a new vision . as mega coporporations "partner up." what it means for the future of media. in today's cover story.... the "ceo struggles" that secretly go on in the corner office. plus... it's a new day in manufacturing as jobs are reborn in america. and... the evolution of lunch. why it's just not the same that it used to be. first business starts now! good morning! i'm angela miles. it's wednesday, may 14th. in today's first look: the s&p 500 flirts with 1,900. investors pushed the index above that level in trading yesterday, but it did not hold. closing at-- 18-97. however, it was still a record close for the dow and the s&p. the nasdaq fell under

the weight of sell of in cisco ahead of earnings. gold lost 2 dollars. oil rallied $1.37. it's ibm 's analyst day. the ceo rinni rommety could face a tough crowd as she attempts to revamp the company. hertz car and rental company is requesting extra time to file its quarterly report, because of errors and, there may be some fallout today from a chicago air scare. flights in out of midway and o'hare were halted after smoke from a faulty ventilation fan at a radar facility. trader larry shover of sfg alternatives joins us now to talk about the record levels in the market. good morning to you. what are you eyeing? > > right now i just continue to look at the broad market and you look at the differences of what's going on underneath the surface. we see yesterday the s&p kept bumping up against 1900 and right now people are

just wondering what's the next move? what industry's going to take us to the next step? it's really hard to figure out. > > oil is on the run, what's prompting the oil run? > > yeah yesterday we saw 1 percent up movement in wti. i think from today people are looking for the inventory report to come out for another draw down like we saw last month. so right now it's people getting ahead of what they thinks going to be true today. > > we have earnings coming out for macy's and nordstrom j.c. penney kohl's this week. will you put on any retail plays? it looks like the options market is mostly bearish on all of those stocks except for j.c. penney. > > yeah it's funny the one stock i really do like is macy's. i think their cash position is very strong, i don't particularly love the retail space but they have a good cash position, good footprint in the industry and i'm looking for them to beat on both sides. > > thank you, larry. > > you're welcome.

dramatic changes could happen soon in the television industry.. that was the takeaway from rumors that at&t is in talks to buy directv for 50 billion dollars. the two could close a deal in two weeks according to the wall street journal. neither company has offered up any comment on the deal. it follows a massive merger of comcast and time warner, which still requires approval from regulators. analysts say mega mergers are a new reality for cable companies as the internet evolves. "it's the same realization that dish has come to and with it, they bought licenses and are trying to partner with somebody to build them out, or build it out themselves. but directv has come to the same conclusion and instead they are being bought by a wireless provider. " consumer groups oppose the acquisition-- claiming higher prices, and fewer choices. chuck coppola joins us now with a an unsual connection in the wirelss industry.. if you can't beat 'em-- blackberry has decided to open its operating system in

corporate workspaces to competitors such as ibm airwatch and citrix. its a reaction to competitors who've aggresively promoted their own services as alternatives to the canadian company trying to make a comeback among business users. the topic could possibly come up at today's ibm analyst day. starting next month... gm will roll out technology that turns cars into wireless hot spots. the 4-g connectivity will be offered in chevy malibus and added in other models later this year. under a deal negotiated with at&t by the former ceo of gm.. the car company will get $20 for every car owner that activates the service. as for the investigation into gm's faulty ignition switches on older models... federal safety regulators are focusing on potential problems with air bag deployment. russia retaliates. it's banning the u.s. from buying russian made rockets for military satellite launches. the ban is in response to a series of u.s. and european sanctions following russia's annexation of crimea in march. the rockets are used by lockheed martin, boeing and the u.s. government. a pentagon spokesperson says the u.s. has

a two-year supply and will have enough rockets for all scheduled launches. skyrocketing prices at the gas pump are putting consumers angst in overdrive... a survey by national association association of convenience stores.. finds consumer optimism about the economy fell to the lowest level of the year as gas prices surge according to jeff lenard of the nacs. "traditionally, gas prices peak about this time, about the second week in may and that is after a long, complex series of handovers to summer blend fuels. that took place a little earlier this year. prices peaked at the end of april. they're coming down now. things are looking good. you have to be a little concerned about ukraine or nigeria and their impact on gas prices, let along other issues, but things are looking good gas price wise." a gallon of unleaded sells on average for $3.64. that is 2 cents less than a week ago, but 7 cents

higher than at this time last year. "traditionally, gas prices peak about this time, about the second week in may and that is after a long, complex series of handovers to summer blend fuels. that took place a little earlier this year. prices peaked at the end of april. they're coming down now. things are looking good. you have to be a little concerned about ukraine or nigeria and their impact on gas prices, let along other issues, but things are looking good gas price wise." the political spotlight is turning to infrastructure. in new york today, president obama is expected to continue white house pressure on congress-- warning that 700-thousand jobs are at stake if lawmakers miss a deadline to extend infrastructure spending. the deadline is in september, though the white house contends money for road work and other projects-- could run out as soon as this summer. a west virginia coal mine- where 2 workers were killed this week when the mine collapsed-- is accused of a" pattern of violations" by the government. the brody mine number 1 is owned by patroit coal. it's sited for 253 serious violations. in it's annual report- patroit blames the former owners. but is cooperating with the investigation. in turkey-- coal mine explosion has killed 17 dozens are still inside. cooperating with investigators the u.s. postal service says it's looking into reports of "skimming" at some of its stamp vending machines. there have

been reports of thieves who've installed small devices on the vending machines that allow credit card information to be stolen. it's happened in at least 13-states and the district of columbia. the postal service says it's investigating and recommends that customers inspect vending machines for tampering before using them. several banks are closer to billion dollar settlements with u.s. justice department. bnp paribas reportedly is in talks to pay more than $3 billion for allegedly evading u.s. sanctions against iran, sudan and other nations. credit suisse could pay $2 billion . that bank is accused of helping wealthy americans with tax evasion. bank of america could wind up shelling out more than $13 billion for its role in the financial crisis. the head of a chicago futures exchange says the markets are not rigged. on capitol hill yesterday, terrence duffy the head of c-m-e group testified to congress that the futures markets today are more open and accessible than ever before. high-speed trading has come under scrutiny after the

release of the book "flash boys" by michael lewis which claims some traders have an unfair advantage in the markets. retail sales edge up a meager point 1% in april. sales of furniture, electronics and appliances dropped while clothing , building materials garden equipment rose. the disappointing april numbers from the commerce department -- follows a robust 1.5% jump in march -- the largest increase since march of 2010. there slow sales in april will hurt second quarter growth, but an economist for the national retail federation is staying optimistic. "at this point in the year when you try and smooth out the impact of the holiday and to a certain extent the weather effect..you know we are on a good path, not a great path, but still on a good path where we are right now, as i look out on the next few months." the nrf contends job growth in the months ahead will contribute to higher consumer spending. coca-cola wants more of keurig green mountain. the soft-drink

company said this week it will increase its stake in keurig to 16% from its current 10%. coke said it belives keurig has further growth potenial which sent keurig shares up 7% yesterday. as soda sales slip coke is collaborating with keurig-- maker of the single serve coffee maker and k-cups. europe's top court tells google it must allow users to remove some personal information from search engine results. the case originated with a spanish man who objected to google results pointing to newspaper articles about the 19-98 re-posession of his house when his name was searched. google said it is disappointed with the ruling and needs time to analyze the implications. if new restrictions become law it will mean extra costs for internet companies. facebook may be banned in china... but that won't stop mark zuckerburg from opening an

office there. bloomberg news reports the social network is attmepting to make inroads in beijing with a sales office. in a statement, facebook says it "may consider a sales office in china in the future." facebook is available outside of mainland china in hong kong where it caters to chinese businesses hoping to reach international users with ads. on the other side of the spectrum-- it's national small business week. and a new survey reveals the best cities for companies with fewer than 250 employees. based on starting salaries, revenue and growth. minneapolis, minnesota ranks at the top, followed by salt lake city, utah, and miami florida. augusta, georgia, modesta and stockton california were last. a report accuses the irs of improper payments. the treasury inspector general finds at least 13-billion dollars in tax credits were sent to people who did not qualify for them. earned income tax credits-- meant for low income families, are often abused by those who do not qualify. the irs says a major review of the situation is underway. the tab for snap-- the nation's food stamp program is estimated to be $24 billion lower than expected over the next decade. the congressional budget office lowered the estimate after

revising how it calculates the average monthly benefit amount. the united states edges out france to become the world's largest wine market. wine consumption in france has been falling while consumption rates in the u.s. continue to go up. however, the french still consume more per person than americans. still to come: fewer americans are taking a lunch break... how its trickling down to restaurants. plus... the surprising hurdles ceos face at the top of the corporate ladder. and... jobs make a comeback in the u.s. as a manufacturing initiative pays off. stay with us!

the effort to bring manufacturing jobs back to the u.s.a. is gaining traction... "re-shoring has made a lot of progress in the last 3 or 4 years. for comparison, 10 years ago the u.s. was losing about 150,000 jobs per year to off- shoring, that's manufacturing jobs, and by 2013 we have taken that annual loss down to zero. we measure that by seeing that we are off-shoring still maybe 40,000, but we're re-shoring about 40,000, so the net loss is zero." harry moser of the re-shoring initiative tracks offshoring and re-shoring efforts by u.s. companies. recently wisconsin generator maker-- generac power systems created 80 jobs by producing a component at its whitewater plant. earlier, the company was producing the part in china because it was cheaper. however wages and other costs in china have soared. ceos are facing a lot these days. according to price waterhousecoopers, many are rewriting their operating model to accomodate customer access 24-7. and they are still trying to navigate how health care

reform will affect them. enough to turn the corner office into what feels like the 'cornered office." if you want some insight into why hiring is rising so slowly, we found some answers at a conference aimed at small to mid-sized company ceos. "they're using consultants and contractors instead of permanent hires in terms of head count so to speak." with the tongue-in-cheek title: "anyone can speak ceo all you have to do is point and grunt" chicago's blue point consulting got ceos to do more than that. they chimed in about health care reform---still full of uncertainties to them. "it's a mess right now. in our field, benefits brokerage i've never seen so many tired people because they're overwhelmed in how to navigate through a new world. " "the real question is going to be this fall. our benefits prices go up 7-8% a year, ask me in october and i'll hve a better answer for you." another challenge for ceos-- social media--some companies who've criticized vendors on the internet have had it backfire. "it was unprofessional and

because of that, other vendors won't work for them for fear that they'll be reprimanded in public." "it's not enough to send a memo or a tweet. how you communicate says so much." lastly, there may be a generational divide about email. one ceo said business is about relationships established either in person or by phone. another said he flat-out ignores emails from job seekers. old school? no doubt. but it does reinforce the value of networking. the people at the top of detroit's three automakers are considering a request to save the city's art collection. under a grand bargin--the detroit institute of arts reportedly would kick in $100 million toward the city's ailing pension funds to avoid

selling artworks to pay creditors. . the museum has reportedly reached out to gm, ford and chrysler for help. all are said to be considering the request. there are critics of the proposal -- several creditors - including the u.s. government- filed objections with the court. the bankruptcy judge will hold a hearing on the matter in july. coming up.... will soda stream fizzle out on earnings? one trader's prediction. plus... buzz kill. why the lunch hour isn't what it used to be. we'll be right back!

the days of the power lunch are slipping away as american employees give up their lunch breaks to run errands or catch up on work. darren tristano of technomic is here and you are a restaurant consultant. do you see signs of the power lunch going away?

> > we sure do. we see americans are very time pressured today so they don't have time to go to a full- service experience and as a result brands like chipotle fast casual have done a great job providing meals that typically americans are eating with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the burrito. > > people just don't take that hour any more so what happened to the martini lunches i think-- what did we call them the three martini lunches? > > a three martini lunch... > > as if two weren't enough... > > yeah 9 ounces of alcohol. i think when we look at tv series like madmen or even movies like the wolf of wall street it brings us back to a generation where these lunches were very commonplace. but today drinking in the workplace-- not something that many employers will tolerate if any. certainly the economics of being able to spend through travel expense accounts has been much more difficult. also ultimately executives don't have two three hours to spend at a lunch so they're really cutting back and these have gone away and have been replaced by lunches or breaks at starbucks.

> > exactly, we used to call them buns on a run when i was a reporter out on the streets all the time. so tell me what's happening with these higher end places because this was big money. > > yes most of these higher end places have really switched to trying to wrap up to speed during lunch, provide really gourmet foods and do it at a price that's acceptable because most american's just don't have the time today. > > i've even seen some high- end restaurants do deliveries now. > > absolutely, delivering in the office has become much more important to restaurants success and also mock-tails. so if you don't want to have that big tall martini, you can have it without the alcohol and feel like you're enjoying a madmen experience. > > thanks for coming on the show. > > you're welcome and thank you. still ahead-- will investors have a thirst for soda stream stock.. following its earnings today. chart talk is next.

talking to veterans about the real issues they're dealing with can be awkward and uncomfortable. but when their behavior changes, it's time to act. because if we don't, our families and relationships will suffer. listen to the veterans in your life and show you care. it matters. when you recognize a veteran is in crisis call the veterans crisis line at 1-800-273-8255 and press "1".

no matter what happens with soda streams earnings today that stock has been hugely under pressure. joining us now is james ramelli of keenonthemarket.com. james, is this the stock you would play? > > yes absolutely, it's been under pressure but what we see is that it's actually a pretty strong performer on earnings. it's rallied five of the past

eight quarters on earnings day and on average moves around 8 percent. the options market is currently implying the stock can move around $3 which is just around 8 percent by friday's expiration and i think that expectations in the soda stream earnings are very very low and if they come in with any kind of good number, the stock could get a good bid here. i want to get long in soda stream with an upside target around $3 higher, we saw a nice move higher in green mountain coffee. they're in a similar type business and i think that any good number out of soda stream earnings could send the stock higher. > > how much do you think investors are counting on starbucks taking a large stake in soda stream? > > i think they're probably pricing in that news quite a bit if that doesn't happen, the beauty of options is that i know my downside risk and i can't lose more than the premium

i invest. > > so james if somebody does not want to play the options or just watching the stock where's the ceiling and where's the floor? > > right well if i were to get long the stock ahead of the earnings i would have a stop in around $40. we've seen the stock test down to this region once or twice over the past six weeks or so and find buyers. resistance to the up side is right around $46 or just below that level which is exactly where the options market is implying the stock can go by this friday. > > any chance of a bigger break out? > > absolutely i think if the stock breaks that 46 dollar region it can very easily run higher-- how much higher is kind of hard to say as they're only implying around $3 in the options market but i definitely think that's a key resistance level that would attract buyers if it were broken. > > james, thanks for coming on the show and talking charts with us this morning. coming up tomorrow... it's a movies and money thursday. find out if the new godzilla is about to bring monster money to warner brothers. from all of us at first business... have a wealthy wednesday..

>> announcer: get ready, in your area . real-estate millionaires scott and amie yancey, the stars of a&e's hit reality-tv show "flipping vegas," have chosen your area to hold a free one-of-a-kind live event that will show you exactly how you could start making money in real estate right now, right here in your area, even if you currently have no cash, no credit, and no real-estate experience. and here to tell you all about it is your host, suzanne sena. >> hi, everyone. i'm suzanne sena. my very special guests today