town of smithfield.this point, we're looking forward to them having some new people in town. >> did you have any concerns prior to speaking with that executive from smithfield foods? and did that particular executive alleviate any concerns that you might have had? >> yes, he did, actually. any time a company is sold, i don't care where it is, you always have concerns with the local employees that's working there. you always wonder how much longer i'm going to be here. and i think that was the concern about a lot of the employees that worked for smithfield foods. and my wife works there, and the first thing she says was, my goodness, we had no idea. and they were really, really surprised. and as the days go on, they're feeling a whole lot more comfortable. now there's smiles instead of kind of frowns like they had this morning. this afternoon, i think everybody's a lot more comfortable with it. >> do you feel like, mayor, because i know that smithfield had some debt, right? they had done a deal with a chi

smithfield is headquartered in smithfield, virginia right outside norfolk.s been a family-owned company since 1936 and some smithfield workers said yesterday they want to keep it that way. curtis bond appealed to c.e.o. c. larry pope. >> we work hard, help build this company from the ground up, a long time ago, there were other generations., think about it a little more, give us some thought. >> woodruff: locals in smithfield also expressed worry about losing jobs if the company is sold. >> you know how it is with mergers, next thing there will be layoffs, then they'll be moving the headquarters. >> woodruff: but smithfield c.e.o. pope says if anything, the deal will create jobs; and he dismisses any fears of chinese meat flooding the u.s. >> woodruff: it's not a done deal: smithfield says rival bids may still come from companies in brazil and thailand. for more on what this deal might mean both here and in china, we turn to two economists who follow these matters. steve meyer is president of paragon economics, an agricultural markets analysis firm. he forme

>> so in the short term, smithfield is the largest pork producer in the u.s. any news that's going to make them bigger we think is worrisome for consumers and for u.s. farmers. very short term. if they do as much exporting to china as they say, we're worried prices could go up for consumers here. longer term, we're worried about imports from china and china is a country with a really very troubling food safety track record, and we're concerned that this is leading towards that eventual step. >> and this company, rick, in particular, has -- she characterizes it as a troubling track record. they were sanctioned some years ago for using a known carcinogen as part of their pork feed. should we be worried? how do you respond to what patty just said? >> thank you for the opportunity to be with you. it's a good question. the answer is that shung wa is buying quality, and that's why they're buying smithfield. if you read the reports in the chinese press, the ceo is clear he's buying supply chain management, integrity, technology and scale. as to whether we should be w

smithfield foods. bmo. cutting smithfield foods.ing its price to 34 from 28. facebook upgraded to outperform from market perform. also at bmo capital. the firm saying markets on facebook growing overly negative. jeffrey has upgraded the stock to buy from costco. 1.04, a penny above estimates. revenue slightly below estimates. big lots, 61 cents on second quarter same store sales falling 2% to 4% compared to a year ago. stock is down. nv energy bought by berkshire hathaway. emc is increasing its share buyback to 3 million. six cents a share. dish network 4.40 from 3.30 for clearwire, topping an offer by sprint. an attempt to outbid soft bank, trying to buy sprint. alcoa now to junk level by moody's. ba1 compared to baa3. the journal -- what are you looking at? did you read the editorial today? flying right in the face of everything i've been saying. >> protectionism. >> we're totally off. >> you guys are usually -- >> so right on. >> i feel like this is a situation where they've got a billion people who need to eat well. i get it. tr

operations of smithfield in place. management is going to stay in place and their commitments to the community and those kinds of things and they're spelling out all of the things that they'll need to do as a foreign acquirer, but there are so many sensitivities when it comes to china and our relationship with china. >> you did an unbelievable special about hacking. there's daily hacking. the chinese are regarded to no longer be -- >> i'm just saying that if some congressman decided, wait a second, the food chain is too vital for the chinese to be involved. >> there say very powerful congressman named are eric cantor whose district smithfield is in. we haven't spoken to mr. cantor's office and we have no idea of what his viewpoint is, and they're preserving the jobs there and it's fair to say this is an interesting deal and it's a nice premium for shareholders, no idea whether there are are any other bidders there. they've been talking for a couple of months and you do have at least some questions. they will say no, co

smithfield foods is bought for more than $4.5 billion. there is a look at smithfield, up $6.58.d about why china wants our pigs. >> the reason this chinese company, that's the biggest meat proce processor, is the very same reason why the deal is controversial. the reason is food safety. they don't have it in china. we do have it in the united states china, very much the government has made it clear that in the next 20, 30 years they want to modernize agriculture in the same way they modernized manufacturing. we know it's going to be controversial. we're waiting to see whether or not congress will weigh in. the ceo of smithfield, larry pope, got many, many questions related to whether or not there is going to be blow back in terms of national security. here we just -- >> this is a strategy to export pork out of the united states. i like to tell people, open your refrigerator door, look inside. nothing in there is made in china because american agriculture is the most efficient in the world. >> he said more than once, this is not about importing products into the u.s. it is about

the question is if smithfield rubs off on china or china rubs off on smithfield. >> this is not a strategy to import chinese pork into the united states. this is a strategy to export pork out of the united states. open the refrigerator door. nothing is made in china. american agriculture is the most competitive in the world. >> reporter: it is buying amica to improve the safety of its food supply chain. >> aig is waiting to hear whether the u.s. government will allow the insurance giant to sell a large stake in aircraft leasing business. >>> another cross border deal. japan's soft bank and sprint received national security clearance from u.s. authorities that will let soft bank move ahead with the $20 million bid for the third largest u.s. wireless carrier. the deal faced criticism. the deal requires approval from the sec and sprint shareholders. >>> mortgage rates are on the rise and today they hit their highest level in the year. the 30 year fixed is now at 3.9%. it's not just mortgage rates that are raising but home prices, as well. the combination could be a lethal one for the housing

the news pumped up smithfield shares by 25%. student loan giant sallie mae will split into two separate companies - an education loan management business and a consumer banking business. the separation does not require shareholder approval and could be completed within a year. sallie mae also announced president and chief operating officer john remondi has been promoted to ceo. he succeeds albert lord, who retired earlier than expected. all the buzz before the debut of "google glass" doesn't seem to impress apple's tim cook. he was speaking at the "all things d" conference, and he called the computerized glasses a "difficult product" for the mainstream. he also questioned whether people would be willing to spend $1500 for a pair. google glasses have reportedly been sent to the first group of beta testers in the general public. dell shareholders, be prepared to be persuaded. reports say mich, under, and silver lake partners will contact shareholders directly to persuade them to vote for selling back their shares. that deal would

smyth smithfield is an 87-year-old company, based in smithfield, population, 8100, folks.hinese company exports about 2.7 million tons of product a year. to be clear here, what the company itself is talking about in the deal today is not having the u.s. import pork products but having the u.s. export pork products to china. so we'll wait and see if that is actually what happens. i think lots of questions today, always concerns when china buys big companies of ours. people are always concerned about that. but i, for you, i came up with this out of a conference call on this the company says it wants to be a global leader in animal protein. hmmm. that was my reaction too. ashley: food safety problems, haven't they, this chinese company? they were the subject of some food safety issues. so obviously there's concern there. but as you say, okay. >> it is endemic over there over the weekend there was a huge story about heavy metals in rice. and this was impacting the chinese people. it was coming out of industrial output effluent into water. so very concerning. people always have

or at least specifically on smithfield. you can't blame them for smithfield.on't really understand the dean foods part of it. as much as i understand smithfield. given yield's big 30-plus percent pop. >> everybody's excited. they're going to get you in and out of these filling stations quickly. supposedly, they're going to set this up so you can get from l.a. to new york. all on supercharger charging stations. another thing that's got people excited. my friend jim cramer's calling out elon tonight on "mad money." >> cramer's going to test drive a vehicle to see -- elon musk will be live on "the street" tomorrow. >> if he test drives the same one i test drove on monday, he's going to love the performance of the car. if he spends a lot of time talking to the salesperson, what he'll find out, to go to california, figure it out, every 200 miles, no matter what they say about the range, you have to stop an hour to charge up -- >> if they're adding more stations and making it -- >> scott, it's still an hour to recharge it. you're going to see the guy in the porsche

>> smithfield? they might, but it's mostly beef and pork. us have any back? will they take it all? i don't know. we need to see. i mean, i want to get paul ryan. >> we've got him right here. we'll get to him in a second. cisco systems is asking an eu court to annul the approval of the purchase of skype saying regulators were wrong in allowing the creation of a monopoly. cisco's challenge follows the european commission's approval of that deal back in 2011. microsoft was not required to make any concessions for buying the internet, video and voice messaging company which cisco argues has given microsoft an unfair advantage. >>> the markets this morning as we mentioned, the futures are considerably weaker. if you've been looking at oil prices, they have come down slightly too. down about 48 cents to 94.53. opec says it will need to pump more oil than previously thought to balance the market in 2015 and expects global consumption to be much higher for this year. the ten-year note, the yield at this point, 2.133%, that yield has dropped slightly

a chinese group agreed to buy smithfield, 5 billion cash and smithfield is up.e cutting ties with lance armstrong's livestrong charity. and wal-mart pleads guilty in hazardous waste cases filed in california. it will pay more than 8 m, with an m, to the federal government, is that 80 million? >> yeah, 80 million, i believe. tesla hitting a new all time high. more on that coming up in the program. 110 on tesla right now. check apple after tim cook spoke, 443, up 2 bucks. wall street journal reporting that morgan stanley's real estate unit is looking to raise 1 in 3 billion dollars. and that goes the stock, 16 cents. strong sales at michael kors and now it's down 61 to the democratic luxury maker of handbags and all. to the big board, we're down 87 points, right in line with what was expected. time is money, 30 seconds, let's get on with it. here is what else we've got for you. dr. ben carson joins us. he is back. what's he decided for his future? politics? tv? he's going to tell us. >> california's oil boom could be a bust before it starts. no less than ten bills

stuart: u i guess you could say never trust a big chinese company, that deal with smithfield is stillg headlines. a congresswoman says she's worried about food quality and safety now that a chinese company owns the big pork producer. joining us now from chicago is larry levin. we're down right now first and foremost. do you think we can finish higher today? >> well, it's the end of the month, last day of the month, usually a day with pretty big action so i think that finishing higher. that will be good for the market. i'm not sure it's going to happen that way. charles. it's taken decent hits, not huge hits, but hits in the market and i think we may see another one today. >> i hated the way the market closed yesterday and i take a bigger cue from the way we closed than the way we opened. it's start to go get sloppy, could that be a harbinger for finally the correction coming? >> you know, theose are the the things he we look for. if we had one. that's the first clue and looking for chart points and looking at a couple of weeks forward and saw the points, yes, you would think that. i d

. >>> the folks at smithfield, as in smithfield hams, have agreed to sell the company for close to $5on to the chinese. china is the number one pork consuming nation in the world. this would be the largest takeover to date of an american company by a chinese company. >>> when we come back here tonight, the news from 29,000 feet that stunned the world and changed the world 60 years ago tonight. >>> finally tonight it was 60 years ago today. it was big news around the world when people learned that a british climbing expedition had conquered the highest mountain on earth. climbing to the top of everest was an act of bravery and daring. things had to go well, and they did. things have changed a lot since then. more than 3,000 people have now scaled everest. while it is still the top of the world, make no mistake, in recent years it's taken on something of a less rarified air. something closer to a tourist attraction. jim maceda has our report. >> reporter: the goddess of snows, the mother of the universe, mount everest. the highest place on earth, but it may as well have been the dark si

a chinese company has just purchased america's biggest pork producer, smithfield foods for nearly $5lion. but the federal government may step in to stop it because smithfield is so important to the american food chain. so that's your pigs and face news. pigs and space, marla. >> business and tech, a whole different spin. okay, scott. thanks so much. >>> the san jose sharks season came to an end in los angeles last night. unfortunately they were eliminated from the playoffs by the defending champs the l.a. kings of the sharks cut the kings lead from 2-1 in the third period. that had fans on pins and needles, could still get the job done. as time ran out, fans were left with that all too familiar feeling. the season was over and no stanley cup. >> clearly it was a huge disappointment. i've been a fan for several years now. we keep getting so close yet so far. >> my number one goal is to root against l.a. for the rest of everything. and then after that, you know, next season. we always have next season. >> look on the bright side. home ice sure played a huge role in this series as neith

sheng wee international agreed today to buy smithfield foods for nearly $45 billion. smithfield is the world's largest producer of pork. its brands include armor and farmland. a worker at disney land in anaheim, california, was arrested today in connection with an explosion at the park. 22-year-old christian barnes is suspected of putting a container of dry ice in a trash can, causing a small blast last night. no one was hurt, but a section of the park was evacuated. barnes is a vendor at disney. also in southern california, high winds kicked up a blinding sandstorm. visibility on a freeway yesterday was less than six feet, leading to several car wrecks. and look at this. in galesburg, illinois, a wall of floodwater crashed into carl sandburg college last night. it swamped offices and classrooms. a u.s. spacecraft heads where no manmade object has ever been, next. i'm the next american success story. working for a company where over seventy-five percent of store management started as hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits t

when you think about it, why are they paying $7.1 billion for smithfield?se they want to get access to the customers remapped. gerri: why is it like that in china? >> we have an untenable political system. corruption is embedded in society. well, i actually thought that china would do something about the milk that caused kidney stones and the children. but they didn't. we have all of those scandals and more. it is really because the political system is not able to stop it. we can be sure that when smithfield is owned by the chinese and when they start importing chinese pork, we are going to see those problems on our shores. gerri: i bet he don't know that 50% of apple juice comes from china. 80% of to latvia, 10% of frozen spinach from china. all from china. here here's where the real problem comes in. there is labeling on products if it is a pure product. if you are picking up a piece of corn, you know where it comes from. but if you pick up processed food, you have no idea where this comes from. goldman sachs owns a part of this. gerri: well, i mean, you

smithfield is the biggest pork producer.concerned about the implications this could have for food safety. smithfield says the goal is to import u.s. food to china, not the other way around. >>> finally, look at this picture from the new york post, that man is mark rosenthal the president of new york city's largest municipal worker's union. he gets paid $156,000 a year. but members of hits own union are angry at him saying he works two hours a day, most of which he spends napping at his desk as seen here, union officials say he also racks up $1,400 a month in food bills, which he charges to the union an here's the answer to the question you are probably asking, the new york post says, he weighs more than 400-pound. larry. >> that is one ugly story, one ugly story. i know, i want to say a quick word. you guys can respond or not. on the economy, on the economy, michelle bachmann, a frequent guest on this show when she was running for president, i thought she was excellent. she wanted to cut spending. she was the deregulator. sh

why is smithfield selling, why is china buying? anybody fail to turn down that kind of offer? >> that's exactly right, charlie. price is right. 31% over where the stock is currently trading. a good deal for smithfield. on the other side the chinese company needs the food. that's the bottom line. china is the biggest consumer of pork in the world. they had food safety issues there. to get the safety of the united states and our methodology and standards and there have been some talk about the fact that the chinese government is gently nudging corporate investors to move beyond just buying our debt, our treasuries and buying assets in terms of companies here. >> smithfield is an iconic american brand. they have 460 farms across the united states. i looked this up. they are the world's biggest hog producer, almost 16 million hogs per year. aren't there some concerns about having a chinese company in charge of this american agricultural product? >> i actually don't think so because here the issue is they are not importing pork to ameri

bidding for smithfield foods, almost 5 billion. it still has to be approved by u.s.egulators and the committee on foreign investments and the members routinely makes these mergers for national security reasons. my next guest to did recommend one such merger in the past be squashed now says he is fine with the deal. he is a senator from north dakota. a fox business exclusive. good to have you on the horn. why are you okay with this particular deal? >> good to be with you. i think that the foreign investment will look at and obviously any time the chinese are making a major acquisition of an american company we will check it out. it does raise some concerns, but the committee on foreign investments is going to look on it. i think it might be approved. liz: so you think it will be approved. less talk about the focus of it. the problem with some of the mergers in the past is that they involve energy. for example, cynic was summarily squashed by a lot of people in congress becau said energy is a national resource. it matters to our national security. doesn't food, senator

the deal is for a chinese meat producer to acquire smithfield foods.e are a lot of issues that go with this. there are concerns about control quality. you may know him from names such as farmland and healthy ones. a possibility of being acquired by a chinese meat producer. $4.7 billion. back to you. dennis: thank you very much. gold is trading higher today. it is down over 10% from this time last year. natalie pace joins me now. thank you for being with us, natalie. gold is down almost 20% year to date. you say it is ready to run. gold investors tend to race into wall street. , over the summer. we will have a horrible gdp report. it is predicted to be 1.4% this year. we also have a potential that downgrade. i think that will make investors scared. ten year treasuries ended up going lower. they are seen as an even stronger investment. why would this downgrade make people nervous. >> it is because of the fed buying that the rates went down. however, the other thing that happened was old when to its high right after our downgrade. i predict that will happ

my question is about smithfield foods. with the buyout announcement made and the subsequent move in the price of the stock today, is there any money left to be made in this trade or is there another name that you like? >> this is a great question. david faber and i spoke on my morning show "squawk on the street," i directly questioned them and said, don't you think there will be a higher bid? he did indicate there may be other bidders. when i hear that, i think a higher bid will come, but we're not greedy, sell half tomorrow morning. for the love of the game, you know we are at one of those moments you can stay on the bag, go back to the dugout, until the rick is on your side. it's just not worth it being picked off right now by that bond market. i know, i know a lot of people are saying, don't worry. you know what, i said, don't worry for the last 8,000 dow points. me, i'm a little concerned. let's just see what the bond market does. stay with cramer. >>> coming up, strong as steel? industry is beginning to heat up in the

the news sent shares of smithfield foods through the roof, gaining 28%.oved by regular regulators it would be the largest takeover yet by a chinese company. >>> losing money today, netflix. as if diocre reviews for "arrted development" were bad enough, it has been illegally downloaded more than 100,000 times since sunday's debu can you believe that? netflix makes 7.99 a month per subscription. that lost revenue could buy a whole lot of frozen bananas the. >>> trying to make money today. bruce willis is putting his beverly hills mansion on the market for $22,000. wow! it is 11 bathroom and bedroom estate. and includes a pool. he bought it for $9million in 2004. if he gets his ask a nice piece of pocket change. >>> california and new york are already blowingt on tracking. a $15 billion is investment in in fracking is here to stay. we'll tell you who is anting up big-time. >>> who do you trust. to earners in the u.s., families, what does that say about the state of our economy? a power panel weighs in. more "money" coming right now. ♪ . melissa: no matter wh

i don't mean the chinese after buying smithfield pork that isn't tainted or contaminated.t's the rich, just like f. scott fitzgerald and leonardo dicaprio told us. it's saver us a territory. they're the ones who are worried about the taperers, the tapers, the leamers. i keep hearing the fed may end the taper. i never hear them ending the leamer. what's to do with that? just like you might expect an ego-driven bracket, when these people aren't reaching for yield, they're reaching for luxury goods, which brings us to the great gatsby index. hardly a day goes by when we don't hear something positive about this index. let's take them down. we roll up the index, michael cor's of way too expensive things like handbags that cost you $300 even at the jer city outlet stores, my daughters force me too is trading at 58. same store sales is staggering. no wonder the stocks rallied up another buck 73 today after being up yesterday. cor's is not stopping there either, not with that runway. they have strong european numbers where the rich are really, really different from everybody else.

there were already concerns smithfield was too big as an american company. the chinese interest, laura and marla, doesn't seem to be about making money off of us, the grocery shoppers, but rather securing safe pork supply for chinese customers. their system distribution safety is a disaster. best way to solve that may be to buy an american company. >> very interesting. >> all i heard from that this morning was bacon. >> i know, right? >> meteorologist christina loren is out theat work, earning her bacon. >> that's right. mama needs a new pair of shoes. good morning to you. you might be breaking out the birkenstocks if you're mike inouye. just kidding, mike. wouldn't do that. triple digits right around the corner. we'll take you through that forecast, tell you who will get the hottest and how long that heat wave will last. let's check that drive. here he is. hi, mike. >> my brother went to cal. you might be right about that. i'll check with him. i am a member of the uc system as well. traffic flow right here is all right. as you approach this area, somewhere

but all that could change with yesterday's $4.7 buy by smithfield foods. buyout of an american company in history. we may just be in store for a whole new brand of takeout. in other financial news from ham on a plate to hamming it up for the camera, we turn now to the viral feline sensation known for her frown. yes, grumpy cat. seen here on "good morning america." has scored a movie deal with the producers of mall cop. we're still left with one question. why so grumpy?

smithfield shareholders and the u.s. approve this buy-out. >>> from major league baseball now, a couple of big offensive performances to share with you. we start last night in baltimore where washington nationals' third baseman ryan zimmerman not only hit a home run in the first inning. >> he hit a bunch. he did it again there in the fourth. and then he does it again in the fifth. not too bad. it was all for naught, though, the nationals lost to the orioles 9-6. >> zimmerman must have been doing his best dioner navarro impression. yesterday the cubs catcher also hit three home runs against the crosstown rival white sox, and this time it was a winning effort. cubs won 9-3. zimmerman and navarro are the third and fourth players to hit three home runs in a game. the last time it was done was may of last year. we keep on breaking these records. >> nice warm summer day and lots of home runs. dog days of summer, they're coming. >> they are. they're upon us. it's 90 in new york. >> it finally got warm here in new york. >> final

a chinese holding company snatching up the largest hog producer, america's smithfield foods for $4.7 billion. elan musk plans to triple super charging stations by the end of the year. the goal is to let drivers go from coast to coast. the world's top 8% of earners are taking in 50% of the planet's income. jcpenney eliminated all signs of the tea kettle billboard that reminded some of hitler. now that $40 teapot is reportedly sold out at penney's and going for $199 on ebay. forbes out with a list of unusual jobs that pay surprisingly well. average salaries among them include hot dog vendor, $30,000 to $100,000. that's a lot of hot dogs. personal shopper $25,000 to $100,000. ice cream taster, $56,000. funeral service manager, $80,000. and a live mannequin or human statue, can earn up to $100 an hour. i'm going to stay here, do nothing. >>> coming up, we'll tell you what's leading the news. and weather across the midwest is causing tornadoes and flooding across parts of the country. >>> take you to sports now. we're going to start with a game seven thriller in the nhl playoffs. late in

smithfield is important to the american food chain.the chinese are interested in that company because they are such a huge consumer of pork, but their food safety system is really a disaster. just one of the business stories we'll be watching this morning. the markets are taking a breather. in fact, giving back on the dow all 100 points that the dow earned tuesday. also, let's talk about yester y yesterday's launch of the soyez capsule carrying that minnesota mom to the international space station along with an italian and a russian. they were able to dock safely. there is karen as she boards. prerecorded all kinds of books for her son. her husband is also an astronaut. he will be staying down with the children -- or the son, rather, as mom is up in the iss for six months, marla. >> impressive. >> goes along with that study with 40% of u.s. women -- >> bringing home the bacon. >> there you go. >> thank you. >>> it will be easier for food trucks and other mobile vendors to do business in mountainview. city council is approving a new str

this week, chinese company shuanghui acquired american pork company smithfield foods for $4.7 billion. the relationship is raising questions about safety standards following several high-profile food contamination scandals in china. last year, the u.s. imported 4.1 billion pounds of food products from china, including fish, fruits and vegetables. however, the companies insist no pork will be imported into the u.s. pittsburgh, known as the steel city, is becoming a powerhouse in oil and gas drilling, and the town is attracting a large number of foreign executives. according to cnn, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, is listed as a city to watch as overseas oil firms head to the u.s. fox news reports ge has already invested $15 billion in oil and gas drilling, better known as fracking, in pittsburgh as well as other american cities. however, landowners in pennsylvania are protesting because of negative environmental effects of fracking. david patraeus is starting fresh with a new firm. the former head of the cia is now chairman of private equity firm kohlberg, kravis, roberts and company. he'll

the only problem with, this i mean, obviously it's not a problem if you're a smithfield's holder today. but look to the other names, tyson foods, what happened today. it's going to be hard to extrapolate this to the rest of the meat space primarily because you're talking about a lot of regulatory problems, you're talking about the potential chinese company buying a u.s. company, and tyson foods really reversed today. popped up in the morning, reversed. i would be cautious. >> you think this deal does not go through, then? >> i think it's going to be a little more difficult than the market is suggesting. >> i think it would be laughable if it didn't go through. and i think the u.s. government has to accept the fact that we want to open borders, we want open trade. is pork suddenly -- >> in any way is it oil? is it rare earth? is it -- >> okay. but i mean, are you telling me that this is something -- >> we have no more hogs? >> this is -- >> when you get politics involved in these type of things, all i'm saying is strange things can happen. >> good points all around. still to come here w

smithfield ham is a well known product.ed by the federal government and shareholders, it would be the largest takeover of a u.s. company by a chinese firm. >>> another deal subject to approval by regulators and shareholders, nvenergy to mid-american energy for $5 million. it's part of warren buffett's umpire. they provide gas to over 1 million customers in nevada. >>> asian markets saw big losses on concerns that the fed might scale back its stimulus program. tokyo's nikkei lost 5% to finish at a five-week low while hong kong's hang seng dropped half a percent. >>> investors' love affair with high dividend stocks is fading in favor of bonds that are paying higher rates. that pushed the dow jones industrial average down 106 points at wednesday's close. the nasdaq lost 21 points. >> nasdaq will pay $10 million to settle federal civil charges for disrupting facebook's public stock offering last year. computer problems delayed trading in facebook. dmakz will also pay $62 million to reimburse investment firms that lost money bec

. >>> a chinese company has agreed to buy the biggest producer of pork, smithfield foods. if approved, the deal would be the largest takeover of an american firm by a chinese firm but the deal will likely face tough scrutiny given the serious questions over china's food safety. >>> more good news about the housing market. we learned overnight the sale of foreclosed homes hit their lowest level in five years accounting for 21% of the total market. that's down from 45% during the height of the housing crisis. >>> but mortgage rates, they seem to be on their way up from record lows. they are hitting some reasonable 3.9% as of last week. it's the highest in about a year. >>> and finally, attention all you burger lovers, that means you too, john, the pretzel bacon cheeseburger is coming to a wendy's near you. just as it sounds, this is a cheeseburger with bacon on a pretzel bun, and it should be on the menu by this summer. one analyst loves the idea saying it could increase sales for wendy's stores by as much as 3 whole percent. >> sign me up. i want one of those bad boys. >> i

but all that could change with yesterday's $4.7 buy by smithfield foods. the largest buyout of an american company in history. we may just be in store for a whole new brand of takeout. in other financial news from ham on a plate to hamming it up for the camera, we turn now to the viral feline sensation known for her frown. yes, grumpy cat. seen here on "good morning america." has scored a movie deal with the producers of mall cop. we're still left with one question. why so grumpy? and just when you thought human beings couldn't get lazier, a new contraption from burger king which lifts the sandwich from the plate to your mouth. the device can also hold hamburger-shame harmonicas, and you know how you need some of those. >> oh, boy. thanks for watching abc news. world news now is coming up. "good morning america" will be right here in the morning. we're always online. good night, america. >> and that breaking news out of southern california tonight where a fast moving wildfire continues to burn out of control in los angeles county. >> good evening. >> we'll

well, we thought there would be a bidding war for the pork producer smithfield food.t look like there will be, lauren, where did the stock open. >> 32.85, down 1 1/2%, you're right we thought we would see a brazilian or a thai company talking about bidding for smithfield, it has not happen. it was a stock that was up at one point 25%. and they did get cut at stevens earlier this morning, charles. charles: the symbol is big and today i think it stands for big loser, what's going on with big lots? >> it's a loser, one of the worst performing stocks on the s&p 500, they reported same-store sales down 2 1/2%, and the first quarter income falling more than 20% so big lots is definitely a big concern for traders on wall street today. charles. >> thanks a lot. we've got more union outrage, believe it or not, and i'm fired up about this one. take a look at this guy. i want you to see him. mark rosenthal, president of new york city's largest municipal union, he spends 1400 a month on food all on the union's dime and forecast there say he also sleeps two hours, two hours a day,

there is a chinese company buying smithfields arms.buying the biggest pork producer in the united states. china wants a good report. remember the 10,000 plus of the they put in the river? other big news out there, i assure you watched arrested development on net flicks. >> i did, i watch the first one. >> overall reviews are negative. i know. >> i love my game of thrones. i am willing to pay top dollar for a tv if it is that good. net flicks has to come up with another product that says we deserve to be better as far as subscribers go. apple ceo tim cook, we have the inside track on that. no one cares. that is a good thing. when the fan boys or the all mg what the next product diet is not interested in moving stock, you don't want to be going where people are are, you want to go where people are going. >> we can see just a sliver of sunshine that between all of the i cloud cover and the bay bridge toll plaza. expect sunny skies and the afternoon. temperatures 1 to 2 degrees warmer than we were 24 hours ago. 57 degrees out the door and

smithfield foods about to be gobbled up by upwards of 4.5 billion dollars.ame behind armor and farmland reporting to the company from the chinese mainland. the same china a whose food record leads a lot to digest. tony is worried about it. what do you make of it? >> we're very concerned about what's going on here. i mean this is an alarming trend that has occurred the past few years in this country where foreign companies have taken over the meat supply. >> this is coming from a country that doesn't have a great track record on stuff we imbibe and cited for bad food, bad poultry and beef, bad medications, to bad cat and dog food that was killing a lot of animals. the track record here is a little bit dicey. >> it is. and luckily, as far as for human consumption, we're not importing meat or poultry from china at the present time. >> neil: yet. >> yet. that's the kicker. because at some point china is going to make that request. china has had a pending application at usda to permit it to export poultry to the united states. it's been sitting there for seven ye

thailand foods are saying it's k6rd buying smithfield, as well. cp didn't say if it would offer a rival offer. >>> we're expecting results out from gome after a $96 million loss last year. it's been trying to adapt to new shopping trend by bolstering its online presence with some success this time around. record sales have hit a record high recently thanks to big ticket items like tvs, washing machines the. >>> coming up o show, broken escalators, overflowing bathrooms and no wonder you'd want to buy online. that's wa our next guest is saying. stay tuned as we check on the consumers that have checked out. >>> will there continue to be upward pressure on the swiss currency? stay tuned for that analysis, as well. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the