American Morning
What happens to your clunker?
One estimate shows some 120-thousand cars were traded in under the Cash for Clunkers program.
A lot of you have written in asking if those trade-ins are not supposed to go back out on the road where do they go?
You are about to get your answer.
Stocks kick off the month with a rally
Let's step back and assess your stock market investments...
Anything tied to the major stock market averages are clawing BACK from the Crash of '08. Stocks have now finished the best five months since 1938.
Let's look at the S&P 500 – it represents the stocks of 500 different companies and is the benchmark – it is up 11 percent this year.
Back to levels not seen since last November...you can see on this chart, a collapse all the way to 12 year lows in March...and then a sharp rebound...the S&P 500 as of yesterday's close, is up 48 percent from that March low.
So what does that mean for you? It means if you are still invested in the market, the stock portion of your portfolio is recovering. Why? Because the stock market is anticipating the economy will turn around.
The economy is still very weak but auto sales, housing, manufacturing, construction and earnings show signs of stabilizing. As one economist put it...the freefall of the skydive is over, the chute has been pulled and the economy is STILL falling, but now floating down.
Skeptics see caution ahead: The jobless rate is expected to rise to 10 percent, perhaps higher. Foreclosures continue. American consumers are spending less and paying down their debt – good for their personal finances, but it's behavior that could slow a recovery.
And there are serious concerns about how weak the recovery could be when it comes. Will it be a jobless recovery, with slow jobs growth and weak wage growth?
No doubt this spring/summer rally has been powerful, but you haven't made all your money back. The S&P 500 price is still down 19% versus a year ago. It's got a long way to go.
Analysis: What North Korea wants
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/04/clinton.northkorea.gi.art.jpg caption="This photo taken on August 4, 2009 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows former US president Bill Clinton arriving at Pyongyang airport."]
Former President Bill Clinton is in North Korea today. His visit comes more than eight weeks after two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were sentenced to 12 years in prison for allegedly crossing into the country illegally.
Victor Cha was director of Asian affairs at the White House during the Bush administration. He visited Pyongyang with Governor Bill Richardson back in 2007. Cha spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
Kiran Chetry: Drawing on your experience and extensive knowledge of North Korea, what might be going on in these negotiations with Korean leaders and our former President Bill Clinton?
Victor Cha: Well, I think for the North Koreans … receiving a former head of state gives them a lot of face, political face, which is important to the country and to their leadership. I would imagine that the former president is there solely for the purpose of trying to bring back these two Americans. And he's probably engaging in discussions with the Foreign Ministry as well as with some members of the party, perhaps even the dear leader himself to secure the release of these Americans as a humanitarian gesture by the North Korean government.
More funding for Cash for Clunkers?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/04/cash.clunkers.ford.gi.art.jpg caption="With the help of the U.S. government's 'Cash for Clunkers' program, Ford Motor Co. reported an increase of approximately 1.6 percent in U.S. sales for July in comparison to the same month last year."]
The Cash for Clunkers program is getting a lot of credit for a surge in July car sales.
Right now, though, the wildly popular program is running on fumes.
If the Senate doesn't approve another $2 billion in funding this week.
The White House says the program will have to be junked.
We want to know what you think about the Cash for Clunkers program. Do you support more funding of the program? Have you used the program? Will you use it? Tell us your thoughts.
Read more: Which clunkers are being traded?
5 things to watch during recess
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/04/pelosi.getty.art.jpg caption="Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders said they are sending members home with written guidance on health care reform legislation, which they hope to pass after their summer recess."]
House Minority Leader John Boehner has predicted a “very, very hot summer.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bracing for what she calls “the fight of our lives.”
Sleepy, sweltering August, typically a month for congressional beach getaways and temperature-taking back in the district, is shaping up to be the critical month for health care reform, with major battles brewing in the Capitol and on the streets in front of members’ hometown offices.
If ever there was a time for a curtain raiser on an intermission, this is it. So here are five things to watch over the most consequential August recess in recent history:
1. Your move, Karen Ignagni
When your product is hard to sell — and health care reform has proven to be the Edsel in the White House showroom — it’s not a bad idea to single out a bad guy, and fast.
Pelosi did so last week with unusual bluntness, declaring outright war on the health insurance industry as her caucus splintered over the controversial public option. The speaker called insurers “villains” and charged them with “immoral” billing and coverage practices.
The question now: Will the insurance industry, which has tried to keep a low profile while maintaining the proverbial seat at the table, commence a big, mean anti-reform counterattack — à la 1994’s “Harry and Louise” ads?
What’s on Tap – Tuesday August 4, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Breaking news… Former President, Bill Clinton is on the ground in North Korea. A source tells us he's there to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two U.S. journalists detained back in March and sentenced to 12 years hard labor. The worldwide resources of CNN are on alert to bring you every development out of the secret state. And we’ll also ask the question, is this a slap in the face to his wife, the president’s current top diplomat?
- Read his lips! No tax hike for middle class Americans. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs trying to set the record straight, after President Obama's top economic advisers suggested a tax increase couldn't be ruled out as a way of cutting the budget deficit.
- You have the clunker, but will the government have the cash?? The White House says the Senate must act quickly and approve another $2 billion to save the popular Cash for Clunkers program. We’re also showing you what happens to that old gas guzzler after you trade it in.
- Fur is flying. There's a new airline flying the friendly skies… one that caters to a very specific clientele. The name says it all: "Pet Airways.” It offers coast-to-coast travel for cats and dogs only! Our Carol Costello meets some of its “PAW-sengers.”
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