alison kosik, thank you. >>> speaking of investments, many of you are asking us questions. we have the help desk to answer them. here is poppy harlow. >> today on the help desk, we're focusing on investing in mutual funds. it affects a lot of folks. joining me to talk about it, donna rosatto and ryan mack. listen to this. >> what kind of mutual fund should i invest in? >> it is a broad question, but she's got a good point. there are so many out there. >> there are a lot of different mutual funds. the first thing is make sure you have a no load mutual funds, no commission mutual fund. >> fees. >> for every commission driven mutual fund, i can find you five that give you just as good of a return. make sure the performance measurement standards, that portfolio manager has been there for five years, has a good steady rate of return that -- >> they usually have a morning star rating on them or something. >> four or five stars. and last is the expense ratio. 1.5% or less. >> i can't emphasize that enough. expense is more important than anything else. studies by vanguard are that

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. so break these numbers down for us, alison. >> one analyst said this is a shocker to him. it's a big miss and a big disappointment. as you said, only 96,000 jobs were added in august. that is way below what was expected. and when you think about it, what was expected was at least 120,000 would have been added. and that was even lower. so it really winds up being a bigger miss. the unemployment rate fell to 8.1%. the headline, when you see that, you think, wow, that's great. but then you look deeper into the number and you see why. it's because the labor force shrank. it's because more people dropped out looking for work. they got frustrated and just gave up altogether. that's really not what you want to see. that's not the way you want to see the unemployment rate go down. more bad news, the june job additions, those numbers were both revised lower. 41,000 fewer jobs it turns out were added over the summer than previously thought. so let's try to look at the glass half full here. wher

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. this project has been in the work for six years now? >> there has been. there's even been a two-year delay for more safety testing because of the bp disaster that happened in the gulf of mexico. i want to give you an idea just what this project looks like. this is the animation from shell oil of the site we're talking about. what's happened here is the obama administration, it gave the go ahead to start what it calls limited preparatory activities. that includes installing a blowout preventer. we all learned that term two years ago when pb's blowout preventer failed in the gulf of mexico and launched the biggest oil disaster. that prompted a moratorium on all offshore drilling on new projects. the u.s. geological survey estimates we may be able to get more than 90 billion barrels of oil, carol, from this part of the world. that's about a 13-year supply based on how much crude americans use every day. carol? >> shell says it could handle a big oil spill. environmentalists are not so su

alison kosik, appreciate it. and thou joining us is one of the most influential people this the obama administration, and she is here at the grill to talk to us up next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible. exclusive to the military, and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. with our award winning apps that allow you to transfer funds, pay bills or manage your finances anywhere, anytime. so that wherever your duty takes you, usaa bank goes with you. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. >>> besides michelle obama, the chair is the most influential woman that the white house is listen listening to and "the new york times" article calls her the other power. good to see you valerie. >> well, it is so good to see you on the third and the final day of of the convention. >> at love oent

alison kosik takes a look at the jobs now hiring... that don't require a college degree. 3 with college costs on the rise, more young peeple aae begiining to question wwether the cost of a four-year degree georgetown university coulddbe part of that conversation. -ac there are at least 29 million jobs for people without four year degrees. and at leaatta million are nfilledd these jobs -- which range from areas like nursing to the trades -- pay middle class wages. the average is 42-thousand dollars a year.. and almmst 40 percent of themmpay salaries above fifty thousand dollars. but there is one catch -- most of to get some sort of uire you - apprenticeship, training or post-secondary certificate. those certifications can ften be earned at community colleges or ttade schools. the most popular certificates for high school graduates include nursing assistant, commercial truck driver, and insurancce agent. popular certificates degrees include a licensed practical nurse, a paralegal or a coding specialist. one of the study's authors says th

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. alison, a lot of banks involved there. how did this happen? >> well, first of all, i want to point out no customer information was hacked into. there was no money taken. what instead happened here was more of these denial of service attacks. what these essentially do, they make it really difficult to get on to these banks' websites. there is no actual hacking going on. so no data was stolen and the banks' actual transaction networks were not affected. but these attacks can be annoying if you want to get on your bank's website and check your balance or pay your bills. it slows them down and many customers couldn't access them at all. >> do we know who is behind these attacks? >> we don't. and investigators are trying to track down who is responsible. one islamist group claimed responsibility but too soon to say whether they really did this. these attacks suggest there is a lot of preplanning involved, months in fact, which is very different from what we have seen in the past. bank of america, jpmorgan chase, wells fargo, u.

. >> alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. he got a little specific. what does it mean? >> if you are an average american you will be paying more out of pocket costs. nothing would change currently efor seniors or anyone who is 55 years of age or older. it winds up being a big change for those who are 54 years old or younger. they would get a fixed amount from the government to buy insurance. how much depends on mean. lower income seniors would get more. people would use those payments to buy private insurance plan. the big criticism with this is that this plan doesn't protect seniors from rising health care costs. the benefit amount will be adjusted for inflation. look how much health care costs have been rising. they have been rising much faster. even though gains for lowered inflation has been rising. romney says giving seniors a choice would create more competition and keep costs down. the congressionalal budget office found that government spending would be $2,200 less than under current law. you sort of step back and say if the government is spending less but healt

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to explain it for us. and, so what was the company doing that got them in trouble? >> well, deb, investigators found that discover's telemarketers made people think that they were getting certain products for free, when they weren't. these are -- for these add-ones, you can buy when you open a credit card like identity theft protection, credit card score tracking. the consumer financial protection bureau and fdic did this investigation and what they did was listened to a bunch of recorded sales calls and what they said was they discovered that the reps there spoke unusually fast when they were explaining the cost and the product terms to these customers. they also say that the telemarketing scripts implied consumers wouldn't be charged when there was a fee attached. the reps even processed these add-ones and charged customers money when they didn't agree to them in the first place. what discover says it will do, they say they will stop the deceptive sales tactics, they'll pay regulators on top of the custo

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to tell us what people are saying. good morning. >> good morning, carol. so do you want to give your two cents? who doesn't, right? today cnn money is asking all americans how do you feel your financial situation is compared to four years ago? so if you want to take part in this, go to cnnmoney.com and take the poll yourself. what this does, it asks the same questions that we presented to people in los angeles and atlanta and in dallas. we asked them, are you making more money compared to four years ago? do you have more in savings than you did four years ago? and has your housing situation improved in the last four years? so when we sent these out, producers across the country to ask the questions, listen to how people answered the first question when making more money. >> are you making more money now than you were four years ago? >> yes. >> i make about 1/3 of what i made four years ago. >> no. >> no. i'm making less money. and the sad part is, i actually have a masters degree. >> even like a caorporate job doesn't

i asked cnn business correspondent alison kosik if this is a sign that the bottom of the market is now holding. >> victor, it's funny, you're asking that $64,000 question and it's what many buyers and sellers are wondering at this point. the good news is that more and more analysts are coming out and saying the bottom has actually passed and as this point we're actually on the way up and numbers came out this week that support that. home prices across 20 major u.s. cities rose 1.6% in july and then a separate report from the commerce department and what it showed was that the median price of a newly constructed home is at $257,000. that's a jump up 11% from july to august. now, a few reasons for these higher prices. less of a supply of homes on the market and that means more people are going after fewer properties. plus, mortgage rates are at record lows. that's a real good incentive to get people out there to buy. also, an increasing number of buyers. they just haven't been able to find previously owned homes that they like, they are opting to go brand-new and those are traditionally

. >> alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. is romney's definition different from obama's and if so how? >> the thing with this is there is no textbook definition of the middle class. you know what it is, it is more of a feeling and that's why there is so much debate over this question. come on, it is tough to make the case that $200,000 or $250,000 is a middle class income, especially when you point out the median household income is about $50,000. look how this breaks down. just 4% of the households here in the u.s. make more than 200,000. that means 96% of us make less than $200,000. it is kind of hard to argue you're middle income if you're in the top 4% of earners. critics are am coming out of the wood work and using this to paint mitt romney as a rich guy out of touch with the average american family. look, romney isn't that far off from what president obama has been saying himself. president obama says he wants to keep tax cuts for the middle class and he has been using this same cut off,individualing makes $200,000 and

here's alison kosik. hi, alison. >> hi there. today we're hemg you prepare for retirement and with me this hour, liz miller and greg mcbride. greg, this question is for you. >> i'm five to ten years from retirement. i have maybe 10% to 20% of my net worth slabl in cash. i'd like to invest and put it to better use but given the political and economic uncertainties, what would you suggest i do with the cash resources? s >> and this mostf us ive to ten years2m to rewithdrawing from invest ms or high quality bonds. yes, the low but needs the money so soon. earmark for withdrawal beyond that ten-year aggressively. >> do you agreehink for thehelongererm retirement, absolutely. there's very high quality stocks with ext five to ten years to be ready for retirement and liquidity. i would keep that on the radar, as well. >> okay. all right. if you have an issue for the experts to tackle upload a video with the question to ireport.com. >>> all right. football fans rejoice. the pros, the real nfl referees, back on the job. at least for now.

alison kosik thanks so much. we're going to take a short break. i was spotting, but i had already gone through menopause. these symptoms may be nothing... but they could be early warning signs of a gynecologic cancer, such as cervical, ovarian, or uterine cancer. feeling bloated for no reason. that's what i remember. seeing my doctor probably saved my life. warning signs are not the same for everyone. if you think something's wrong... see your doctor. ask about gynecologic cancer. and get the inside knowledge. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically prov

alison kosik live at the new york stock exchange. allison, why? what's behind the drop? >> well, you know what, it shows you the power of the media. over the weekend there was an article in the publication "barons" that said facebook stock price is over priced and should be closer to $15 a share. right now facebook shares are at $20.96. so what happened, well, trades on the nasdaq, it started tumbling. it tumbled at least 10% today. it tripped circuit breakers at the nasdaq and those circuit breakers are tripped to keep the stock from falling any more. the stock's come back a bit, it is now down about 8.3%. some traders are surprised by the tumble because the article didn't say anything new that they already didn't know that facebook, you know, has already faced a lot of criticism about not having a clear growth strategy. most of us access facebook on our tablets and on mobile devices and should facebook going to monetize this, how is facebook going to make money off its mobile users with advertising. that's nothing new. for some reason, this article over the weekend cer

alison kosik is live at the new york stock exchange and so, spill it! >> okay. so you know with the jobs market may look like stuck in the mud, but the housing sector is certainly showing the signs of life with this report that came out a few minutes ago. existing home sales jumped 7.8% in august and this number is coming in well above the exctations, because the economists had been expecting a 2% gain. and another good thing about this report when you look at it is that the sales are not happening in the pockets of the united states, but you are seeing a rise of the sales in every region of the united states, and the sales moved at fastest pace in two years. this is a keenum by number, and existing sales, because they account fort 90% of all housing acti activity and wall street watches this number, as well. and it is not just sales, but the prices went up, too. and the median sales price rose to $190,000, and that means that we have now found a bottom and you are now seeing a recovery happ happening in the housing sector. prices are rising and the national ass

alison kosik joins us from the new york stock exchange to tell us more. >> hi, carol. this is a transmission issue that winds up affecting some of the more popular gm vehicles. apparently these cars start to roll even when they're shifted in park. the cars affected are all sedans from the chevy, pontiac and saturn lines. they include 2007 to 2010 model years for the chevrolet malibu, the saturn aura and the pontiac g6s. all have four speed automatic transmission. so far gm knows of four crashes related to the problem but no serious injuries. gm does say what it's going to do is notify owners with letters, if their vehicles are included in this. now, if you get a notice you'll be able to bring your car in to a dealership and have the fix done for free. and if you're one of the people who've already paid for the repair, you can get reimbursed. this recall, carol, comes just a few months after gm's last one, it was a big one, when it had to recall a similar amount of chevy cruzes for an engine issue. >> we'll take you back to pittsburgh where there's a hostage situation g

. >> let's fwauk thtalk about thi alison kosik. the median income in the u.s. is just over $50,000. back to mitt romney, is he technically correct? >> okay, here's the thing with this, brooke. there is no textbook definition of what the middle class is. you know what it is, it is more of a feeling. that's why there is so much wiggle room with this. if you look at households sitting in the middle of income distribution, those in the 40th to 50th percentile, they'at's o way to define the middle class. only 5% of households make $186,000 or more. but however you define the middle class, brooke, it is getting smaller. there is a recent study that found that just one third of americans now consider themselves part of the lower class. of the middle class, rather. four years ago, it was bigger, a quarter of the population. >> it needs to be pointed out, though, this number, $250,000, we heard it before, because president obama is calling for extending the current tax cuts, so-called bush tax cut for income below that $250,000 mark for families. and $200,000 for individuals. by making those

alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange for me. what is going on? >> reporter: okay, we talk about housing, it is not stuck in the mud like the jobs market is. when we talk about the housing sector, there are a couple of things going on here. we see bright spots, the national association of realtors is saying more buyers are taking advantage of lower prices for houses right now. even though prices have been slowly climbing, they're still pretty darn cheap because of the big hit we took during the recession. mortgage rates are still near record lows as well. the current 30-year fixed is sitting at 3.5%. and those mortgage rates are expected to go even lower. that's because of the federal reserve's announcement last week that it would buy up $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities. what all this stuff does, it makes buying a house very attractive. and, you know, national association of realtors says, you know what, there is a lot of pent up demand accumulating since the recession started, a lot of people have been holding out about moving an

alison kosik is here with tips to help you make your application stand out if you happen to be one of them. allison? >> so 12.5 million people unemployed and 3.7 million jobs open across the u.s. you can bet that the competition is fierce. if you are having trouble getting your future employer's attention here are great suggestions. we spoke with career coach and she said solid research really makes the biggest difference. she says most job seekers don't review the company website before the interview and you want to know about issues affecting the industry and the company. when it comes to your resume she said there is no magic bullet. we know recruiters only spend a few seconds skimming each one but says a referal makes the difference. that can come from an acquaintance or a friend of the friend. hr departments will prioritize those resumes. because some of the best candidates come from referals and it is not enough to network. you will need to build your own personal brand and recommends commenting on trade association blogs and writing an article for your trade association newslet

alison kosik, this is good news. >> yeah, the market skyrocketing. the dow up. the numbers you mention show there's a bit of improvement where jobs is concerned. there are fewer layoffs. now we want to see a trend-lower. we're getting a preview to the monthly unemployment picture. adp says private employers added 201,000 jobs in august. that came in much better than expected. brooke. >> we're of course getting the big august jobs numbers tomorrow. so we'll talk about that tomorrow. it's a huge political ramifications there. but let's talk about this magic number perhaps. 316,000, what does that number signify? >> that number is really where we need to get to 316,000 jobs before the election. that means we need to average 105,000 jobs added in each of the next three months. now, this year we're averaging around 150,000. so believe it or not it is doable. but both campaigns are going to spin it the way they want it. if we get a great number tomorrow, if we get a bad number, they're going to spin it in whatever favor they want. but it is possible for us to sort of

alison kosik is live for us. here's the big question. is it over, are we back from the crash of 2008? >> so let's take it easy for a minute. when it comes to the stock market, yeah, i mean, stocks are pretty much back to where they were before the market really began tanking. but still stocks still have a long way to go from the record highs that we saw in late 2007. now, one of the reasons we he are kind of back is some individual stocks. they're on a major roll. did you know almost a fifth of the stocks in the s&p 500, they're close to an all-time high and they include names you'll recognize. of course apple, we talk about that one almost every day. at least i know on twitter. amazon.com's another. disney. craft foods and chevron. now, something a lot of these companies have in martin is that they manage their way through the recession successfully, whether it's disney, which offered theme park discounts for the first time ever when times got tough, or kraft which cut back on costs or apple and amazon rolling out revolution their new p

alison kosik, turning to you as always to sort through the god and the bad. what's the story behind the jobless benefits? >> we learned that first-time claims for unemployment claims, brooke, dipped by 3,000 to 382,000 and sure, you know, any decline in the number of people laid off is a good thing but we want to see the level of filings closer to the 350,000 or under mark to really signaling we have a solid rebound in the labor market. it's frustrating is that there had been that sign back in july but the problem is those claims numbers have slowly been going back up lately and we find out every month that employers not hiring on a large scale but i want to give you a caveat in the reading and that's partly the number that you saw of claims. it was partly inflated with hurricane isaac. several states impacted by the hurricane had to close their businesses and 8,000 claims but the problem is if you discount the number of claims filed because of the businesses closing and the storm the level, yeah, the level is still too high, brooke. >> and then you wake up.

alison kosik is live at the new york stock exchange and talk about what this means, alison, when you look at this number, $16 trillion debt, and what is that meaning to the average person? can you break it down? >> besides your eyes popping out of your head when you see that number, let me tell you what it does not mean. i duds not mean that each of us is on the hook for thousands of dollars of debt, but hitting the $16 trillion mark is yet one more reminder that we are close to hitting the debt ceiling again and right now the debt ceiling is 16.394 trilli$16.394 that means fasten the seat belt for another fight over spending and taxes, and this fight over all of this happening after the election, because the politicians doesn't want to touch the issues. so why is this debt rising fast? because we are spending more money than taking in, and two ways to fix it, raise taxes or cut spending, and neither is an easy solution. higher taxes will hurt many americans who are struggling as it is, and when the government cuts what it spends, that hits the economy as well, because it cuts into t

earlier today i asked our alison kosik why. >> the good news is you can pretty much blame isaac for the short term. you can expect to see gas prices stay higher in the short term and go lower in the longer term. the reason isaac is the brains of this is because isaac hit the gulf coast where the oil production is. 40% of the nation's petroleum is located along the gulf coast. the refineries weren't damaged. the reason isaac is having an impact is because the refineries had to shut down during the storm. that knocked out hundreds of thousands of barrel production during the day. it is not just isaac. also there has been a deadly refinery fire in venezuela. there are fires happening in california. that shut down production, as well. that is sinking supply and driving up oil prices and driving gas prices higher. if less gas is on the market you are seeing gasoline prices go higher. >> we will keep you posted on when the prices might potentially get lower. >>> u.s. special operations forces have stopped training afghan police recruits. they are double checking their background information f

alison kosik, my thanks to you there at the new york stock exchange. again, we are just a little bit away from the closing bell on the dow huge jump 233 points up. i'm brooke baldwin here in atlanta. take you to charlotte, north carolina, "the situation room" begins right now. >>> the president servant of the state true constituency of the future. >> america is a future that each generation must enlarge. >> because this election is not about ideology, it's about confidence. >> i still believe in a place called hope. >> and i stand here tonight as my own man. and i want you to know me for who i truly am. >> i'm john kerry, and i'm reporting for duty. >> america, we cannot turn back. not with so much work to be done. >> announcer: this is cnn. >>> in minutes this the final night of the democratic national convention kicks off right here in charlotte. what happens tonight could change the battle for the white house as we know it. and you're going to see it all unfold live. i'm wolf blitzer on the floor of the convention here in charlotte. and you're in "t

alison kosik is at our help desk. >> here on the help desk, we're talking about paying down debt before retirement. with me this hour, liz miller and greg mcbride. greg, listen to this question. >> when you retire, should you get rid of credit card debt or is it okay to have some? >> we all carry credit card debt. come on. >> get rid of the credit card debt regardless of your age. it is very high cost debt. now, don't fall for the misperception that you have to carry debt in order to maintain a credit score. i think it is important that you get rid of that debt, but continue to use the credit card for a token purchase every month or so, pay the balance in full, just so you can maintain a high credit score. don't carry any credit card debt. >> that's a great idea, right? >> i agree completely. has nothing to do with age. the fact that you're retiring isn't going to change that. spending habits shouldn't change that dramatically and if you used a credit card responsely before, keep doing it. your credit score can come from a lot of different sources. i talk to people about one of the best

alison kosik at the new york stock exchange to talk about it. apple makes a big deal about everything they roll out here. but there was an economist at jpmorgan who said it's a bigger deal it could boost the u.s. economy. is that true? >> no, no, he's crunched the numbers. analysts at jpmorgan says the bump that the iphone sales could do could amount to a quarter or a half percent of economic growth. say, for example, in the second quarter of the year, we saw gdp grow by 1.7%, so sales of iphone 5 would wind up moving gdp over that 2% mark. you know what that's equal to? pumping $3.2 billion right into the u.s. economy. all right. here's how we get to that number, though. look at this, say this is sticker price of an iphone $600. that's a guess. at this point we don't know how much it's going to cost. take off $200 off the top, for the cost of imported components of the phone, because it's not included in the gdp and come up with 3.2 billion number based on 8 million iphones sold in the u.s. suzanne? >> apple typically sells more than 8 million