i think you need have good systemic stability to have price stability. so i think in general, they tend to be complimentary. i don't see any serious conflicts of interest or inconsistencies between those plan dates. >> frankly, your response frightens me because i think there are occasions that they're in conflict. at least the pressures that the players in the system, you may have practices that are quite profitable for the banking system that a person looking at it from the consumer protection point of view might say that disclosure or fairness isn't complete. indeed some of the many things that we've been addressing recently in regard to the compensation of how all of these things may be profitable in ways that strengthen the banks, but there is the position of consumers, and i think to at least be able to carry off these missions simultaneously, one has to be conscious and aware of the inherent conflicts that arise and address those. >> i do not think -- safety and soundness does not mean max improbability. i do not think it is good for banks to enga

what can congress do -- what can be done to not stabilize the economy but to stabilize our attitudes? i'm not sure what to suggest there except obviously good leadership and good explanations help. but there's some signs some glimmers if you will, so consumer sentiment has improved as the stock market has gone out and as the outlook has looked better and the job situation has stopped deteriorating quite as quickly as it was. but, you know, i want to be clear we have a very long haul here because even though as the economy begins to turn up in terms of production, unemployment will stay high for a while so it will not feel like a really strong economy. >> thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you, mr. chairman. >> the gentleman from indiana -- oh, i'm sorry. mr. cleveland just finished. i apologize. the gentleman from delaware is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman bernanke, let me just say in praise of you 'cause my question may imply some negatives. i think you're doing a good job on monetary policy and i think that meets one of the goals of the humphrey-

the cost stability the recent stabilization household spending will prove transient is an important downside risk to the outlook. in conjunction with the fomc meeting board members and presidents prepare economic projections covering the year 2009 through 2011. fomc participants generally expect that after the declining in the first half of this year output will increase slightly over the remainder of 2009. the recovery is expected to be gradual in 2010 with acceleration in activity in 2011. although the employee rate is projected to pique the end of this year the projected decline in 2010 and 2011 would still leave on employment well above fomc purpose of the views of the longer run sustainable rate. all participants expect inflation will be lower this year in recent years and most expect to remain subdued over the next two years. in light of the substantial economic lack monetary policy remains focused on fostering economic recovery. accordingly as i mentioned earlier the fomc believes a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will be appropriate for an extended period. however we b

. >> early stability. same in the credit card business. and another thing we look at, just to get a feel for where the economy might go is spending on credit cards. so what is the consumer doing? so we have observed coming off the fall of last year, as we all know, tremendous drop-off in consumer spending. and we watch it weekly, what goes on on our credit cards, and we have seen again over the past couple of months a stabilization. it's lower than it was spending levels from a year ago. but it's better than it was at its worst earlier in the year. and has been running at a stable level. so those are things we look for. and like we need to see them continue. we're not yet ready to call it, but that it's going to stabilize and stay there. those are the things to look for to see if that -- that and unemployment. where unemployment goes from here is an important factor in all of these -- and home pricis and consumer loss. >> do you have a prediction on that, where you think employment is going from here, when

despite hearing from everyone in washington that stabilizing the housing market is key do stabilizing our economy, is still having trouble modifying their mortgages even as 10,000 familys a day are hit with foreclosure notices. mr. chairman, i appreciate the work you've done as i said at the outset of these comments. on monetary-to-monetary policy, the indicators we've seen in recent weeks. these positive indicators seem to be stuck at the top in the process. it's not insignificant, the accomplishment. it's a critical component. we on this committee, i think, as well as all of news this room, certainly the chairman, all work for the same people that is the american taxpayer. but when can we expect a recovery that they have funded, when will we start seeing working families see the rally, pay raises, their jobs being stabilized? what are we doing as the holding company, supervisor, as you're doing, holding company, supervisor as these recipients of t.a.r.p. funds to ensure that we're serving the interest of the american people, the struggling people, as we all know, aren't ready for an

but there's little hope that the job market will stabilize anytime soon. paola sapienza is with the kellogg school of management at northwestern university and luigi zingales is with the university chicago booth of business. both are behind the financial trust index. both with us that the financial trust index. paul has trust repair itself over the last nine months as the economy is stabilizing? we've seen white increase in trust and the past three months. i would say slight. generally increasing only from 19 to 21%. the majority of the increases concentrate coarse banks and bankers. it has gone up from 29% to 34%. " we d what about some of the stress test for perhaps adding to the trust to levels that americans have in the banking system? possibly. i think that it is true that this is the same time in increase in the trust of the government and a decrease in the mistrust of government intervention. one thing that is shocking is that back in december 80 percent of the people felt less confident and investing in the stock market. now this number has dropped

it's all about stabilization in sales. so caterpillar beat and their guidance above expectedations for the full year. same situation with united technology, a little more subdued here. again, top line growth is below expectation for the major companies. same with dupont. i want to move on to the regional banks. regions financial very disappointing metrics, stocks getting hit, suntrust, dzions, comerica, they're all getting hit here, we'll talk about that in the next hour. cit moved nicely to the down side. there were comments saying if their tender offer failinged, they may not able to make the august debt payment. citigroup dropping. tra trader talk. brian schacht mash, how wir looking at the nasdaq? >> we lost about another 0.3 of a percent while that bernanke commentary was being discussed. i want it point out one good story right now is dell up 1.2%, but both microsoft and oracle were positive announcements in a negative territory. the biggest stories on the nasdaq. apple will report after the close. expected to beat.

i said we see some signs of stabilization. the big thing is the global financial system i think is stabilizing. we're seeing some certainly stabilization in credit markets. our cap financial subsidiary we were able to go to the market in euros and canadian dollars for the first time in more than a year and got interest rates that were lower than a year ago. at least for the a-1, a 1 p 1 type credit ratings, credit access is coming back nicely and spreads have come back into the right kind of range. this was a precondition for economic recovery. so i see that as a very positive sign for the global economy and there's still a ways to go. a lot of good companies that are a little less maybe highly rated and stable are still having trouble getting credit in the market today but i think that too will come over the next few months. >> there certainly is one area of business small and mid cap names that seem to continue to face challenges with regard to accessing capital. let me ask you this, sir. part of the positives in the report

this program continues to be office of financial stability's primary vehicle for stabilizing financial markets. at the same time the treasury continues to purchase preferred shares in institutions, other institutions have made over $70 billion to repurchase shares. as of july 10, 12 of the 33 institutions who purchased their shares from the treasury had repurchased their warrants and three others had repurchased of their warrants of about a return of $80 million. although the office and the financial stability and its regulargators have approved cppp applications the criteria for determining when institutions can repurchase preferred stock from treasury lack adequate transparency. this is an area in which we made a recommendation for did treasury and the coordination to ensure consistent criteria in the consideration of repurchases. while treasury has provided some limited information about the warrant valuation process, it has yet to provide a level of transparency at the transaction level that would address questions about whether the department is getting the best for taxpayers. thi

i think macroeconomic stability will support financial stability and financial stability will support macroeconomics stability. the federal reserve is involved in financial stability because we have the lender of last resort and because we have the responsibilities that you gave us for macroeconomic stability so it doesn't matter who the regulator will be in the evidence and the federal regulator will have to be involved and i think there's synergies giving the federal reserve a little extra power to do that given our current authorities. >> thank you. in a completely unrelated area, i am personally concerned with the purchase by the fed recently in an increasing amount of long-term t-bills. i'm not sure the american public is fully aware of this situation. it's obviously arcane and something that may not be on the front pages of newspapers. could you update us on your recent purchases and where they are in relationship to where they might have been a year ago, sir? >> so we have in march, the federal open market committee decided to purchase up to 300 billion of treasury intermediate

state insurance regulation is of course inherently compatible with the systemic stability council. annie financial stability regulator should develop best practices for risk-management, required for u.s. insurers but glaringly lacking in other sectors. information sharing and confidentiality protocols can be established in coordination among regulators formalize. under no circumstance though should a buyable insurance subsidiary be sacrificed for the benefit of another entity within a corporate family. internationally, the development of accounting standards of the international accounting standards board's weeds the u.s. and others within the next several years to adopt accounting standards based on international financial reporting standards. we of undertaken a solvency modernization initiative that will evaluate lessons learned nationally and internationally and examine areas appropriate for refinement. we work internationally with the g-20, the joined forum, the financial stability form, the international association of insurance supervisors and the oecd and others. .. >> and a

stability. it is a combination of high- profile attacks that occur. it is a combination of some political progress. eight is the ability of the rockiraqi force to take stabiliy and initiative. may was the lowest among the incident here. june is going along similar lines. the problem with june is over the last 10 days, there were a few high-profile attacks. that changes is a little bit. if you compare back to the dark days of 2006 and 2007, there is no comparison. there is not widespread violence here and i iraq. there are points of high-profile attacks. the unfortunate part is that if has inflicted some high casualties and the civilian population. we still have hard work to do. >> on the most recent violence, forgive me if you are misquoted, but there are reports saying that you attributed some of the most recent violence in iraq to iranian influence. if that is the case, what specific evidence is there that iran had a hand? >> what i said was that the event has been aqi. there has been in ian i

>> i am aware all of our actions on behalf of the financial stability and office of financial stability are carrying out all, the eesa law. >> and that would include the obligation to protect the taxpayer interest first and to use the phrase from eesa to maximize the return for the taxpayer? >> absolutely. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> the ranking member is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to allow members from the financial services committee but not the subcommittee to participate today, that's brad sherman of california and mr. kenny marchant of texas. >> without objection so ordered. mr. bachus, congressman box bachus, excuse me, you're recognized. >> i've been called a lot worse than that. [laughter] mr. allison, the act we passed back october 1st, the allison that includes the t.a.r.p. and the capitol purchase plan, it states explicitly that proceeds from the sale of troubled assets and revenues from dividends and the surrender on warrants shall be paid into the general fund of the treasury for the reduction of the public debt in passi

getting the housing market to stabilize is critical. host: the phone numbers are on the bottom of our screen for lawrence yun, national association of realtors chief economist. the phone lines for republicans, democrats, an independents. by the way, the tax credit is a credit, not a tax break? guest: that is right. the first-time home buyer would get an eight thousand dollar tax benefit from the government. essentially, a check sent to the home buyer. this is a tremendous opportunity. it is part of the stimulus package in order to encourage buyers to come back into the market. home values have been falling, but some buyers are hesitant, even though the qualified to enter the market. they are thinking that the home values will decline further. to counter that pessimism, here is some money on the table. many people are trying to take advantage of that. host: how is lending going? guest: it is much tighter than before, and rightly so. we do not want a repeat of a loose lending standards, where we have people who are marginally qualified, o

you saw stabilization of 90 days past due. there's a big buildup in reserves peaking at that level or not? we're seeing signs of stabilization in different portfolios for a ray of hope going forward in the next couple quarters. >> you're not willing to say at this point that it's a sure thing, right? >> no. i don't think so. from a macro perspective, you have two portions of the credit quality debackcldebacle. we're in the late stages of that. could we have a lull between the consumer and what happens on the commercial and commercial real estate side? so far commercial real estate losses and commercial mpas have not been that high. will we get there in the next couple quarters? we're not as dooms day as others are. we didn't have oversupply in commercial real estate base. it remains iffy over the next couple quarters. our hope is given the fact we like b of a stock and earnings power is that here first quarter and second quarter we're peaking from a provision expense perspective and it may go down or flatten out from here. >>

what can be done to not to stabilize the economy but to stabilize our attitudes? >> i am not sure what to suggest there, except i'm obviously-- gude leadership and good explanations help but the public has been responding to some signs, some glimmers if you will of improvement, so consumer sentiment for example has improved somewhat as stock markets have gone up and as the yellow kid looked better and the job situation cassilly stopped deteriorating as quickly as it was. i want to be clear that we have a very long-haul here because even though the economy turns up in terms of production that unemployment will stay high for quite awhile so it will not feel like a really strong economy. >> thank you and the yield back the balance of my time mr. chairman. >> the gentleman from indiana-- i am sorry. are you finished? mr. castle. i apologize. the gentleman from delaware is recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman. chairman, let me say in praise of you because my questions may imply some negatives. i think you are doing a good job on monetary policy and i think that meets

and so as part of the financial stability effort we're helping banks to recover, stabilize so that they can continue lending in their communities to businesses, large and small, and to individuals to keep the economy going. >> following this line of questions, wouldn't it be better off if we gave the same amount of money to good banks, banks functioning well so they could expand their operations and make more loans rather than propping up bad banks that have made mistakes that have cost all of us? >> these are viewed as good banks with some bad assets. and as banks that can be viable and ongoing and continue to serve their communities. >> how do we get to a point where a good bank has bad assets? assets? doesn't that reflect on the management? >> every bank has bad loans on its books. what we've seen is because prices of real estate have declined so much commercial as well as residential, a number of companies have had to go out of business because of declining economic activity. loans that seemed to be quite good when they were granted turn out to be not so good in an extreme environme

what can be done to not to stabilize the economy but to stabilize our attitudes? >> i am not sure what to suggest there, except i'm obviously-- gude leadership and good explanations help but the public has been responding to some signs, some glimmers if you will of improvement, so consumer sentiment for example has improved somewhat as stock markets have gone up and as the yellow kid looked better and the job situation cassilly stopped deteriorating as quickly as it was. i want to be clear that we have a very long-haul here because even though the economy turns up in terms of production that unemployment will stay high for quite awhile so it will not feel like a really strong economy. >> thank you and the yield back the balance of my time mr. chairman. >> the gentleman from indiana-- i am sorry. are you finished? mr. castle. i apologize. the gentleman from delaware is recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman. chairman, let me say in praise of you because myuestions may imply some negatives. i think you are doing a good job on monetary policy and i think that meets on

has stabilized and is starting to pick up. the ability of china to generate domestic growth is extremely important. and that will allow the u.s. recovery to pick up pace more easily than it would be -- than would have been the case ten years ago when china was not such an important player. so a moderate decoupling is a factor and will be an important driving factor in the global recovery. >> marco, good talking to you, global head of economics uni credit. we're watching earnings here in asia. one of the top stories, sony booking a smaller than expected quarterly loss and says it aims to break even on the operating level for the full year. is the electronics giant on the road to recovery? for more on sony, let's get analysis from pellum smithers. sony post ago smaller than expected quarterly loss to break even this year. do you think restructuring at sony is finally paying off? >> it's a combination of restructuring and some luck and some genuine good selling products. we would expect it to come through more as the year progres

he told investors he sees sign of stabilization, but stabilization has been this magic word, things as usual. >> in an interview with tony in the past, this is a difficult business right now obviously, because input costs, unlike the refiners stays static. he knows what it's going to cost him for all his rigs, but at the same time, you have the price of oil going up and down and has a huge impact on his earnings. we were punishing these people a year ago when they were making huge profits and now no one feels sorry for them. >> that's a good point, melissa. >> all right. more big oil reports coming out this week. larry has more on that. >> all right. got to run down tomorrow. conocophillips thursday, exxonmobil and friday, chevron all before the bell reports. and the question is how do you play the big oil earnings story. dan dicker, independent oil trader and contributor at the street.com. and president kerr president and chief trading officer of kerr trade international. hello. what's the price on the story? economic expectations are rising, does that mean oil prices are going up, or

so stability i think it important. i think that's been very helpful. what i would say is there are some signs that potentially could lead to some green chutes. fram for example as a look at our business and card billings for the last several months, we've been in the same range. we've had double digit declines but now we've held. >> you're at zero. >> i wish i was totally flat but we're off a double digit decline but have not seen further declines but we have not seen any increases. but to have several months of stability and billings i think is encouraging but wouldn't characterize it as a recovery. if we can go for another two or three months and start to see some build, then that's going to be pretty encouraging. i think with respect to credit, what we are seeing write-offs are going up, they are going up in general for the industry. there are always outliaers goin up in general nor the sector but at a slower rate. what's going to be very important is to examine the roll rates and credit performance of companies with respect to second quarter earnin

the housing markets are showing some signs of stability. the cost of borrowing, the cost of credit has fallen significantly. credit markets are opening up and these improvements have been more substantial and have come more quickly than many of us expected when they were designed in december and january. >> for more on the treasury secretary's trip to the middle east, we are joined again by fadel gheit, a managing director and senior oil and gas analyst at oppenheimer & co. thanks very much for being with us again. i want to start right away by asking you geithner's trip to the middle east seems largely aimed at keeping those countries investing their oil profits in the u.s. so how important are those investments to the u.s. economy? >> it's very important. they are one of the largest you know treasure paper. they hold a huge amount o of dollar and combination. they're investing in physical assets. so definitely a very big factor and we need them on our side. >> what is it that secretary geithner is likely to tell them that will convince th

because we're getting stability on the top line doesn't mean we know what the earnings are. and number two, what multiple do we put on it right now? is it 15 times full earn sngz 12 times -- >> the average multiple for the last 20 years is actually 19 and change. 19 1/2, let's say. that includes stock market bubbles of the 2000s to late '90s and 2000. but i think the high teens is probably where it's going to be with low interest rates. >> what is it right now? >> right now on a trailing basis it's about 24 times, 25 times. so you really need the earnings to come in. we're looking at $55 trailing earnings for the s&p. maybe 62 forward if we go out a couple of quarters. to the extent that doesn't happen the market has trouble being valued where it is. >> i just wonder, then, if what you're saying means that the market is not ahead of itself. we've got a 7% rally last week. 20% move in the nasdaq year to date. on this expectation that things are rosy again and growth is coming. >> portfolio managers and investors for that matter really can't afford to miss it if they're wrong.

we are in for the long haul as far as stability and the environment is concerned. but we are well on the way, there is enormous support from the united states, not only the united states, but i think, even though it is a crisis situation, you create an opportunity for pakistan because the whole world is ready to have pakistan if it can get its own act together and come up with proposals and structures of how it is going to use that. i will stop. >> thank you. >> i can see if we can get some questions going in. >> thank you. >> i want to make a request, when you're recognize, if you wouldn't mind waiting for the microphone and identifying yourself before asking your question. let's start here. >> the familiarity with the role chaplains play in the united states army and military, how would you compare them with spiritual support that is given to those in the pakistan army and military? are there any restrictions or controls on how spiritual and religious matters are dealt with in pakistan's army and military? >> yes, i am familiar with the excellent work with chapla

some features important to me are providing stability and order in the transition of power, along for the continuity of government and respecting in its functioning constitutional principles. the people must understand this system and have confidence in its elements and application. the report issued today is impressive in scope and detail. in a relatively brief document it provides an important overview of the history and provisioned on presidential succession. it identifies major problems and proposes reasonable, if not some respects, creative measures to address these problems. i make these comments and offer these observations concerning the recommendations contained in this report. the removal of the legislative leaders from the line of succession as a policy matter is long overdue, in my humble opinion. the principal reason, as i see it, is not because they can't do the job, but to assure continuity of policy and administration at a time of crisis. a quick shift in party control of the government as of the report notes is not likely to promote stability and order. there exists a

in and bailing out in individual institution and having had emergency provisions for liquidity and stability and that the market as a whole. we also have to remember the federal regulation is not a panacea. witness fannie in freddie, hua myth, bank of america and the list goes on. finally with respect to aig, we had their chief regulator here on march 18, 2009, and the regulators said, the no what? we have the resources, we have the expertise, we have the authority. we just simply missed it. sometimes regulators get it wrong. the ultimate goal here should be not to designate certain firms as systemically risky, so that we have more ticking time bombs like fannie and freddie throughout the economy that ultimately blow up on the american taxpayer. we don't necessarily need more regulation. we need smarter regulation, which will help the consumer and with that mr. chairman i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you very much. now we will have the panel made up of eight members. that is why we contracted some of our presentations by members, and appearing before the subcommittee today on

credit is stabilizing. that changes the story from being one where i'm nervous and worried to one where i'm saying, how much up side? >> other quick thing, jim chanos we talked about health care, banks, and he talked about for-profit education, an area investors have loved. where do you fall on that one? >> i liked his thesis. i went out on my show and said he was saying right. i was cursing myself he didn't take the shot at ratings agencies. now that calpers is going after them. this was a huge lawsuit, and i was at -- where jim predicted it could be the beginning of the end. i respect his work and like him as a guy. >> all right. and he's testifying right now. >> a matt good buy. i do come on and say, listen, the short sellers do this. >> you have raid against him before. >> what i didn't like was the bear rates that drove goldman sachs down to 47. >> there was a moment when it sells unpatriotic. >> thank you, erin, thank you for putting it that way. that's the shorthand of what i'm looking for. >> one mo

, the rate of decline in orders is stabilizing. but the knock on the diversified manufacturer, orders still below expectations and cut guidance and ended the session lower. dupont and coke came out bottom heavy and missed on the top line. merck ended the recession to the upside. this telestrator is not working with me. at least the stocks were working with investors, merck ended up on top and bottom line and investors were favorable. the regional banks very much in focus, they stumbled today. weak reports from regions financial and zions. that is a question for some smaller players that play into the community sorry. other big story, cit got their 3 billion from bondholders but the small business lender says they now need $7 billion and bankruptcy is not off the table. the company started off the session halted, the stock was halted, as soon as it was open, it fell 24%, down in the after market trade, starbucks very important in the after market trade. we'll get to that. it's one of those earnings stories managed to beat, you see t

i think that surprises are going to stabilize and inflation is going to -- deflation is going to stabilize. we will see a negative number of deflation on year on year price changes for quite some time. but following a little bit what happens in other countries in asia where we should see jump or just like an increase in deflation in the next six to 12 months, i think the numbers in japan will stabilize inflation. keep in mind that japanese companies and japanese consumers are used to deflation situation and so i think that deflation and moderate deflation around minus 0.5% is what you have to expect, which would be compatible with the rest of asia recording inflation rates about 3% to 4% a year. >> why do you think it will stabilize? is it because the stock market in japan had good corporate earnings? is that why you think things will stabilize? >> i actually think prices aren't going to stabilize by demand anywhere in the world.d. there are still a lot of investors everywhere in the world. before we see demand side price pressures, i think we are still going to have to wait for them for o

now the next leg what is the economic stabilizing force? it is the strength of those corporate balance sheets. selling those three names didn't work. we march on. >> i got to correct him a little bit, however. i think it actually came down you loved all those names going into the earnings. you had everything you wanted going into the earnings. take some profits. don't go short any of these names. i don't think anyone ever said that. they said take profits. yes, goldman sachs did go up another % or 3%. yes, intel did improve, and, yes, you started to see more and more of that take place. but the run going into the earnings was so extreme you have to take what the market gives you. the market gave you great runs all week. you got to take some profits. wait for the next opportunity. this market, we could be at 900 in the next four days or we could be at 960. the market's giving you a trading opportunity. >> here's the problem. i got to respond. here's the problem with taking profits in this environment. it is the new normal and there is a trem

the cost stability the recent stabilization household spending will prove transient is an important downside risk to the outlook. in conjunction with the fomc meeting board members and presidents prepare economic projections covering the year 2009 through 2011. fomc participants generally expect that after the declining in the first half of this year output will increase slightly over the remainder of 2009. the recovery is expected to be gradual in 2010 with acceleration in activity in 2011. although the employee rate is projected to pique the end of this year the projected decline in 2010 and 2011 would still leave on employment well above fomc purpose of the views of the longer run sustainable rate. all participants expect inflation will be lower this year in recent years and most expect to remain subdued over the next two years. in light of the substantial economic lack monetary policy remains focused on fostering economic recovery. accordingly as i mentioned earlier the fomc believes a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will be appropriate for an extended period. however we b

we need reform to stabilize the system. i think it's important to keep in mind this is not just about an alarming set of numbers, statistics and cost projections. behind these numbers are real people who need quality and affordable health care, including people who struggle every day to get health care to keep the health insurance they already have. let me take just a few minutes to talk about some people from my home state of delaware and why we need health reform for them as well as for millions of americans like them in all parts of the country. we need health reform because of people like angela austin. she is a mother who works as a bartender. most of her earnings come from tips. she doesn't get health insurance through her employer. when she became pregnant, she tried to find private health insurance, but she was repeatedly denied coverage because her pregnancy was considered a preexisting condition. she applied for medicaid to find prenatal care for her and her baby but was denied coverage because she earned $200 mor

stabilize the dollar. call it king dollar and accept the fact that markets always work better than government planners do. what is so hard about this? lord! >>> first up this evening, before we dive into all this, cnbc's rebecca jarvis joins us. she's got the rundown on the market, and, you know, rebecca, alcoa looked pretty constructive. this is the first earnings report of the new earnings season in what i think we can call the post-credit crunch financial crisis world. so, what can you tell us? >> yeah, it's a good point, larry. and we can tell you that alcoa came out ahead of expectations. stocks ended today's session flat. commodities fell. oil down a strictd straight session, and investors, they certainly favored treasuries flocking to ten-year options with a bid-to-cover ratio of nearly 3.3. getting back to the comment larry made about alcoa, after the bell, kicking off earnings season, a beat there. announcing a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss. but still there are concerns over demand. and oa

and other states should follow this for their and america's stability. we don't have to feel that we must beg an allowance from washington except to beg the allowance to be self-determined. see, to be self-sufficient alaska must be allowed to develop to drill and build and climb to fulfill statehood's promise. at statehood we knew this. [applause] this allows this very generous hand-up that we're known for providing those who need it. alaskans will remember that years ago -- remember we supported the whole bumper sticker that said alaska we don't give a darn how they do it outside. do you remember that? i remember that and remember it was because we would be different. we'd roll up our sleeves and we would diligently sow and reap and we can still do this to carve wealth out of the wilderness and make our living on the water with strong hands and innovative minds now with smarter technology. it is what our first people and our parents did. it worked because they worked. we must be prudent and to develop god-given resources for the maximum benefit of the p

housing market may be showing signs of stabilization. the s&p-case shiller index of home prices rose half a percentage point in may from april. that's its first monthly increase since the summer of 2007. still, home prices were down 17% from a year ago. while a stabilization in home prices could help stem the foreclosure crisis, the white house says not enough borrowers are being helped by its $50 billion foreclosure prevention program. today, it called executives from 25 mortgage servicing firms to washington to find out why. as stephanie dhue reports, those servicers have now agreed to get busy modifying half a million loans in the next four months. >> reporter: the administration's foreclosure prevention plan is off to a slow start. in the last three months, 200,000 mortgages have been modified, while there have been twice as many foreclosures. scott talbott of the financial services roundtable says kinks are still being worked out. >> what we'd like to see is having a common set of documents. there's different forms you have to fill

we are open to do anything that will help turn the economy around, create jobs, stabilize and lead to job growth. obviously the administration continues to look at everything. >> republicans are agreed that the -- grieved that the documents pushing hurt forward our assets the time that they were not able to fully review them. what is the white house response to that sentiment? >> the best review of how judge sotomayor works are the 17 years of legal opinions that she has written, and that she herself has worked on. not boxes of documents that she did not write, review. understand what we have seen -- first of all, this was the same organization whose board she was a participant in in 1993 and in 1998 when the senate approves her to be a judge on each of those occasions. it is curious to me why a people -- why a group of people would have expressed great concern over the course of the past five weeks that they have had insufficient time to read 17 years of opinions that she wrote. now they find it's -- now they find there is insufficient time to review material that she did not write.

is it stability or what is it? >> we believe it's stability and stable cost and coverage that can't be taken away and quality so you can choose your own doctor. you hit the nail on the head. this debate for 35 years has been about covering the uninsured. most middle class people are insured. they think it's about somebody else and as long as they think it's about somebody else, they may support it, but that support is passive. for the president to pass this, they need the middle class to want this. >> i read jim's report and it talks about stability and that means the opposite of change. if they dot want change, are thappy with things the way they are? >> as jim pointed out, about four out of five people already have health care and the vast majority like the help they received. >> that's a problem when you are advocating chan. people talk about expng coverage and t other thing that has beennteresng is we have to hold down st. it's a very, very large bl out of congress. someere in the neighborhood of $1 trillion an

and the security success that led to the stability in iraq. we have also referred to the sacrifices by our sons and daughters on both sides to confront al-qaeda members. those who were outlawed and those who voiced -- if they succeeded in their efforts, it would have affected the entire region. our sons and daughters succeeded on both sides, which lead to stability and the return to the iraqi government under full sovereignty. among the things that we can refer to in a positive way is the positive commitment in following up with the commitments signed by both sides, either those related to the status of forces, or those related to the strategic framework agreement that will govern the relationship in the future. i have discussed with president obama about the ways to activate the strategic relationship on many fronts and in every possible area where the united states can play a role in supporting the iraqi government and the efforts of the iraqi government to build a state of law, a state based on constitution and federalism that works for peo

captiong sponsored by wpbt >>aul: signs of stabilization in the housing market ght a fire under stos. home sales head higher f a third straight month, helpinto pushhe blue chips above 9,000 to a new high for the year >> suzanne: but a late day earnings disapintment from microsoft could rail the rally torrow. the software gia misses the mark as les drop sharply. >> paul: fd motor is driving ahead with its turnarod plan, cuing debt and boosting market share. but c.e.o. alan mully tells us his american rivals n't have a leg up just because th're gettina helping hand from uncle sam. >> i le to go shopping. >> suzanne: meet olivi she's one of mlions of kids hiing stores in search of new duds and school suppes. that has retailersiscounting like never before to cash on the back tschool bonanza. >> pl: i'm paul kangas. >> sanne: and i'm suzanne pratt. sie gharib is off tonight. this is "nightly business report" for thursday, ju 23. "nightly business repo" is made poible by: thisrogram was made possible by contributions tyour pbs station from viewers le you. thank you. >> suzanne: go evening,

we want stability. they wanted to protect their investment. we want it because of the people and the future of their region and the security and prosperity of that region. >> thank you very much, sir. >> thank you very much, senator lugar. senator feingold. >> first let me thank you for calling this hearing today and i want to know the trips that you took and senators corker and isaacson have recently taken to the region. it's been very helpful to the overall effort for keeping this critical country on the agenda. and i felt for a long time and i've been saying for a long time, as you know, as we need a coordinated approach to all of sudan and horg up the cpa must be a central component of the policy and the administration has made this a policy. at the same time, special envoy gration, i do have some concerns and questions about the administration's strategy. thus far, on your public statements you've pushed a relatively new approach to the government of sudan emphasizing engagement and incentives. i would like to know if this approach is lin

as we continue our "reviving the economy" coverage, stephanie dhue reports, stabilization may have finally come to the housing market. >> reporter: lower home prices, low interest rates, and the first-time homebuyer tax credit were the spark for buyers. and they weren't just buying distressed properties. only a third were foreclosures or short sales, where nearly half were at the beginning of the year. national association of realtors economist lawrence yun says that's a positive sign. >> i think this is part of the consumer is regaining confidence about the housing market, many perceiving that the bottom has been reached or that it will soon be reached and therefore buyers are coming back to the market. >> reporter: while there are still a lot of for sale signs out there, the glut of homes is drying up. >> i'd like to see it down to seven months supply and at that level we will see broad, national price stabilization. >> reporter: while the pace of home sales has picked up, prices remain under pressure. the national median price was almost $182,000 last month, 15% lower than a year ago. e

because to say that he would look their governments to stabilize and get rid of corruption is something that has been said before the he may have more force in saying it, they may listen more closely, nonethele nonetheless, what does he genuinely want to see from them and what are they going to ask from him or from the american country as quid pro quo? >> certainly. you know his message is not that different than what we have heard from president bush when he was here, not that different from president clinton as you have seen foreign leaders talking about the need for african countries to be more responsible to end corruption to end the violence. obviously president obama being received a bit better, warmly, more so than the others because he does have a sense of credibility. he went before parliament earlier today, he said, these are his words, africa doesn't need strong men it needs strong institutions. he is talking about the rule of law, the role of democracy. one of the things he did that was so critical on this trip. he didn't just speak before parliament. he dent just meet with

result of our lawsuit, with the 10s of millions of collars we're losing we'll help to come back and stabilize neighborhoods and families that have been in foreclosure. this is a great move and some good evidence - >> we'll continue to follow this story. the next court date is scheduled for july 20th. >>> gas prices may be lower these days but still high enough many of us are looking to get the best mileage possible. it's no secret that proper tire inflation certainly plays a huge role. it's also important because it keeps you safe.

if the market is turning to some sense of stabilization but i don't think this is the indicator of that. goldman is an exception and they have the ability to adapt to changes of the marketplace they are able to take revenge of their position in the marketplace. i don't know if i would equate the read turn to the liquidity of the marketplace with their strong earnings. us to look at the mix of earnings here because a significant investment banking was actually down as with management services it was trading in all about trading in volatility here and to the point you just mention some of the belau one in some of that assistance that goldman has gotten on a top line and bottom-line money was paid back tim billion dollars plus interest. is this significant does that give goldman the sense of independence he referred to earlier? is significant in a number of ways because paying back the part of money the 10 billion part money it owes them to remove the restrictions on executive compensation and on the evidence. that looks good for investors but is he to be good for the people were getting p

we want security, we want stability. they want to protect their investment. we won it because of the people in the future of that region and the security and prosperity of their region. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much senator lugar. senator feinberg. >> thank you for calling this hearing today. senators corker and isakson have recently taken to the region. has been very helpful at the overall effort in keeping this critical country on the agenda. i have felt for a long time and have been saying for a long time we need a coordinated approach with all of sudan in shoring up the cpa must be a central component of our policy and very pleased the administration has made this a priority. at the same special envoy gration as you know from our meeting in my letter i do have concerns and questions about the administrations strategy. any public statements you pushed a relatively new approach toward the government of sudan emphasizing engagement and incentives. i would like to know if this approach is linked to a more detailed strategy that is cool been a