>> i have to go with dan on this one. the reason i'm going to go with dan despite stacey ruling in my favor for a couple of trades in a row basically comes down to two things. one, you do need to draw a line in the sand about what you think is going to be the worst case in every trade you take a look at. and i think where he's drawing a line in the sand at the $40 level on the downside is good. the other thing is, he's risking 20 cents. if there is a takeover, that's all i'm going to be risking and i like that. >> is victory sweet, dan? >> finally. >> okay, first time. first time. >> okay, got a question, send us an e-mail, optionsaction@cnbc.com. coming up next, "hot hand with apple. but can it continue through earnings? stick around and find out. time for "pump up the volume," the names heating up options traders' sizzle index this week. founded in 1760s, the first american tobacco company is the nation's third largest maker of nicotine products but brands including newport, maverick and old gold. shares were ignited af

i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with with so sonia's story. today confirmation hearings begin for the supreme court nominee. and although she is expected to be confirmed, republicans are promising to put up a fight. for the latest we go to brian mooar live from washington. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. sotomayor's confirmation is all but locked up but republicans are promising a tough fight. after weeks of courtesy calls on capitol hill, judge sonia sotomayor is ready to fight for a seat on the supreme court. president obama called to give her a private pep talk from the oval office. and some democrats are predicting a slam dunk confirmation. >> i think there's a very good chance she's going to get as many or more votes than judge roberts, which was 78. she has wowed people. >> the i'm going to be playing for the constitutional team. i don't know what more you can ask of a judge sfwlr some republicans want to know more about her swun comment that a wise latina judge might ma

>> i like dan's ge strangle. could own that before expiration for almost no erosion. >> dan? >> i like buying that bank america july 11th pufor 25 ces. >> mike? >> i wilgo with the vat put buy. >> our thankto the traders. i'm melissa lee. we will see you back hernext week. have a great week, everybo.

. >> not everyrade works out, but could redemption be the pa of dan's hands? options action" begins rig now. >> welcome to thshow. these are the opti actio traders re on the desk and across the nation. in chicago, the ty of brotherly love, philadelphiaa bearish ill taking hold of stocks as summer is heatinup the s&p 500 sting its fourth we of losses and the lowest level since may 1st, does this smt money mean a rocky earnings season ahead? d the market moment of truth, finally here, confirmation of oumassive rally begins on tuesday when goldman sachs releases results. so far, investors nt out of financials. the xlf is down 3% for the wk. curiouslenough, though, options traders,he group that called the sector's rally, expectg too much action next week. take a look at this. current price for goldman sachs andjpmorgan chase smaller move than we he typically seen ithis unprecedenteyear. is armagedoff the table? >> not entirely. one of the things we saw this week, and toward the end othe weekbuying in the form of a put spread, someone paid 67 centfor 157,000 of tho

dan, stay with us. we're going to have dan throughout the hour to talk more about the markets. meanwhile, we're about 35 minutes away from the closing bell for the day. dow industrials right now up about 7 points. nasdaq is negative. we're going to get into banks next. bank of america ceo ken lewis has been under some fire from angry shareholders for a while now. he is facing additional pressure apparently from one of the most powerful unions. charlie gasparino is reporting that. and he'll be out to tell us more about it. first take a look at the bond market today, where interest rates are. you're watching "the closing bell." we're back in two minutes. in my lower back. feels kin. aleve works all day on my back pain. on two ave liquid gels can stop pn all day. that wouldake twice as many advil ibuprofen. aleve allows me to getthrough. an eleven sixteenths wrch over here? here you go. eleven sixteenths... (annouer) from designing some the world's cleanest and most fueefficient jet engines... building more wind turbines than anyone in the country. the people of ge are working tog

dan? >> all right. nbc's brian mooar. thank you, brian, appreciate it. >>> on capitol hill, democrats are fuming over news that for years they were kept in the dark about a top secret cia program, and it was all apparently the work of vice president dick cheney. senator diane fine sten told members of congress that mr. cheney ordered the agency not to share details of this counterterrrorism program. by law, the cia is required to tell congress about its operations, and that's an issue that has been hotly disputed by democrats and republicans recently. feinstein said pa net la ended that 3r5 that and it was never fully operational. >>> nasa had to scrub sunday's liftoff of the space shuttle "endeavour" because of weather concerns. they are due to blast off on a 16-day mission to deliver spare parts to the internationale spac station. nasa will try to launch again later tonight. >>> police in washington are looking for a pet store dog napper. surveillance video caught this woman reaching over the counter, piking up a $500 d

they're both bearish, but dan, how are you playing it? >> well, listen, the stock has just rallied 20% in the last two weeks. it's kind of pinning its hopes on some form of outlook that's going to be better than expectations. i think this move in the last couple of weeks like i just stated kind of incorporates a lot of that enthusiasm. here the stock is at 26.5 or so, what i want to do is buy august 26 24 put spread, i'm paying 75 cents for the august put. and my max gain is $1.45 and max loss is 55 cents, this can be used as cheap protection against a long position or it could be an outright bearish bet. and one of the things i'm playing for is retracement of that 20% move, maybe about 10%, i don't think the stock's going a whole heck of a lot lower. and i think this actually sets up a pretty decent risk reward. >> ding, ding, ding. mike, you're up. >> well, first of all, on a -- just taking a look at consumer spending, i think you're going to make a bet here, a bearish one, certainly something to look at. and as he referenced, long the

dan, i start with you. that is the idea of the reporter anchor, the anchor who is not only from the world of reporting, but brings reporting as their first and primary compass in terms of what drives their decision-making, what makes the news and how they do it. what's changed about that? what's different about the air of walter cronkite and how cronkite defined that? what distance have we travelled? >> i'm interested to hear what tom has to say about this. we travelled a long way from that. i'm happy to say with the anchors of the present news broadcast, some of what walter cronkite pioneered, some of what made him the most trusted man in america, part of what made him a giant of eternalistic craft by any measure, he didn't just play a reporter on tv. he had been a reporter, wire service, newspaper reporter, combat correspondent before he came to television. he never ceased being the reporter. walter loved reporter. he loved the news. he had a passion for it. i think the public recognized it. walter cronki

i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with the president and the pope. this morning president obama wraps up meetings with world powers on climate change and the economy at the g-8 summit in italy. next up on his overseas tour, a stop at the vatican. he will be having a frank but constructive talk with the poement for more we go to savannah guthrie in rome. savannah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. on the president's final day in italy, he's meeting with african leaders and is expected along with world leaders, to announce up to $15 billion for a food security initiative. the idea, to help the world's farmers produce more food as opposed to traditional aid. the president then comes to rome with a meeting with the pope. he'll have a state meeting with the pope, just the two of them. first lady michelle obama and the two daughters will come and have a private audience. then the president travels to africa where he will give a major speech on democracy in ghana. dan, back to you. >>> the il

dan morgan? looks like dan morgan cannot hear me. hey, dan, are you with us? all right. well, we'll get back to dan morgan in a moment, obviously for some reason he's not hearing my question. 34 cents a share for the third quarter for microsoft. initially trades down. going to be looking specifically about what its guidance is for the rest year particularly as it relates to business managers because that is obviously going to tell us a lot in terms of businesses' bullishness and what they're expecting going forward if they are in fact putting more money to the i.t. budget. and microsoft's going to see that right off the bat. the revenue fought fourth quarter at microsoft is $13.1 billion. and again, that looks a little light here because the estimate calls for revenue of $13.37 billion. revenue coming in at 13.1 billion for the quarter and 34 cents a share for the quarter. this is the company's fourth quarter at microsoft. seasonally i do think that the fourth quarter is a little lighter, but i want to get dan's buy-in on that in a moment. i know that dan morgan owns mic

i'm dan kloeffler. >>> and today we begin with an american in captivity. for the first time, the pentagon has confirmed the identity of 23-year-old bowe bergdahl, an american soldier being held by taliban soldiers in afghanistan. allison ooten reports. >> a very unnerving to be prisoner. >> reporter: unnerving for bowe berdahl and his family who live in the ketchum area. their 23-year-old son is indeed their young son being held in this video. the u.s. military said he was kidnapped while outside his base in southern afghanistan, a region that shares a border with pakistan. on the video his voice cracks as he talks about the family and loved ones he's now a flad he may never see again. >> my girlfriend, who is hoping to marry. i have my grandmas and grandpas. i have a very good family that i love back home in america. and i miss them every day that i'm gone. i miss them. and i'm afraid that i might never see them again and that i'll never be able to tell them that i love them again and i'll never be abl

i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with taking no chances. her confirmation to the supreme court is all but assured and yet judge sonia sotomayor largely side stepped a barrage of questioning yesterday on some of the nation's most controversial topics. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> judge, it's good to see you back. >> reporter: as her senate hearing turned to the explosive issue of abortion, sonia sotomayor would not reveal her views, but told senators it is clear what the law is now. >> that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy in certain circumstances. >> reporter: did president obama make sure sotomayor's pro abortion rights before he nominated her to the supreme court? the white house says no. >> that is absolutely correct. i was asked no question by anyone, including the president, about my views on my specific legal issue. >> reporter: oklahoma republican tomko burn, a doctor who opposes abortion rights, pressed sotomayor. if doctors develop ways for babies to surv

dan's fans callili for aalming violatation. just becausese youre spending leless to make more, doesn'tt m you wi a always come out ahead. das palm spread.. >> i wawant to buyhe july11 eight-t-put spad in palm. >> they are makin aa arish bet the stock will go lower and buying put a against t by selling that s strike pu you redudu the cost ofof the trade, d limitinggbetween theput that y bought and t one that you sold. in t case of das tradad he thouought pa was overhyped. >> i wldn't short t this stococ with y yr money. bought theuly 111th put spread, selecting 30 cents to to sesell the july 8 strike put. 80 centnt toto make a possibly 2.20, minus t the cost the trade. inin order tmake t 2.20, he needed the stock to fall to $8.. >> all the hope ofsurvival onn one product.t. >> if president obamama taut u anythingngis tha hope is a powerful s source. >> yes,we can! since d d me his move, palm stock llied from 28%,aking his trade, hopelessssthat is because as the stock risis, i solv. now, witith it out o of his han he must use h h

good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, dan. that has been the case in the other days we've seen, it will be down to these heavy hitters, whether or not the market rally keeps going. ge, bank of america, all in the limelight today. jpmorgan's results better than expected, net profit jumping by 38%, far better than expected. credit loss is still a worry for the group. ibm's second quarter numbers were better than anticipated. what took markets by surprise was the forecast which was revised higher, 3% in afterhours trade. google made more money but even though revenue growth rose massively, analysts say expectations had been so high that shares fell by 3%. after hours they didn't give us an outlook but they never do. and one of the few economists who predicted the financial crisis was quoted yesterday saying the worst of the turmoil passed, the markets got excited, they rose. he clarified, saying he hasn't changed his views. the number of american workers filing for jobless claims fell sharply last week. the jobs benefits are the

i'm dan kloeffler. today we begin with taming the russian bear. president obama is on his way to moscow on a high stakes trip to thaw the frozen relations with russia and the united states. both sides have signaled they are ready to repair their somewhat stressed relationship. deep divisions could complicate the two days of talks. for more, we go to nbc's savannah guthrie who is live in moscow this morning. savannah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, dan. as you say, this is an effort for the u.s. to reset relations with the russian government. but of course with significant areas of disagreement, the obama and the first lady will be there too, will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. then it's on to a four-hour meeting with the russian president. they hope to announce framework for a new agreement to reduce nuclear arms. and another deal where russia will let the u.s. use some of its land and air supply as supply routes to afghanistan. that would be a significant achievement. but th

dan, i mean, dan, it's great to have you on. i couldn't think of a better person. what do you think of him knocking the airheads that sometimes masquerade as news people? >> that was classic walter cronkite. i want to emphasize his point was that so many people trying to play a reporter on tv. the very essence of walter cronkite was he didn't just play a reporter on television, he was a reporter, had been a reporter for a very long time, and i think his point was that so many people now are just -- are presenters and should be called presenters. i don't like the chances of that happening. >> not good. anyway, let's look at walter cronkite on the issues of politics. here he was in a 1996 interview, which would be 13 years ago for all of us. here it is. >> my older brother is a bit more conservative than me, a bit. he once said the big controversy about you in the old days from the conservatives who didn't like you, he said, you know, i'm a conservative. and cronkite's a liberal. but he does the best broadcast on television, the best, i'm going to watch him every nig

i'm dan kloeffler. today we begin with the michael jackson mystery. law enforcement sources tell nbc news that michael jackson's doctor administered a powerful drug the night the late pop star died. those sources confirm dr. murray did give jackson the prescription sedative. according to the associated press, jackson regularly relied on the drug to sleep with doctors, then stopping the intravenous drip in his room whenever it was time for jackson to wake up. still, we do not know exactly what killed jackson. toxicology results have not been released. they are expected later this week. >>> federal officials say seven men in north carolina was ind t indicted of planning a coup overseas. boyd is accused of encouraging others to engage in jihad, offering military-style travel and offering money to aid overseas travel. some went to israel in 2007 to aid tax. they later returned without going through with the plan. the men are charged with providing material support to terrorism, punishable by life in prison. >>> at least two are dead, many more missing aft

i'm dan kloeffler. and today we begin with a stunning about-face. just months after its provacative nuclear exercises and reckless diplomat talk rattled the world, north korea now hears to be calling for direct dialogue with the united states. according to pyongyang's foreign ministry, they are open to, quote, new dialogue over the weapons program. the communist regime did not make a direct call for talks at the u.s. but has made it clear it will not return to the six-nation talks with china, japan, two koreas and the u.s. a nuclear test and a series of banned missile talks with the u.s. on one-on-one talks. >>> this morning the state of alaska has a new governor. sarah palin stepped down as alaska's leader. she has her sights on the white house once again but this time as a president chal contender. nbc's leanne gregg reports. >> reporter: after a weekend of good-byes from sarah palin came the official moment, the swearing in of a new governor of alaska. the former lieutenant governor will take over th

dan, looks like a gorgeous day in so many spots. hopes everyone gets out and enjoys it. >>> thank you, bill. >>> an idea what to expect on wall street this week. a sourpuss goes after kids selling lemonade. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> a booming weekend for the boy wizard, while "bruno" goes bust. >>> a stirring playoff in the british open as a 59 tries to become world's oldest champion. and lance armstrong and the tour de france. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today," everyone. i'm dan kloeffler. and here are some of your top headlines this morning. six months into his presidency, barack obama's approval rate dropped bow the 60% approval rating for the first time. it is now at 59%. that's a six-point drop from last month. >>> in san francisco, federal investigators there say they don't know why the operator of a train that crashed this weekend switched off autopilot right before the collision. they said had he kept the automatic controls on the crash most

dan rather. and in january of 19 1 when ronald reagan became president, that's when the lights went out in journalism. that's also when dan rather took over the evening news. because now liberals were on the outside looking in and they didn't like it. that's when the biases really began to take hold. bill: did you see it when you moved from strand to new york right away? i saw it. i was in new york. you used to cut ahead of me in the cafeteria line. i don't know whether you remember. i came from local news in new york, channel 2. and then i went in about the time that you moved in. and they sent me to el salvador and to the cover the falkland islands war in argentina. i kept seeing that they were telling me when my script would come back to throw things in that weren't news. they weren't news,. >> you are absolutely right. i will give you two examples. i didn't see it in san francisco. i'm in new york. i'm going to work on west 57th street. talking to homeless people talking to space ships in the

i'm dan kloeffler. today we begin with a final farewell. this morning a private funeral will be held for michael jackson who died of cardiac arrest nearly two weeks ago. meantime, tens of thousands of people are dough seescending on angeles for a star-studded memorial service to honor the star of pop. we're joined from outside the staples center in downtown l.a. it's very early but the crowds, are they already forming? >> reporter: there are a few who are showing up, wandering this way. they are very concerned later today as many as tens of thousands of people could actually show up. right now we're in a lockdown area. that started at midnight local time in the quarter of a mile area around the staples center. that means no one can get in without a ticket. we're already seeing lines. the police officers, their concern is people who are beyond the 18,000 who have tickets will try and show up. to prevent that, they are not showing on a big screen the service that is inside. they told people to stay away.

we have dan rather coming in. a great day to have him in given the passing of walter cronkite and also 45 minutes past the hour, buzz aldrin and, well, we can have three men who stepped on the moon 40 years ago today to talk about that experience, what it meant for history and also where space exploration should go now. some of them don't think it should be the moon. time now for a look at the top stories. let's stop there. the military is denouncing a video of a captured american soldier in afghanistan. beowe bergdahl was taken hostag late last month near the border with pakistan. in the video the army private is prompted to call for the withdrawal of u.s. forces and express his worry he may never again see his family back in idaho. also in afghanistan two nato pilots are recovering with minor injuries after their fighter jet crashed on a runway this morning. just a day earlier a civilian helicopter crashed on the same airfield killing 16 people. officials say neither incident was caused by insurgent attacks. six

dan rather tonight. i spoke with katie couric, the current anchor of the "cbs evening news." katie couric, you are the current anchor of "the cbs evening news." you sit in walter cronkite's chair. how does that feel? >> well, john, it is a huge responsibility and slightly intimidating when i took this job and for a number of days we've known at cbs news that walter was in failing health and we were all worried about when this day would come. and he was so revered and so beloved here. i have read so much, john, in recent days and throughout my career about walter. i have been reminded only recently what incredible man and journalist he was. i mean, he was the personification of integrity and decency and humanity. i think that is one thing that struck me as i watched some of the earlier broadcasts of the past. when he announced that president kennedy had died it was so moving to see his body language and his facial expressions. and similarly, the glee he exhibited when, you know, he was anchoring a space l

it's going to take a long time to heal. >> dan loathian at the white house, thank you, dan. let's go quickly now to leslie sanchez. robert zimmerman just joining me. let me start with you, robert. your thoughts? i think that is a poignant letter from the sergeant. this teachable moment, what is it? >> teachable moment was demonstrated by the example that was set of these individuals coming together, professor gates, sergeant crowley, the president and vice president. i mean that is a teachable moment that has to be replicated in our civic associations and our communities and our neighborhoods. >> harold? >> absolutely. in the confines of the white house and back in cambridge, it's a relatively sedate, sort of working through the problems. people are on their best behavior. the sergeant, as you said, very well spoken. this other sergeant writing a very eloquent letter. professor gates, i'm sure, is going to play his part. all outside, though, is a much rougher conversation. there are boycotts. there are all this angry talk on the airwaves. there's a boston police officer who

but, dan, isn't the american y way -- let's show that job loss chart that dan sent. isn't the american way to fire people and have a government that doesn't really provide jobs to take the slack? >> well, i'd like to think that wasn't the american way. certainly there's rationale for companies acting the way they do. nucor has never shared that nation al. we've been very long-term focused. there's too much short-term thinking that goes on in this world. but part of that is due to the management. some of that is due to unions. nucor does not have unions at nucor corporation proper. and so we've always had this attitude that we're in this together and we're going to share the pain and share the gain. so right from the top to the bottom, we're all in it. my pay gets hit big-time when everybody else is getting hit and i do well when everybody else is doing well. the job slide that you have up there is very disturbing. and i appreciate you putting that up there. today, the "wall street journal" even had an article showing a very similar, if not identical, slide and series

dan? >> that image of the man with a gun in his pocket is memorable one. jeffrey, thank you. >>> in los angeles tonight, they're making final preparations for michael jackson's memorial service on tuesday. meanwhile, investigators reportedly want to speak with at least five doctors who prescribed jackson medications that may have played a role in his death. ryan owens is on that story. >> reporter: in los angeles, cell phones have long been mandatory accessories. today, they seemed more essential than usual. >> i check my e-mail. i haven't gotten any yet. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of michael jackson fans are anxiously awaiting word that they are among the chosen few, randomly selected to attend tuesday's memorial service. more than 1.6 million applied online. less thasz than 1%, 17,500, will get inside. >> i just hope that i really do get a ticket. it would be a dream come true. >> reporter: the worry for police is what disappointed fans locked out of the ceremony will do. top bra

i'm dan harris, thank you for for "world news" tonight. i'm dan harris, thank you for watching. captions by vitac

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i never considered dan and i to be enemies he said. i had to fulfill my duty and dan had to fulfill his. fortunately today they share the same sense of duty. >> we hope that the fact that we've been able to put this war behind us and reconcile our differences and develop a friendship might somehow help vietnam veterans on both sides. >> reporter: of course dan meant that in the broadest sense. but he and hong also had one particular veteran in mind. someone they thought they could especially help. an american named jochb styles. for the last 37 years, john styles has been trying to forget vietnam. he says his case of photos is hidden up here for a reason. >> it brings back uncomfortable memories. >> reporter: in january of '72, john was flying reconnaisance missions when his plane was shot down. he always thought it was ground flak that got him. but hong had evidence to the contrary. most notably that round, red metal. >> that means that he had shot somebody down. >> reporter: and that was you? >> yeah. >> reporter: understandably john

i'm dan meyer. in north america alone, half a million embryos are cryopreserved, frozen until their fate is determined. after the couple that created them decides that they won't use their embryos, a new option offers hope to another couple that deeply longs to have a baby. currently, some 10,000 of these embryos have been donated for adoption. one couple, chris and andrea janssen, believe that these frozen embryos give them renewed dreams for having a child. - i really can't imagine a life without children. from the time i was a little girl carrying around a baby doll, it's just something that you always imagine doing. - high school sweethearts, chris and andrea janssen always dreamt of having a family. - i had such a wonderful chdhood that i wanted to be able to pass that on to other children. - after years of medical treatment for their infertility, ten childless years passed by and andrea lost hope. - you feel like something is missing and it's something most people do take for granted. so you d

i'm dan kloeffler. we begin with the complications of war. as much as president obama wants the attention to be on health care reform, this morning's top stories are about the fight against terror. there are big questions and lingering doubts today over the administration's plans to shut down the u.s.-run prison at guantanamo bay. officials say they will not meet today's self-imposed deadline to review interrogation and detention policies. much of the day focuses on the status of dozens of detainees. many considered too dangerous to release, but too difficult to try in civilian or military courts. although the white house said it's committed to throwsiclosin facility by january, the delay threatens the president's timeline. >>> the war in afghanistan continues to take an increasingly heavy toll on american forces. the deaths of four more u.s. troops on mondays makes july the single deadliest month of the now eight-year war. at least 30 american service members have died this month. that includes those killed yesterday by a roadside bomb in th

dan's pointed, i think it's interesting. california and new york the chrysler and gm of states because they can't pay their bills. dan, i would not be surprised if both california and new york come hand in hand in washington and say bail us out. washington can't pay its bills either. let's not forget one other point california and new york haven't been involved in these kind of cap and trade schemes. california has renewable energy standards, they passed their own cap and trade and businesses are moving out of the state because of those, as well. >> these do have very high tax rates. every time they say, let's raise them some more. and the states with a biggest budgets. >> part of the reason why, people are picking up their bags and going because they do not want to be the one who get stuck paying all these bills. one of new york's big problems, they have come to rely so heavily on marginal tax ratings organization the highest income earners. >> paying a huge proportion, 50% of stated revenue. >> when you have a recession li