>> the answer is yes, for an old guy. >> we got positive economic data. housing starts, those are in line for august. initial jobless claims lower. you did see continuing claims rise, but really, that's to be expected in this kind of environment. because you're seeing the pace of firing slow down. however, companies are still reluctant to hire and that's to be expected as we come out of this downturn. phillies coming in better than expected. some news investors can hang their hat on. up 33 points. hi, bob. good to see you. there are some real standouts today. amr is one of them. >> we're up nine out of ten days. the bears are really pulling their hair out. there are some good fundamentals. airlines have had a terrific week. united and delta, earlier in the week, raised guidance. delta announced they were seeking to raise $5 million and amr raised 2.9 billion by selling frequent flier miles. aviation also gave them a loan. i expect continental to also make a comment. >> pretty stunning. that was as expected. >> here's the one problem with fedex. the revenu

levels in the s&p 500 we haven't seen since last september in seems eyestalks are reacting to positive economic data. this week positive numbers on industrial production for both months of july and august it could very well mean that the manufacturing sector we session and that persist it sector may very well be over. it may be good news and the treasury department efforts to take toxic assets of the bank balance sheets begins a first initial test if but the first option go into a texas firm and about $64 million why know what half a billion dollars roof home mortgages. the next 12 months will be crucial for small businesses across america.. most of the nearly 800 billion dollar economic stimulus program - will be spent in 2010 and 2011. and now the federal government is stepping up its efforts to help small businesses get their piece of federal contracts. there's been much criticism... leveled against the federal government... that it awards contracts to america's largest companies... and doesn't do enough to help the real engine ofmerica's economy... small businesses... "the missed opporutniies..

there are a let of things we're going to need to see in terms of positive economic data this quarter to confirm that it's got it right but right now we think it's basically got it right. >> paul: what investment strategy are you telling your client to follow right now? >> well, we're-- as you know, we're a well-diversified investor, but when we look at equities, we like equities. we think they're an attractive value in general. and there are some sectors within equities we very much like and financials and technology are two of the leading sectors in that area. >> paul: financials and technologies are your favorites, right? >> yes, right now. >> paul: yeah, okay, well, of course it changes. how about some individual stock recommendations right now. >> well, in the financials, i'll give you two. i'll start with goldman sachs. goldman sachs has had a very good run recently. >> paul: yes, it has, wow. >> yeah, very good. really you look at that story, they have two of their largest competitors from a year and a half ago, bear stearns and lehmann brothers, no longer exist. they have a st

. >> so what to make of this positive economic data? well, sometimes definitions are important. a recession, of course, two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. we have had that. a recovery is two consecutive quarters of economic growth. the fed chairman's reassuring words notwithstanding, we haven't even had one of those, at least not yet. bret: definitions are important. thank you. stocks are rup again today. the dow climbed 56. the s&p 500 rose 3. nasdaq gained about 11 points. in news around the world, four mortars were fired into baghdad's gene district during a surprise visit by joe biden. the vice president is in iraq to visit u.s. troops an iraqi leaders. winning the war in afghanistan will probably require more american troops. that is the assessment from admiral mike mullen. he told the senate armed services committee today that he expects a request from his top commander on the ground soon. >> a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces, and without question, more time and more commitment to the protection of the afghan people and to the

and we are looking at positive economic data out of china in terms of industrial production as well as crude oil imports and power generation, all are up more than expectations. the dollar, as scott mentioned, was also a very important factor the traders are watching, with the dollar weakness against the euro continuing today. and the fact that the dollar has weakened so much against the euro really does not have so much to do with risk appetite to currency strategist, it has more to do with what is happening to the green back itself and the hedge that a lot of folks are trying to make against the euro. also, the gold purchases that have been made in china. keep in mind, as we look at the weakness in the dollar, you can also look at the strength in gold prices. over that $1,000 mark, once again, we continue to watch the rally in gold. rick santelli, to you in chicago. >> thank you. we're watching the dollar as well. all i can tell you is one week ago today, we had a euro currency around 143. right now it's hovering around 14 of. we had a dollar/yen. the dollar index, scott "the judge"

and you've been living on this steady diet of positive economic data. you know, kicked off this week with the retail sales numbers, followed through with benign ppi and cpi. look the building, housing numbers this morning. getting less bad and trying to turn the corner towards recovery. all that done, you have a market that wants to scale this wall of pessimism and that's giving you support to that resilient comment you made before. big picture though, as you take a step back, take stock of the rally that we've had, sizable. a-typical kind of year. september is typically a bad month. big picture as we push forward, we are constructive in the market, looking in the industrials, warping up to discretionary. also, seeing some opportunities here in dividend growth names. areas that may not have moved as much now. >> several people over the past few days are mentioned on this show dividend. and you're saying dividend growth. can you give any examples? these are xaeps that you think are going to raise their give depd or you just mean they're growing with thei

the stock market seeing positive economic data. dollar's stronger. commodity's lower. much to get to. esesesesesesesess >>> welcome back to cnbc's "power lunch." we just listened to president obama. let's bring in john harwood and greg knapp. let me start with you. big headlines? >> pretty elaborate warmup considering he was just getting prepped for the letterman show this afternoon. but, you know, the president was trying to drive his economic argument while pushing health care at the same time. he embedded health care in the speech. and was trying to make an integrated argument for why all the elements of his agenda, from job training to the stimulus package to energy to health care, all flow toward building a solid economic foundation. >> you just created a great segue to the broader discussion we wanted to have. he's going to be on letterman later today. he was on all the sunday talk shows yesterday. we've got speeches nearly every day from president obama. is he overexposed? is he risks overexposure? >> i think we'll know when the president is overexposed when he

economic data we got. >> i thought the economic data was surprisingly weaker. i had actually hoped and thought it would be maybe even a little more positive than the expectations. and in fact, it was meaningfully weaker. that's just one piece of data. so i don't know that you could fill in the whole story on that. but to me the real question is about asset allocation and about equities in the fourth quarter after such an outstanding quarter normally you'd think maybe a little pause. but i do totally agree with joe that there's a chase on to meet the s&p, which has been so strong that i do think there's still a lot of money that needs to be put to work and will be put to work in the fourth quarter. so i'm optimistic. >> will they get spooked by snokt i've been seeing -- >> same with september, though. in fact, it was a pretty good month. >> they avoided september. i don't think they want to go back to the well in october. they'll move to the sidelines. that puts the push on november, december could be extremely aggressive to the up side. >> a lot of the economic data points have been positive in the third quarter. durable goods confusing b

economics? guest: that is correct. by the way, i am not at georgetown any longer, that is a previous position. host: we are talking about economic data that has come out from the census bureau, and the current economic situation in the u.s. mike, your first up. caller: hello, isabel, you sound like a very qualified woman. guest: thank you. caller: i worked 14 years in materials management and became disabled. i am now on disability, and my country has given me $900 a month to live on. well, they give me $1,300, and then they take $440 off the top for medical care, which they do not really provide much of. and i am stuck in paint and home. -- in pain at home. i would like to start using the internet because it is something i can do from home. how am i supposed to dig myself out of a whole, living on basically $900 a month? guest: well, i am not sure what to suggest. we have some programs for people who are disabled, and you could argue it -- you could always argue that they could be more generous. i am not an expert on these particular programs and then a little reluctant to weigh in on that. anybody can sympathize with his collar --

positive etf surprises. we had improving economic data, but i think the mokt overran itself. now as we move into third quarter earnings, i think the market will heavily recruit nice these reports from companies. if the guidance is poor, a positive etf surprise won't do it what it did in the second quarter to the equity markets. >> i've got my dow 10,000 hat. my original. i don't know what year it was, but it's very oemd. >> vintage. you should try and sell that on ebay. >> but it was at least -- how many years ago was it, 10? probably, right? i mean, i just don't feel -- how is 9,700 euphoric when i wasn't even euphoric ten years ago? >> the number really is dependent, that number, that rally number is dependent on where we are in the cycle. and i do believe that, you know, right now, the market is quite schizophrenic. there's so much to focus on. it doesn't know which way to turn. the market is exceptionally confused. it saw an incredibly robustly improving economy. even tu look at the data in europe and now as we sort of take a step back and recognize this recovery has been

positive economic news today. today's decline in jobless claims, the rising housing starts. there's the latest in a long undeniable line of piece of datahat make me believe that the recovery is for real. inflation plus recovery means sooner or later the fed is going to have to raise rates and that pushes treasuries lowarien i also want the u.s. government to issue a trillion dollars in bonds. probably not. but something like that. a giant, giant -- just crushing amount of debt is going to send them down in price if anything will. i think the 30-year treasuries, which currently yield 2.42%, will rapidly go to 5% or higher within the next few months because of this mountain of federal debt and i am promising you, i am promising you that you will get hammered courtesy of the auctions that the treasury must run to finance the deficit. oh, how about this, ten-year treasuries yielding 3.4%, right here right now, i am calling them perhaps the most overvalued securities in the world. you heard me, the most overvalued security in the world is the 10-year treasury. so here's the dilemma. look ii could testimony you to look at mass limited partne

position to get through this. but remember, this is just the first quarter. we're just starting to see signs of growth. >> lehrer: new economic data also gave further signs the recession may be fading. the labor department reported first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. that news helped give wall street another boost. the dow jones industrial average gained 80 points to close at 9627. the nasdaq rose 23 points to close at 2084. the ballots from 83 polling stations in afghanistan were thrown out today. a u.n. backed commission rejected the votes from locations in three provinces after complaints of fraud. president karzai had been expected to do well in three regions. karzai has more than 50% of the preliminary vote count. but if the commission throws out more votes, he could face a run-off against his main challenger, abdullah abdullah, who now has 28%. sending more u.s. troops to afghanistan could face opposition at the highest levels in congress. house speaker pelosi warned today she said she does not think lawmakers or the public would support the idea. it's widely expected the commander

economic data coming out. the latest estimate about the economy out this morning. after a surprise drop in consumer confidence yesterday, the market would like something positive to focus on. that lack of confidence has stocks in asia trading lower today. toyota is calling upon removing the driver's side floor mat on the following vehicles -- now the lex us is models were affected. a massive recall affecting so many drivers in america. >> amazing and all you have to do is remove the driver's side floor mat. >> that's right. >>> you have a money saving tip for us. >> we are looking at refinancing. rates are so low right now people are thinking it is a great way to save money but you have to think of closing costs. we will have some things to consider that could save you thousands of dollars. >>> tomorrow new domestic violence laws take affect in maryland. one requires suspected abusers to turn in firearms if they are named in a protective order and another keeps the guns from being returned until the protective orders expire. >> my cousin kathy was shot and killed by her estranged boyfriend. >> reporter: these laws will help. >> brown's office sayst last year in marylan

positive close in the dollar is still keeping that technical alive for maybe a further bounce. let's go back to michelle. >> let's look at some of today's business headlines. a lot of economic data today. it was a mixed bag. the university of michigan consumer index, a reading of 73 1/2. that was better than expect. the highest level since january of 2008. because of increasing optimism about an economic rebound. commerce department said home sales rose to a soeblly adjusted to 429,000. it is the fifth straight monthly increase. however, it was not as strong as wall street's expectations. the median sales price tumbling 9.5% in july to just over 195,000. that's the largest month over month decline since 1963. durable goods orders, unexpectedly dropping 2.4% in august. because of weak demand for commercial aircraft. economists had been forecasting an increase of one-half of a percent. let's get more in today's market action on the floor. guys, good to see you. let me ask you this. kevin, fed governor comes out with an op-ed today and then does a speech today, he said when the fed removes accommodation, it will be a lot faster than anybody's been used to before. that seems to be t