speed internet here at home... and on the go... ...with some really big news. it's b-i-g, big. high speed internet from at&t

this is penney's lowest share price since october. teenage clothing seller abercrombie and fitch fell 13% to a new 52-week low. the company blamed europe for revenues coming in short of expectations in the first quarter and for dropping its sales outlook for the year. an in-home test for h.i.v. is one step closer to drug store shelves. a u.s. food and drug administration advisory panel okayed the test kit made by orasure. it's using a swab of your mouth, and it's already used by health care professionals. if it gets final okay, this would be the first at-home h.i.v. test. >> it's a significant opportunity both for the company as well as for public heal. the opportunitfor the company, obviously, is being the first test and the only test available. we can raise awareness and en current people to buy the product for that purpose that will be grit. we have our operations in place, manufacturing is in place. we've met with the retailers, we believe that we're going to have broad distribution upon launch. >> tom: michels, the c.e.o., says t

i visited jc penney and i was appalled at the merchandise.t was obvious to everyone, everyone except johnson, who is only now discovering that old inventory is not his friend. it is embarrassing. i don't think the brand changes are being executed in a way that works, and 18.9% decline in same store sales can't be turned around any time soon. sears, which we all know hasn't been able to turn anything around, never had these kind of hideous numbers, and sears, which here's the old catalog, has a much better balance sheet. if johnson has simply said nothing, if he hasn't slagged the competition, if he kept expectations low, if he talked about how his everyday low pricing strategy would be rolled out ever so slowly to wean them off coupons over time, not cold turkey, then maybe i'd feel better. it's only worked for one person, johnson. it makes me wonder if johnson had as much to do with the apple stores as i thought when he came over from that terrific company. if i didn't know any better, i think that johnson might have simply been along for th

this is not the group's first attack on jc penney.uary, 1 million moms launched a public campaign demanding the retailer fire spokesperson ellen degeneres because she is gay. that campaign failed. >>> it is 5:46 right now, and we definitely need the rain and christina loren is here to tell us it's coming. >> it is coming. we're not going to see a whole lot of rain, but if you are picking out a nice ensemble for the day, bring that umbrella. those microclimates giving me a hard time when it comes to the forecast for today. this is san jose. mostly clear skies to start you out. nice and calm out there. temperatures are in the 50s. and we do have a pretty strong sustained wind speed in fairfield at 14 miles per hour. but the difference is, san francisco, you're waking up with a full deck of clouds this morning, calm conditions, yeah, that fog is back. showers are going to hold off until the second half of the day. it all works out like this. you can see, we've got a really good looking system for the pacific northwest. we're not going to

. >>> second time this year an anti-gay women's group going after jc penney the organization is upset with the department store chain over an ad depicting a smiling lesbian couple and their daughter. the one million mom's website urges members to visit their local jc penney store manager and politely explain the ads the wrong message in february the -- one million moms has an estimated 44,000 members. >>> this morning a2Ñ2yb versiof the scream has honor of being the most expensive painting ever auctioned off. unidentified telephone bidder paid 120 million dollars for a pastel version painted in 1895. five bidders competed for "the scream." experts expected 80 million dollars it was sold by the heir to a norwegian shipping fortune -- it shattered the previous record of 106 million paid for a picasso nude in 2010. as you know, he painted four versions this is the only one left in private hands soui valuable. >> macaulay culkin was not the inspiration despite what you may think at home. >> he does a great imitation. >> he does. >>> not everybody is going to get rain, not at the same tim

and jc penney have bnl hammered.g, noted activist who owns a very significant stake in jc penney had this to say about the company's turmoil. >> i would say the bottom for sales in jc penney, down 18.9d, it's going to be the problem. >> we shall see. akron's history has been very strong in some areas, but there's also the target investment, which is a special purpose vehicle in which he earned options. and then, of course, borders, he bought the stock right before bankruptcy. jc penney, one of the biggest retail investments he' made. >> david, you 45d the great special on j. crew and the take away for me of your documentary was merchandise, high invenn foir. these are the things that you need. i don't see the right merchandise. i don't know if john son has an eye. it may be. he's asking a lot of 4his customers. here's what he had to say. >> it's a lot on the brand marketing and didn't focus enough on the price and value offering. now, it also takes time to educate the customer. kind of time is your friend when you ch

penney had the biggest decline in four decades including the 1987 stock market crash. >>> elsewhere, skechers will pay $50 million to settle allegations of false advertising about toning shoes. >>> speaking of truth in advertising, one wisconsin man learned the hard way that all you can eat may be open to interpretation. the 66 frts, 350 man was kicked out of chuck's place after eating a dozen pieces of fried fish. they sent him home with another 8 pieces but he still called the cops, and insists he will picket the restaurant until they change their policy. just never enough fried fish. >>> the celts top the sixers. o's top the royles, larry byrd winning awards. a third period tip-in goal help the devils gets even. >> i believe that was 20 pieces of fried fish. the forecast is coming up, a nice, quiet one you're watching "early today." >>> good morning, if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports last night the nba playoffs, metta world peace got pay back for the big elbow. here is fred roggin with an early look at the sport headlines. >>> good morning, now, whether you

retail stores will also be in focus with first quarter results from jc penney, walmart, and home depot. >>> wall street will find out if there's been any improvement in the housing industry with reports on housing starts and building permits. >> today is mark zuckerberg's 28th birthday but the real celebration could be friday when facebook is expected to debut on the nasdaq. >>> in ohio, a man kept his arm up for 17 hours straight, hoping to score a guinness world record for the longest continuous fist pump. he prefers the so-called jersey style where you use your elbow to roll your fist. bill will show you how to do it yet. no official word on the record. >>> coming up the heat beat the pacers, the kings top the coyotes, and whose turn was it to win this weekend at golf's player championship. >>> plus, a cincinnati slugger goes yard three times, including walk-off grand slams. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> and if you're on the east coast,y u're going to be dealing with a lot of rain in the next two days. the middle of the country is just about perfect. yo

penney tumbled 12% on weak earnings report and news it's doing away with quarterly dividends. the same week facebook is going public, general motor is pulling the advertising on the social network but will keep the facebook page. >>> finally, here is some food for thought for you. before you reach for that sweet at your desk today. a new study at ucla finds eating too much sugar can eat away at your brain power. this based on effects observed on lab rats, memories. got to have a little bit. >>> spurs wear down the clippers. l.a. is king of the road and the major league soccer champs visit the white house. plus, things get heated in miami as the pacers flex their muscle. early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> the middle of may is a stormy period in the middle of the country. not this year. your forecast is coming up you're watching "early today." ♪ ♪ pop goes the world ♪ it goes something like this ♪ everybody here is a friend of mine ♪ ♪ everybody, tell me, have you heard? ♪ ♪ pop goes the world ♪ pop goes the world [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind

two decades worth of jc penney catalogs. all right, so what did we get, what nefarious schemes did the terrorist master mind have up his sleeve. >> what it shows again is that when bill laden was still intent on attacking american targets, he even asked to come for his lieu ten ants to come up with a plan to a sass fate president obama. >> jon: nice work getting to that in a timely fashion. slow bi wan kenobi. what was the title of that plan's memo, bin laden determined to attack, what is that sound, sounds like a hell korpt s that foot step,out my eye. so obviously that plan never came to fruition, anything more doable on his agenda. >> he talks so much about the bin laden brand at at one point even wanted to change the name of al qaeda. >> jon: wow, i can see how we no longer want to be associated with it, innocent deaths and how that could have affected al qaeda from a branding perspective. >> other organizations, you have to change with the times. how about this instead of al qaeda, aq, you know, maybe just a different n

penney brands and noble 9 west and even foot locker the ball began testing that online payment system in stores back in january they start with home depot most retailers are expected to live next month. >>> he's accused of bilking bay area homeowners out of thousands of dollars on the consumer watch julie tells us a contractor is back on the bay area's most wanted list. did least his first on the state licensing boards one in 2008 and they say the serial offenders back his old tricks with $40,000 in outstanding warrants in both alameda and contra costa counties holly wilson is a one- to-one least five separate charges ranging from operating without a license to grand theft numerous consumers complain he takes illegal large down payments then bill stewart and he is not the only northern california contractor on the list if you recognize any of these men are asked to contact the police the one before hiring a contact for thousand dollars whichever is less always get three bids references and a written contract and always run their license number to the check the license first daughter,

we heard from jc penney last night. pretty negative number there.s a preview of what to expect. >> well, earning season is firmly in the rear view mirror. retailers are just now in the thick of reporting. biks boggs target reports before the bell. will the april slowdown extend into may? following gasoline prices helping target shoppers though it continues to strain the middle income consumer. anner come by & fitch with decent exposure to europe and after fossil's concern and comments the street will be listening for anner come by's take. they're understood performing but a handful of analysts have made some recent bullish calls and investors can expect strength out of special retai r retailers limited. victoria's secret sails continuing boost the rest of the company. and economists will take a look from retailer staples. sometimes seen as an indicator for small business hiring. >> coming up just after this, find out why our next guest says new store initiatives are going to make target a buy. >>> plus, germany's angela merkel is determined to keep

i stole this from penney's. this from penney's.y underwear drawer, i pick things out that i want and then i go into the back to try on and the ones that i want i tear the tags off and wear them. i may have two or three bras on at one time. i put my clothes over them and walk out. >> after bragging about her skill at stealing lancaster gets down to business. >> so what do you want? >> as many trazodone and what not as you can. >> she was repeatedly stealing drugs from the nursing home. she would take it from patients' trays. >> what i did is a patient went to the hospital and they had a cart of them and i just took the card. >> she would take it from the narcotics cabinet, in any way, shape, or form that she could. >> is that enough? because i need to save some for me. >> yeah. these in here? >> yeah. they're 150 apiece, enough to knock you out. don't do more than two of them. >> don't do more than two? all right. >> because you're not used to it. i can do two. >> just take one to help me sleep? >> if all you want is to help you sle