getting out of town. have a great weekend for "moneyh melissa francis". that's now melissa: i'm melissa francis and here's what's money tonight. we are open for business in houston, texas, once again. we've got fast cars, restaurants, entertainment, oil, you name it, it is a texas sized show. even when they say it's not it is always about money. melissa: look how fast i got

out of that car. look at the day's market headlines. a choppy day of trading on wall street. the major indices moved in and out of positive territory with the blue-chips eventually closing down 17 points. dow, s&p 500 and nasdaq each posted a slight loss for the week. shares of research in motion taking a 6% hit. the black maker -- blackberry maker said serveses interruptions across europe and africa. rim says all services have been restored. the iphone has landed. the device hit store shelves taking retail world by storm. the demand so intense, best buy warned customers delivery could be delayed by up to 28 days. oh, no! sprint reporting phone is almost completely sold out across the east coast. okay. you can wait for your iphone. it is not that big of a deal. our first story tonight, the top story, in addition being energy capital of the u.s.,

houston is big sports lover town. home to some of the country's favorite teams. those teams are part of what keeps the local economy booming. here so what make's houston home for all-stars is rockets general manager and the ceo of the astros. thank you so much for being here. >> melissa, thank you for being here. welcome to houston. melissa: thank you so much. you are starting a tv network. what are you doing? >> well, all of the most successful teams in baseball have regional affiliated sports networks. new york franchise, chicago franchise, red sox and boston. we thought that was good enough for us and thought that was a great thing. we're in the partnership with rockets and comcast and launching the network on january 1. melissa: you stole jeremy lynn from us. what are you thinking? >> we're excited about jeremy. wonderful player. underrated but not anymore. he will be big for houston. melissa: what makes houston special? we've been here for the past

few days talking about the spirit of the city, what makes it really an entrepreneural capital. what do you think makes it special? >> the thing that makes it special right now is the fastest major growing metropolitan area in north america. melissa: that's true. >> we're in a position to take advantage of that. it is a great open community. anybody can make it here. they respect hard work. it is a great place to calm home. melissa: that is exactly what almost everybody i've spoken to has said. anyone can make it. they respect hard work. you make your own mark. do you agree with that. it seems to be the universal spirit of the city? >> i think our team embodies that. if you watch our team we've beaten expectations past few years. i think what makes houston special, i'm obviously focused on sports. melissa: right. >> the sports facilities, i have lived in many cities and worked in many cities in sports and by far the best facilities in the country i think. melissa: you are hosting the all-star game. what are you going to do to make it different this time? obviously not first time. you've done it three other

times. >> i think, for the fans, there is a largest scoreboard in the country. i think people are going to be excited about that. melissa: why? what does that get you? >> people will see jeremy lin larger than they have ever seen him before on the scoreboard. i think it really enhances the fan experience. we're competing for people to come to the arena for people with large tvs at home. to have both on the court experience and that above is amazing. >> we're a business channel obviously so we like to talk business. you made some interesting moves recently, changes in your stadium. fans can bring in own food and drink which i think is pretty funny. to me seems like one of biggest revenue drivers to have people come in and buy stuff. you reduced price of tickets. rebates for beer. $5 tickets. why do you do this? because it drives more revenue? >> all are driven spending time with customers and talking about changes they like. melissa: of course they want free, cheaper stuff. how does that work for your business?

>> when you're new you want to make a good new impression. the owner of astros, jim crane and i spent a lot of time with season ticketholders early on. we asked them what changes we thought, they thought we needed to make in order to improve the business. an example would be the food and beverage policy. giving more flexibility really lined up with a fan friendly nature of major league baseball. something permitted in other venues. our fans really appreciated it. they probably spent more money per capita this year than last year. melissa: really. >> helped us imagewise and never hurt us revenuewise. melissa: what do fans in the city feel like? and you're trying to keep season ticketholders with their tickets rather than dropping out during rough times. is that why do something like that? >> in our case it is about strengthening that relationship. showing we're listening. they wanted to see some changes and we made a few changes. we're fortunate enough in houston where people are doing well and they have money to spend. melissa: really. >> they have proven they're

willing to spend it. melissa: are you seeing the same thing? because that would be pretty unique versus the rest of the customer. do you feel your customers have this kind of recreational dollar to spend? >> we have a very strong economy. our fan support is unbelievable. we're going to sell the most season tickets ever this year since we opened the building. and that through a period where we're, we're trying to re-establish our team back to being title contender like the astros. and our support through that. people see a plan where we're going and has been tremendous. melissa: you do listen to your fans. i read you are changing your mascot and your team colors? is it that true? >> it is true. and part of that is just about a fresh start and when you've got a new regime coming in we're changing leagues this year. so we're going to the american league. that was something that is a little bit of an adjustment for fans here because we've been in the national league for 50 years. in addition to that we've got new faces in the front office. new general manager, new ownership.

new president, new players. and so a new uniform seems like an appropriate time to do it, to give people that sense that things are changing, something visibly they can see different. melissa: no, you're definitely a tv guy because we were talking about ahead of time what you could possibly do to create ratings for us. i appreciate that sentiment. we love viewers and ratings. can you cut some players for me tonight? make some news? go ahead. >> he is the coach on air today. melissa: really. >> i will do it after darrell announces his roster changes. melissa: you want to make some predictions for the upcoming seasons or anything? come on. >> i predict we'll easily beat, people have us as not being as strong this year. i think with jeremy lin and omar asik. i think we'll be in the playoff race and people don't expect that. >> we'll have you back for the world series and possible opportunities. melissa: excellent. you better be careful i have that on tape now. i will save that. gentlemen, thanks so much

for coming on. you're a lot of fun. >> thanks. melissa: right now, we are in one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. houston's economy grew at a whopping 8.6% in 2011. can you believe that. that is china type speed. so you can bet the people who live here are without question happy about that. after all, this city's unemployment rate last month was 7%. that is well below the national average of 8.1%. and it gets better for the folks here in houston. the partnership predicts, houston partnership predicts 86,000 jobs will be added this year. why can't this be happening everywhere else? what is the texas government doing to make this happen and to drive business in order to come in and invest here? to find out i'm joined by texas lieutenant governor david dewhurst. you did that very well. sliding into that chair. so much pressure. >> sure. melissa: what is special about texas? we've been talking to people

for the past two days. there is a unique spirit. >> i get asked that all the time. what makes texas the strongest economy in the country. number one growth in population. melissa: yeah. >> texans. i'm serious. the difference is that texas has more texans living in texas than any other state. there is difference. melissa: you're humble. >> i'm serious. we're risk-takers. we really, we're risk-takers and we know what we're doing. just take a look at our economy. our business model in which we rate between 45th and 50th among all the states when you look at per capita state spending, per capita on taxes, on the state debt. so we're keeping our spending low and people want to come to texas because this is a good place to invest and create jobs. melissa: he can speaking of which, texas has create ad half a million private sector jobs since 2009.

you've cut more than 30,000 state and local government jobs. >> yeah. melissa: would you say that's a victory? other places would say, oh, you cut government jobs. >> no we want to cut government jobs. we want more private sector jobs. over the last three years, texas has created more net new jobs than the rest of the country combined. think about that. 8% of the population has created more than 92% of the population in jobs. melissa: why cutting government jobs is important? other people say that is taking money out of the economy. >> no. melissa: fight for the other side. let me hear it. >> i'm in the oil and gas business. been in it all my life. i've been lieutenant governor almost 10 years. what you want to do is create productive jobs of the with all due respect you need a certain amount of people in government. when we cut government that is reducing the costs that taxpayers that they have to pay. so that is good thing. melissa: yeah the money to pay government workers doesn't come from anything but taxes. >> that's why we have one of the lowest tax rates in the

entire country. melissa: you see people and businesses coming from places especially like california. what do you do from a regulatory point of view, political point of view to make it welcome for businesses to come to your state specifically? >> we bent over backwards to have the lightest regulatory hand as possible while still protecting the environment and protecting our consumers. again the reason why the country has so many problems they're not following immodestly the texas model. there is $2 trillion sitting on the sidelines in non-bank corporations. every business i talk to says i'm concerned about investing in any other place but texas because we don't know what the taxes are going to be. president obama has threatened to raise taxes on oil and gas industry. all these regulations on hydrofracking are scaring our oil and gas industry. what we've done is create predictability and stability. we've tried to get state government out of businesses way. we have cut taxes 51 times

over the last eight years. so people know that they can torture me and i won't raise taxes. i'm not recommending it. melissa: torture you? >> i'm not recommending it. melissa: sound like a invitation. >> i know. and we have kept our spending low. and so, that's made this a very attractive place to invest. melissa: people say when you set corporations free though it is bad for workers, it is bad for the average person, it is bad for the environment. >> depends on what you mean free. when you encourage them to do what they do best if that's free that's a good thing. melissa: yeah. >> we still have regulations but we have a light regulatory hand. if somebody does something wrong we'll throw the book at them and protect our environment and protect our consumers but we've got the lightest hand possible. melissa: thank you so much for coming on. i think there is party going on over there. >> looks that way. melissa: you should go join them. thanks so much. >> thanks so much. melissa: houston is far from just an energy town. it is rapidly becoming a boomtown town for the restaurant industry.

we have the bilonaire owner of landry's restaurant. he joins me next how his company is cashing in. plus houston is the heart of the nation's space industry but how are major cuts in nasa's budget threatening man's exploration of the stars? two of the top experts in the field are here with details. more "money", straight from texas coming up. ♪ . for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different.

it's like another chapter.

melissa: we've got breaking news right now. adam shapiro in the newsroom with it. adam. >> this is the latest on emergency landing that an aircraft carrying ann romney, the wife of presidential candidate mitt romney along with five staffers, two secret service agents and the pilots on board the plane made an emergency landing just outside of denver. apparently is a challenger aircraft. it seats 10, not including the pilot and copilot. there was smoke in the cabin 10 minutes before the emergency landing in denver.

ann romney's spokesperson, sarah hayley said the smoke stung their eyes. it appears to come from a electrical cause. but that is not confirmed. everybody is reportedly fiber-optic according to fox news channel's carl cameron, but again, it was a flight from omaha to louisiana. 10 people on board the plane including ann romney, made a successful and safe emergency landing in denver. back to you, melissa. melissa: all right. adam shapiro thanks so much. welcome back to the special edition of "money", open for business. we're live in houston, texas, to dig into what makes this city so business friendly for wide variety of industries. here is a fun factoid. with more than 11,000 restaurants to choose from, 11,000, houstonians eat out more than any other city in the u.s., four times a week. the national average is roughly three. what is in the secret sauce of this booming business? who better to tell us than tillman fertita, billionaire,

sole owner, chairman and ceo of houston-based chain, landry's. largest privately owned entertainment and gaming company. >> thank you, melissa people love to. melissa: people love to eat out here, huh. >> amazing. people eat out almost every single night. melissa: you have 30 properties international but headquarters are in houston, how come? >> because i born here and grew up here. it is such a great business community to work for here in houston. there are so many, you know, different demographics of people and it's an easy for work state and people love are woulding here. the cost of living is low here. melissa: you have 50,000 employees. that's a lot of people to be working for you. we're talking about jobs here. this is one of the biggest issues right now. are you hiring more people? >> we are but we continue to grow and expand the business. melissa: yeah. >> in houston, remember we don't get the highs or lows of the east coast and the west coast. melissa: yeah. >> and because of that, it is always more of a flat

line and but it's always been a good work voorlt here in texas. melissa: what is, you have a bird's-eye view what is going on with the economy really because across your chains, reinforce, golden nugget, bubba gumps morton's you have the whole spectrum of pricing, what is going on across the country with americans now? >> america is back, number one. melissa: you think? >> absolutely. people are eating out. i said this not too long ago. they got on me, if you didn't read the newspaper and watch every program i think the economy is a little better than we talk about it being all the time. melissa: really? >> it is a little choppy from month to month? yes. but business compared to '08 and '09 it is much better out there. the consumer is definitely spending money of the does it need to get better? yes. but the consumer out there spending money. melissa: do you see a difference across the price point who is doing better and who is doing worse? >> believe it or not all price points when. it is choppy it is more of the a higher end. but it is really, the

consumer is spending money at all price points. melissa: yeah. >> gaming, are out, the conventions are back in vegas. they're back in atlantic city. people are spending money. not quite the way it was but it is still good. melissa: are you investing putting new money to work? are you looking for businesses to buy or opening up new restaurants in are you concerned about the future. >> no. absolutely. we have never slowed down through acquisitions or new growth. basically the last three or four years. we just opened up a great entertainment right here in houston. and have continued to buy chains and open new restaurants. melissa: you know, i was looking at your business at the margins, when you take over a company. it is so interesting. rainforest cafe, took it from 14.3% margin to 19. golden nugget, 13 to 22. across the board in all your businesses. what do you do when you buy a business to make it better? what is your formula? >> first off it is understanding the numbers. one of the things we do is understand our entertainment hospitality restaurant business and know this is

what your labor costs should be, this is what your food costs should be. melissa: look at this equipment on the screen right here. you see it across the board. >> what we do, we get to that goal. we know what it should be. we don't stop until we get it there. i think that is what most people don't do, and we're opportunists and we see this is where it need to be and do whatever it i can takes to get a business. melissa: when you buy a business does the manager know he will get axd? >> no. what is amazing we keep operations people. it has been great for houston we closed down the corporate offices all over california and minnesota and chicago and everywhere else. we bring them all back here to houston. but your operations people really want good leadership and want somebody to tell them what to do. now you have the track record of being able to fix things and make it better. so people have grown to love to work for us. melissa: thanks for coming on. i will go to morton's as

soon as i'm done. >> okay. melissa: are houston's glory days as the center of the space industry behind it? can the private sector step in and save the day? two of houston's top space experts us coming up next. houston has highest amount of uninsured residents in the country. do you ever have too much money? no way. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less expensive option than a traditional lawyer? at legalzoom you get personalized services for your family and your business that's 100% guaranteed. so go to legalzoom.com today for personalized, affordable legal protection.

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melissa: beautiful day, huh? welcome back to our special edition of "money". the sky isn't the limit when we're here in houston. with more than 450 companies tied to the space industry including of course nasa's johnson space center, this hub of aerospace and aviation sector directly employs 200,000 texas workers. with me to discuss the industry's impact on the houston economy are boeing space exploration program and joe mayer, chairman of citizens for space exploration. thanks for joining us. >> welcome to houston. melissa: thank you. people think of oil and gas but they should think of space. >> space city usa. that's us. first words spoken from the moon were houston it is a great heritage. melissa: how committed is boeing to the city? very committed. we've been working with that is a since 1967 own the programs here. through mercury, gemini, apollo, skylab, space

station station and space shuttle. we're working with nasa on orion. so we're committed. melissa: talk about that. what does the future look like? nasa committed 17 billion or the u.s. is spending 17 billion with nasa. that appeals in comparison if you compare it to today's dollars what they have spent in the past. how has the aerospace industry changed and what is the path for you?. >> there are six astronauts up there doing research. we tend to forget about that but it is ongoing the research out of that. we're developing a new commercial transportation system that will take crews on a u.s. system up the space station. then beyond that, we're developing a, big rocket, bigger than the apollo rocket that will carry the orion capsule deep into space to do human space travel back to the moon, to an asteroid and eventually on to mars. melissa: wow. >> it is interesting. houston brought us the moon. in the future we're going to

bring the united states and the world mars. humans on mars. it is an amazing thing. melissa: how far away is that? >> we're out there in the 200 time frame. melissa: really? >> we're moving forward taking stepping stones approach we did in the 1960s. that decade we used step by step moving towards the moon. we'll do the same thing moving towards mars. melissa: to some extent it seems like americans have lost their fascination with space. you know, it is not right at the forefront of everyone's minds any longer. how do you bring that spirit back? it is alive and well in houston but i don't think the rest of the count try. >> it was great to see the excitement around the shuttle. melissa: that's true. >> inspiration is with young people. more applicants, second largest group of applicants for the next astronaut class than there's ever been. melissa: yeah. >> so i think students are still inspired by space. the outpouring around the passing away of neil armstrong and sally

ride, we mourned that but just demonstrates i think there's still a passion for what we're doing in space. melissa: you talk about the excitement around the space shuttle. we saw endeavour come down here on its tour into retirement though. that is the end of an era. >> you know, with respect to orion, we're building with nasa, the nasa is building the first interplanet terri spacecraft for human travel. that is amazing thing. workforce on orion, over 30% are young professionals. why did they do that? why study the math? why choose aerospace? they want to put their mark on history. their legacy will be humans on mars. melissa: it is about private industry, right? that is the switch we're seeing in the business? >> i think it is combination. private industry is getting more trofled involved in the commercial transportation of the space station and others in the vicinity. nasa is still engaged in trips to mars that joe is referencing. melissa: yeah. >> working with industry

we're combined working together. melissa: gentlemen, thank you so much for coming on. we appreciate your time. >> thank you, melissa. melissa: now on to health care, so did you know that one in nine jobs in america are supported by hospitals either directly or indirectly? the university of texas health sciences system here in houston is part of the world-renown texas medical center. it is one of the nation's largest, employing more than 21,000 physicians, scientists and researchers. in fact, houston is known as the medical research hub with three out of the top four texas hospitals located here. and employment in its health care industry grew a very strong 7% over the past year. this is clearly an important driver in the city's economic future. with me now is the chairman of the ut health science system. fred, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. first of all, would you please tell everybody it is 72 degrees in houston. and it is like this 365 days a year.

melissa: i think that is not exactly true but it is a gorgeous day without question. i think we've done a lot to promote tourism around here. >> you absolutely have, thank you. melissa: the medical industry is huge here in houston. we were saying people think oil and gas. there is a lot of arrow gnat call, engineering, space and the medical industry is huge. more heart surgeries are performed in texas than anywhere else in the world. >> when you think about it, you, why would texas, why would houston and the outpost that we are, be the medical center of the world and it's typical of the entrepreneural spirit of texas. melissa: yeah. >> there is no reason for us to do this. the two greatest heart surgeons, denton cooley and dennis dabake were here. they started this industry and we've just had a monstrous growth. melissa: yeah. >> we've recruited one top doctor after another. it's hard to get them to come the first time. once they're here and they realize the capabilities that we have here.

melissa: really. >> because of the heat. they hear all the stories and all you guys on the east coast say all the time. melissa: we've said nothing about how gorgeous the weather is. >> you have. but they think we're still a cow town. if you look behind us there isn't anybody on horseback with a gun i don't think. melissa: no. >> we get down here and easy place to live. it face nominal job market. we have had the money. we've been fortunate enough to have the money to develop. melissa: yeah. >> at ut, one of the things that we, the university of texas system, voluntarily said to us, look you've got the biggest medical center in the world. let's build the best. if you look at texas children's hospital, if you look at m.d. anderson, if you look at memorial herman, the ut system is the largest medical school without its own hospital. but the memorial herman system which ranks number one nationally in patient care, year after year after year, has given us a facility that has been

mind-boggling. we all want to make something work. that is who we are in texas. it is that way in the legislature and that way in the medical center. melissa: people face serious problems in their life and come to texas where they think they have the best odds. >> that's right. melissa: 630 hospitals. 51% are investor owned versus nonprofit or government owned. does that make a difference? >> correct. it makes a difference. ironically you would think it would make a difference because investor owned hospitals would be much more profit orient and cost containing. they're accountable and they understand. we understand down here that it is all about service. and that the patient is the customer. and, and that we have to take good care. i don't know of anyone that leaves the city of houston after receiving medical care down here that says, boy, those guys were jerks. we, you know --. melissa: you don't hear people saying that at all. >> excuse me. we understand that. so customer satisfaction. i'm sorry. melissa: before we run out of time, the percent of

uninsured is higher than average here. does that make a difference? is there a reason for that? >> the reason for that, i believe, probably has a lot to do, when you look at unemployment but you would not think so. we have the immigration issue which is pouring a tremendous number of uninsured people into town. it's a problem that we've got to face, but you know, we're texans. we'll not let anybody go without health care. we have the best, we have two county hospitals here. one is manned by ut doctors. one is manned by baylor doctors, and --. melissa: how do you pay for that if they're not insured? >> they're coming out of memorial herman, for instance, which is our hospital system. provides $800 million a year in free health care. we've got to do it. we're not going to let the medical center be the cause of any slowdown in the growth of houston. but it's phenomenal. melissa: thank you so much.

>> thank you. melissa: thanks for joining us. >> thanks for giving us the opportunity. melissa: when a celebrity wants a tricked out car they call john hennessey. he turned his hennessey performance motors into the hottest custom vehicle company in the country. he has known everybody that came here today he is so popular. plus the houston livestock show and rodeo is flying high despite consumers holding back on entertainment. the ceo about how houston is giving a kick to the economy. ♪

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melissa: so we are open for business here in houston, texas. our next guest is one of the top custom car builders in the u.s. john hennessey has been souping cars for celebrities like jay leno and steven tyler for more than 20 years. these babies don't come cheap. some of his models top out over a million bucks for a car? are you serious? >> absolutely. melissa: john hennessey from hennessey performance motors. john, a million dollars? >> yeah. melissa: what does a million dollar car looks like? >> a million dollar has a car 1244 horsepower and 0 to-60 in 2 1/2 seconds. melissa: quite a ticket. >> zero to jail. melissa: like that souped-up station wagon at beginning of the show. >> my wagon is a little stealthy. gets me down the highway. melissa: cops don't notice you. >> when they pull me over say what have you got under the hood, goes downhill from

there. melissa: how much was that car worth i was driving? >> about 100 grand. melissa: for a station wagon. >> make you a deal for 95. melissa: i bet. everyone knew you all the billionaires. are you selling them all cars? >> tillman needs a venom gt. melissa: what is your market like right now? what is your average customer. >> a guy buy a ford raptor. melissa: a guy. >> typically a guy. 50 grand for a really nice truck. give it 600 horsepower for 17,000. for $17,000 a bread and butter market. we built 130 of those vehicles last year. melissa: wow, a truck, i think of a jay leno type car. >> we do a lot of sports cars. we're known for that. trucks and suvs are very popular too. melissa: what is the market like? obviously the economy across the country is struggling. maybe people here in houston don't have a lot of money but are you selling mostly here? >> our business is really nationwide and international. and i would say that up till about six months ago, our

business was super strong. now we're working really hard to maintain. melissa: really? in the past six months. >> yes. melissa: what do you think has changed? >> i don't know. we're leading up to the election. there is uncertainty. there is plenty of market and demand. like tillman said, you drive around every restaurant tonight in houston, tex so. parking lot will be full. people that will spend 100 grand for a car or something like they're kind of waiting to see if things get better. melissa: interesting. you were telling me before you sell a lot internationally. >> correct. melissa: i got back from bahrain. that is big market for you?. >> it is. guys in the middle east love fast cars. fast cars for us transcends culture. i can two to siberia and have a consideration about fast cars. they are fast cars and like to go fast we have something in common. melissa: how do you sell in bahrain? do you have a showroom? >> we have distributor over there and they promote our vehicles. i go from time to time to show them off. that is good market. melissa: have only couple

seconds left. what makes texas special? we're asking everyone that. >> texas is place can do attitude. i heard it for 30 years. when i got here people say they can do it. people like dewhurst and people in the government want to keep barriers low and taxes low and try to help us when they can. melissa: got to be the truth you're all saying same thing. i talked to 30 people said the same thing. so interesting. melissa: thank you so much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. melissa: i can't wait to see the car you lend me to get out. i have to get out to the airport really quick. >> we can hook you up. melissa: throw on the cowboy boots and put on a lasso. the houston rodeo is one of the hottest tickets in this town. how is it bucking the trend against tightfisted consumers? president and ceo is next. at the end of the day it is all about money. ♪

♪ . melissa: welcome back to "money". we're live in houston, texas where rodeos are big business. houston has the biggest one in the u.s. because everything is bigger in texas, obviously. skip wagner is the president and ceo of the houston livestock show and reed dough yo. great to have you -- rodeo. >> howdy. melissa: exactly. what is a typical day like at the rodeo? >> there is almost no typical day. we have 27,000 volunteers, 105 committees. you're literally going from one type of thing. may be a fried food eating contest one day to sponsor development but every day has activities like those. they have concert and they have a rodeo. and we just do whatever it takes to keep it all running. >> you talk about the concert and live entertainment. the show goes on for about a month. >> it does. melissa: you spend the whole rest of the year planning it right? >> we do. we're in middle of planning it. we start the next one in

january. the show will be in march. but, everything from the barbecue to the parade to the concerts have to have about a year in advance. melissa: how do you know what act is going to be hot a year from now trying to book the concert? >> we do a ton of market research, surveys. that is the one of the great things about technology today. we know who is rising. we. melissa: really. >> we do some guessing. year we hit it with justin bieber no one heard of him in july. by the time march got here he was off the charts. melissa: that is amazing. did you get a good deal since you booked him. >> we got a great deal that year. that is always a one-time thing. melissa: exactly. what is the average consumer like who is going in the rodeo right now? >> we literally cover every demographic in houston, texas. so, the average consumer would be the average houstonian or the average harris county person. we're going to have everyone from pipe fitters to presidents. people just like to put on their boots and hats for about three weeks and, all

come out. melissa: so you know how the country is feeling then because you have such a broad cross-section. how are people doing? spending more or less? >> we do real well. because it is funny, a mediocre economy to decent is the less economy. we're by tar the less value in the world. for $20 to see a concert you would normally pay $5 at toyota center is a good deal. melissa: that's interesting. so mediocre economy is better for you if everybody is doing well they will go on a trip. >> we need the business community strong. because they're the ones doing sponsorships and, we sell, you know, 10 million dollars worth of junior auction animals. we need people to buy those. but the base ticket, base customer, we're going to be strong, in almost any environment. melissa: yeah. so, what's going on here? >> ah. we need to make you a little bit of texan too. melissa: uh-oh.

>> we have a hat from the houston livestock show and rodeo hat store. melissa: i love it. >> i want you at the take that back. you would look great in it. melissa: what do you think? >> we got your size so ready to wear. you look great in it. melissa: i think i have to get it down a little bit more. there we go. thank you so much. >> come in march we'll have fun. melissa: i can't wait. i'm going to try to read this with a straight face. face related signs banned at one houston high school football game. the city is one of the top destinations for skip serves? farther part of the spare change we found in the past two days. coming up next you can never have too much money or great hats. we'll be right back. ♪ .

♪ melissa: now time with our special edition of spare change. thank you for joining us.

you are local. i love it. first off, forbes released the tops hipster. >> someone with really wide -- no -- i am sorry. according to forbes, this is a community thing where a lot of the shops and restaurants are locally owned and trendy. it is like putting on texans. melissa: los angeles was at the top of the list. second place -- houston came in at 20. those are nice places. this is my favorite. there we go -- >> howdy. melissa: that is not a cowboy hat. are you a hipster?

>> well, i am trying to lose weight. melissa: cheerleaders at a high school are sending a different message and said of usual signs. they have biblical messages like i can do all things through christ who strengthens me. the superintendent is forbidding the signs. the judge says they can have signed. give us your take. to me this feels like freedom of speech. >> there is a rule that says you cannot use a school speaking opportunity to speak out on religion. melissa: but they paid for the materials. >> he has god on his side. melissa: what about their religious freedom? >> i think there is merit to