unfortunately, according to the st. louis fed, nearly half of american households have not managed to regain the wealth lost from the global financial crisis. a lot of that is down to the fact that house prices are struggling to come back here. meanwhile, anybody who is into stocks who has equity, has done okay. so if you look at the broader measure for certain households, about 91% of their wealth is back. if you're in stocks, good. if you're in housing, it ain't been so good. >> a lot of people sold at the lows and never bought again. >>> looks like the woolly mammoth may be making a comeback. russian researchers say they have recovered blood samples from a 10,000-year-old female woolly mammoth. the carcass was found in siberia, and the condition may be good enough to clone it scientists say they may be able to clone it within five years. american scientists, a little skeptical about that particular claim. we'll see. we thought why not? let's run with it. if the russians can clone a woolly mammoth, what or who would you bring b

that is according to a new study by the st. louis fed. ripping us off anow are they getting away with it? dave rogers has been working the story. how is this happening? >> this is happening by and large because this government employment program has gotten so big poster session that there are so many more people in it and it is harder for the government to keep track of who is telling the truth and it wasn't going from 40 billion to over 100 million. gerri: that is a lot of money. >> i spoke to some private investigators. one of the really stunning things that they told me is that people are actually filing for unemployment claims from inside prison. gerri: one philadelphia prison has $7 million worth of claman's coming from inside the jail because their friends and family on the outside were filing claims in their name in cash and checks. gerri: the money wasn't even going to them in prison. that is hysterical. >> another really wild story from an investigator. he was watching a man in connecticut. the lake front palace. all on unemploym

bullard on from the st. louis fed speaking. 1:00, we had mr. dudley from the new york federal reserve speaking. and basically, they're not so sure they're going to be tightening anytime soon. mr. dudley said he might enthere's the pace of bond purchases up or down. he's not sure which way it's going. and he said that risk markets are overreacting to tightening. i groo with that one. mr. bullard in st. louis said the recovery has been slower than expected. this is dovish, overall. this is what's moving the market to the upside here. let's move on to a big story on the day. and i think it's saks. look at saks right now, up 10%. people have been e-mailing saying, what the heck has been going on here? they had an earnings report that was good, but not that good. same-store sales up 5.9%. that was three times what anybody was expecting. and that is way above everybody's peers. macy's did about 3.8%. everybody loved that. nordstrom did 2.7. folks, if you have no topline growth, if you have big topline growth like this, you are the king of the hill. an

that is according to a study the st. louis fed. ipping us off and how are they getting awith it? kate rogers of foxbusiness.com has been working the numbers for us. those are incredible numbers. >> they are very high numbers. what is staggering 2.2 billion went to people who have full-time jobs. they're working an managing to rip off the government on the side. melissa: how do they do it? >> they're doing it by and large under the table. these are people who work in the construction industry, the service industry. they're getting paid under the table. melissa: in cash? >> in cash and filing for benefits on the side and getting them. lori: how is the government doing uncovering these perpetrators? >> well the department of labor declined to comment for this story but they did direct me to their website. last year they gave out $170 million in grants to 30 states to try to beef up the unemployment, integrity programs. make sure people are really filing the claims legitimately. but still remains to be seen whether or not the cash will

less than half of the wealth that was lost during the recession, according to new data from the st. louis fedtrillion in wealth was lost during the crisis from the sinking stock markets and the downturn in housing prices. but only 45% of those losses have since been recovered. according to the fed, most of the games came from the improvement in the u.s. stock market which predominantly favors wealthy families. >>> asia is minting millionaires. a boston reporting group says that private wemth in asia rose faster than any other region last year. the u.s. is still number one being the wealthiest place in the world. japan is followed by china then the uk and germany. >>> neen while, a trip adviser shows that the world's beg best tippers are the germans followed by the americans. only 39% of british people tip while they're on vacation. do you tip or are you a -- >> sometimes. when something is very good. >> what happens if it's not good? are you one of those would says i want the 12.5% removed from the bill? >> no. >> no, i don't do that, either. i find that embarrassing. >> but if it's very, ver

a recent study by the st. louis fed, more than $3 billion of your taxpayer dollars were paid out in 2011. who is ripping us off and how are they getting away with it? keith rogers with foxbusiness.com and has been looking into it for us. >> thanks for having me. jon: how are they getting away with it. you said $3 billion of a $100 billion program. >> $108 billion program. what is really stunning about the numbers, 2.2 billion is going to people who are actually still working. so they're defrauding the government and pretty much their full-time job. jon: collecting a paycheck at the same time? >> they absolutely are. they're doing it a lot of time working in jobs that pay under the table like service positions, construction. they're collecting that cash and also filing for these unemployment benefits. jon: how do they get away with it? >> they're getting away with it because the government program has been so expansive before the recession when it was $40 billion a year. now it is over $100 billion a year. with more peop

the new analysis from the st. louis fed. sation in a little bit different way. the atlantic hurricane season officially begins tomorrow. forecasts are calling for an active one. it could spell trouble in the gulf of mexico where preparations are under under way. scott cone is live in nor co, louisiana. good morning, scott. >> good morning, andrew. it happens every year. june 1st, another hurricane season. they are a fact of live here on refinery row, out on the gulf coast. wherever you are, if the supply of oil is disrupted of course you feel the effects. the challenge, one of the challenges is keeping that disruption to a minimum. but more importantly, keeping people safe out on the rigs. here ashore. it's a massive challenge. we got a look firsthand. >> we're 30 miles out on the gulf of mexico, and this is one of chevron's closest offshore facilities. >> we have to be very gentlemen. >> the platform produces 2900 barrels of oil a day. 60 people live and work here. two weeks on the rig, two weeks off, including operations su

the dance of the fed officials. we'll have bell on art, the head of the st. louis and we have bill dudley and he'll be speaking at 1:00 at the japan society and everybody is doing the fed head speak and the street is desperate to do the fed head commentary on the hawkish side and mr. bernanke will be the most important thing tomorrow and everyone wants to know under what conditions will it be the takeneringing of bond purchases. my sense is they'll dance around this, but everyone on the street wants to spin everything essentially hawkish right now. here's what i think will happen. mr. bernanke will indicate that he's somewhat please with the trajectory of job growth. that's going to be the real issue. how pleased is he going to be will depend on how the market takes it. he'll also say inflation is under control. if he says he is generally pleased or very pleased with the trajectory of job growth and that's an indication they'll end earlier and everyone is being looking at some way of spinning this on the hawkish side. ? for this anxiety about tapering, what has hap

. >> i know you watch the st. louis fed because they do quality work. households and americans recovered this from the journal. only 45% of the weight that they lost in recession. so again, if you're the fed you just say, listen, they don't have as much money and they're not as rich as they used to be. >> by the way, the income part of this report was really weak. you say what is it boosting consumer sentiment, even though this is a dilemma for the fed, weaker investment is increasing disposable income or spending in that sense. it's not as bad as the headlines might suggest, but the savings rate 2.5%. we were at 3.5 a year ago. is this a sustainable situation? the data is getting soggy. does this mark the start of a summer sell-off? >> i still don't see it on the corporate level. just not seeing it. >> even with retail relative -- >> it's the walmarts, yes. the high end, no, and i know that the high end has carried us this year. i know it sounds absurd, but it happens. >> if this keeps fed in the marks and precisely because of this inflation measure is

among some of the reasons that were cited were some comments from st. louis fed president jim bullard. he told an audience in germany that the fed ought to stick with its bond-buying effort to try to bolster the economic recovery. that's not things you usually hear out of someone like jim bullard, so it is not a stretch to say that fed chairman ben bernanke will be in focus today. he's going to be testifying before the joint economic committee. that starts at 10:00 eastern time, and obviously, investors will be looking for hints of a policy shift, although none is expected. if you go with conventional wisdom, this will be more dovish talk. also we get the minutes from last month's fomc meeting, released at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. >>> in other news on the fed, politico is reporting that chairman bernanke met privately last week with house oversight and government reform committee chairman darrell issa, along with other lawmakers. they are said to have talked about the central bank's efforts to try and stimulate the economy and possible exit strategies as well. now

bullard, the head of the fed in st. louis also came out and said that the recovery has been slower than anticipated. both of these were basically dovish comments, indicating the fed may continue to keep the pace of bond purchases just the way it is, into the near future. so some doubt about whether they're actually going to cut back or not. in terms of sectors, take a look. sort of an indeterminant day. health care led throughout the day, merck was strong, consumer discretionary and financials. energy was slightly to the downside after a very strong day yesterday. three stocks of the day i want to show you. saks, stock of the day. that's my number one choice. excellent earnings, but blowout top line. that was two to three times better than anticipated. look at that number, up 10.9% for saks. that's what you get when you get strong topline growth in an era where nobody has got it. home depot, excellent numbers. comp store sales growth up. raised from 3% to 4%. earnings per share guidance also raised. a good day for home depot.

the st. louis fed believes u.s. consumers still lack the spending power to fuel a robust economic recovery. >> courtney reagan at the new york stock exchange, thank you. >>> roman catholic priest, scholar and former nbc news analyst andrew greeley has died. he died wednesday night in his chicago home after being in poor health for several years. at times, a scathing critic of the current state of american ka dhol schism, he challenged the church to take action against sex abuse in its ranks. father greeley was 85 years old. >>> a concert to benefit the victims of the bombing last night. aero smith rocked out and new kids on the block and boys to men got in on the jam session for one fund boston. they are here on the plaza so grace us with a concert later on. this week's concert to benefit survivors of the tornado in moore, oklahoma, raised $6 million. it aired earlier this week right here on nbc. >>> we are getting an unusual fly-by today from a giant asteroid. the 1.7 mile wide rock swings by us 4:59 p.m. eastern ti

the fed tomorrow. we had the chicago fed earlier come out ahead of the chicago fed and say he thinns the economy's doing great, then the market went down. the head of the st. louise out and said he thinks the market needs more stimulus, and the market went up. i think tomorrow is really important. bernanke isn't going to say whether he's got a date, whether he's going to stop, but you want to look into what his bogeys are, what's his rate for inflation, unemployment, housing, and then you can get an idea of what their purchase is going to be going forward. but tomorrow i think he's just going to say the fed is here to do whatever it can to continue to spur growth, and that's all you're going to hear. liz: i agree. you've got to watch the fed, watch fox business, you've got to watch doreen, charlie and luetke. coming up later this hour, the chairman ask ceo of a company called continental resources, this is a public hi-traded energy company. oil pipeline based in oklahoma city, we're going to get the latest from the billionaire ceo and chairman harold hamm in a fox business exclusive. and by the way, he is a major philanthropist. he took the buffett/gates giving

is bill ackman behind the shake-up? st. louis fednt bullard says there is one more wild card he'd like to see. calling all shoppers, abercrombie & fitch, gap, aeropostale and sears, we'll break down the picture for us. a shake shack, a blue smoke. it's a new terminal from delta air lines. we will take you to jfk and talk to the ceo, richard anderson along with richard branson. >> ag lafley returning as chairman and ceo. the change has come as some investors have pushed for fast improvements from the household products maker. they unveiled the $10 billion restructuring program last february. the stock was up 54% and underperformed the s&p and many of the company's consumer product competitors during lafley's ten-year ceo p & g shares fell 37% and the company outperformed its peers during that period. a lot of comparisons to jobs and schultz coming back to starbucks. whether or not making the old new again is a wise move. >> a lot of times people are so eager to get rid of the ceo and we just went through this to some extent with jamie

driving some of the market action this week, st. louis fed president jim bullard on cnbc europe this morning. >> i do think there's one wild card, though, for the data in the u.s. and that is that the inflation numbers have come in quite low. inflation has been only about 1% over the last year. this is well below our target and i think that before we would see -- at least before i would be in favor of tapering, i would like to see some reassurance that inflation was going to move back towards target by a preferred measure. >> joining us now, kevin gittes, j.j. and i'm sorry, here is -- you know, i think about things a lot. i can't help myself sometimes. but when they first announced 85 been i said, you've got to be kidding me. that's a lot of money. hopefully this won't be for long, but we've gotten to the point now where we think we can't live without it. is that where we are? is this going to a 2014 to 85 a month? >> well, i wonder. i think they're going to start tapering them off this year. later this year in the final quarter. markets wer

among some of the reasons that were cited were some comments from st. louis feded ought to stick with its bond-buying effort to try to bolster the economic recovery. that's not things you usually hear out of someone like jim bullard, so it is not a stretch to say that fed chairman ben bernanke will be in focus today.

10:00 eastern, the government will be out with april new home sales. 2.2% rise, annual rate of 426,000 per unit. also, in this news, a little bit of a wrinkle from yesterday. st. louis fedqe issue, he was talking about it this morning, he said the central bank should stick with its current program, adjusting asset purchases as necessary. the asset purchase program is the most effective way to provide stimulus when rates are close to zero. if you have comments or questions, shoot us an e-mail or follow us on twitter. >>> coming up next, senator ron johnson on corporate tax rates and what's best for america. he's our guest right after the break. >>> welcome back, everybody. the stock market is under some pressure this morning but it is not nearly as bad as it was an hour ago. right now dow futures down close to 70 points. they were off by triple digits. s&p futures down 12 points. nasdaq down 22. if you take a look at what's happening in europe, it's a similar situation. red arrows. the declines are not nearly as bad. the nikkei down 7%, spooked by what it heard from ben bernanke. that translated into red arrows in europe this morning as well. we saw markets down by much