Expire again january 15th. Theyre coming. Cyberscams. And smartphones are the least secure purchasing platform. More vulnerable than Desktop Computers or tablets according to id Verification Firm signifyd. Speaking of tech, qualcomm is launching the newest smartwatch on the market. It costs 350 dollars and joins samsung, sony and pebble making waves. And its a busy day in the air. Triple a says today is one of the busiest days for air travel this Holiday Season. Air travel is up over 1 from last year. After a long holiday weekend, we are back and so is todd horwitz of averagejoeoptions. Com to get the day started for us. Todd how are you . Good morning chuck. How are you doing . Very well. Todd, what are your expectations for trading this week . I think this week is going to be fairly quiet. Were really building a big balloon, still watching the fed. I think a lot of eyes will be on the jobs number this friday. And a lot of eyes will be on what happened last week with the big sales over on black friday. But i think really were still focusing on the fed and were gonna focus on what the jobs number is gong to identify if were gonna have a raise in Interest Rates or not. How critical will that jobs number be . I think it will go a long way to determining when the feds going to taper. As i see it now, the fed wont be able to taper for at least another year the way it looks. However the bond market has been pushing rates up on its own. And for those who dont know, the bond market is the biggest market in the world by five times and they can absorb the 85 billion dollars a month easily. Youre pushing the fed a lot farther down the road to making it tapering decision than a lot of other people have. Most people seem to think that at that march meeting theyre gonna make some sort of movement and begin some movement perhaps in april. The fed i think is in a bad spot. I think theyve built the market on artificial economy. I think that they have done a lot of things. We still dont have growth and we still dont have jobs. Well see on friday if the jobs come back but we really have no real growth. Earnings has been a morage because weve only made money on companies that have cut costs and not on real top line earnings growth. Were not seeing the revenue growth. Id like to also ask you about bitcoins. They have hit a new record. Would you buy . I think bitcoin right now is an illiquid currency. That is really used more in the black market. Bitcoin at some time could become viable. But here you just have really the gamblers and the people trying to hide money hoping that bitcoin is the item for them. One last one. We just came back from a lot of driving. Gas prices were pretty low. What do you think about oil . I think weve got a glut in oil in this country. We are now a net exporter of oil. Now iran is trying to make a treaty with us here. So i think gas prices continue to go lower as does crude oil. Good to know. Todd horwitz of average joe options dot com. Thanks very much. Thank you. Marilyn monroe sang that they were a girls best friend and the sparkling stone industry would have you believe their product is forever. But are diamonds also a good investment . We investigate in todays cover story. Coveted for their sparkle and shine, diamonds are an expensive stone. About 91,000 for the ring, which isnt that bad that require a sharp eye to see true value. You at the way the light refracts, if there are any dead spots in the stone, you look for any unusual markings along the stone jeweler David Lampert has looked through his loupe at highend diamonds for 26 years and now hes seeing a spike in price. Basically, theyre flying. Theyre getting record prices for the major important diamonds. Its getting harder to source diamonds bigger than 5 carats. Theres a real value to these items. But even for the pros. I dont necessarily make money on every diamond i sell. Profiting on the precious gems can be a tough task. Now i never tell anyone to buy a diamond or a piece of jewelery for an investment, but the value is always there. You know, at first i thought it was going to be an investment, but then i realized that ring is never gonna leave her finger. Equity analyst brian bolan ever the romantic realized when he popped the question 4 years ago that there is a better way to bring bling into a portfolio. The investor would want to look more at the retailers than actually going into the raw commodity itself. His reasoning is simple there will always be demand for the precious stones. Its always kind of at the same level. Eventually guys are going to have to propose to their girls and theyll have to get that wedding ring on the finger. Supply though, is another story. Both bolan and lampert mentioned that manmade or syntheitc diamonds are entering the trade and longterm, could shake up the traditional diamond market. As for the retailer he likes most, bolan and zacks have a buy on tiffany for its strength in the highend market. The American AirlinesUs Airways Merger is set to fly. On december 9, american and us airways will become American Airlines group. On that date, american will also emerge from bankruptcy. Common stock to be listed and traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol aal. Preferred stock will be listed and traded under aalcp. The 17billion dollar merger creates the Worlds Largest carrier. A group of consumers tried to block the deal, saying that it would lead to more crowded planes and higher prices. Traders will be watching for key manufacturing data out today. The ism index may move the market, after the chicago pmi which tracks the National Number dipped slightly in november after an october that was the strongest month on record since 2011. The chicago pmi stands at 63, above analysts expectations of 59. Any number above 50 signals expansion. And Alyce Andres Franz of mni believes the stats say businesses are upbeat. I think that people are gearing up but not being overly optimstic. I will tell you though that my conversations with purchasers have shifted a bit. They are not focusing as much on the bad stuff like taxes, regulations, healthcare costs rising, but they are focusing on how they can get business done. And how they can work with their suppliers underperforming. Franz adds that high manufacturing inventory levels will likely give a boost to todays data. Its hard to get a clear view of whats happening in housing. On the upside for sellers, prices are up. So are conventional sales, more so than distressed sales. And Building Permits are up in boston, new york city, san francisco, austin, houston, Oklahoma City and san jose. Jed kolko of trulia says this is one lagging area of the recovery that is finally starting to pick up the pace. Construction is still running at about 40 below normal levels. So this boost in new Building Permits is good news for one area of the housing recovery thats taken longer to recover. On the flip side, permits are down in atlanta, phoenix, las vegas, sacramento, chicago and detroit. And pending home sales are down for the fifth straight month. Its deja vu all over again in a corner of the subprime lending market. Though this time its Small Businesses accessing the risky lending pool. Called leveraged loans, they allow business with small revenues to borrow big. According to the new york times, lending levels in this subprime segment have surpassed levels seen prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Sad to say the u. S. Is not the home to the most talented workers in the world. According to one study. The study by a European Business school ranks switzerland at the top because of the countries committment to education. Switzerland is followed by singapore, denmark, sweden and luxemborg. The us. Placed 9th younger generations are thinking ahead when it comes to retirement. A study finds 59 percent of gen x workers contribute to 401 k plans. Thats followed by gen y at 56 percent. Baby boomers faced with their own set of retirement challenges save with 401ks at a rate of 46 percent. The online userreview business is a multiMillion Dollar industry and with that comes the need to be protected from vicious online attacks. Ky sisson tells us about the business of protecting ones Corporate Reputation on the internet. With over 117 million monthly visitors, yelps massive directory of ratings and reviews for the best places to go is loved by millions of consumers, but is often frustrating to Business Owners. I think it tends to spread a fair amount of misinformation. I think the majority of our guests and the majority of the public is somewhat skeptical of yelp. Dave donaldson is the director of operations at stillwater spirits and sounds in dana pointe california and says that yelp has become a major part of their Marketing Efforts to attract new customers. Their three and a half star rating isnt as high is it should be says donaldson because of reviews that he believes are bogus. Clearly you can see that some of the reviews are placed by competition or perhaps a disgruntled employee. But what about when those unreliable reviews stay online . Published posts can only be removed when they are in direct violation of yelps terms and that is where Online Reputation Management saves the day. Basically what we do is provide Business Owners a solution for the trend of defamation and slander on the internet. Adam regiaba and arthur atinizian are the owners of upfront reputations one of the many new companies created to counter negative reviews on consumer ratings websites. And this is no small enterprise. Upfront is on track to make 2. 3 Million Dollars in revenue this year. They maintain theyve figured out a way to assure clients that they will have control over what the public sees online. We have reversed engineered googles algorithm. That is pretty much what we do. Through that process, we are able to manipulate the search results. Whatever this defamation gets on the first page, we are able to use our techniques to suppress it. Yelp released a warning to businesses against Reputation Management companies saying theres never been any amount of money one can payto yelp or any third partyto manipulate reviews on our site. I think people will come to the conclusion that when it comes to building a good reputation online a lot of that can be done organically. It just takes time. Reputation management firms have been critisized, even sued, for alledgely manipulating the online process themselves being paid to post positive reviews on behalf of clients. Upfront defends that they are merely in the business of burying poor reviews and assuring companies they are given the recognition they deserve. Weve come across companies that have been doing business ethically for 152025 years and they come across one bad review on the internet, its not fair to that guy that he has been doing things right, providing a good service and product, and now because one bad thing on the internet he is loosing business. For First Business news, im ky sisson. Despite the controversy, yelp has been proven to be an effective tool for Small Businesses. Nielsen says that 4 out of 5 yelp customers say they visit the site when preparing to spend money. Japan is hoping to curb Internet Addiction in teens with tech free camps. The Japanese Ministry of education plans to set up so called fasting camps in 2014 to help students separate from laptops and cellphones. About 8 percent of 100 thousand Japanese School children are addicted to the internet, according to a university study. Still to come one trader bets big on tech stocks thanks to new highs in the stock market. Plus. 23 days till christmas. We look at a popular retailers game plan for the shopping season. But first. The facinating journey that began for one man after he sold a multi Million Dollar business. Thats next after this in the know message. One of those only in america stories. It centers around joe rate lee yes an entrepreneur. Thats only the beginning. From 1 good idea he became a multi multi millionaire. So, entrepreneur, inventor, filmmaker, philanthropist anything else i should add to your title . Father. Well, thats pretty modest. Lets start out with the idea that you had. Every dog owner i asked has heard of greenies. Youre the guy that invented it. Yes. Its amazing what a dog with bad breath and a wife with a lot of persistence can produce. Persistence is a very key part of who you are. You stayed with this idea through years of debt and doubt. Three and a half years without income. Ill tell you what, saltine crackers and water isnt an exciting diet for very long. So, greenies the company that you built around it has won all kinds of awards. Youre now a filmmaker. Your documentary is winning all kinds of awards. Tell us in a nutshell what this is. Its called the 25 thousand mile love story. Its an amazing story about a very distant relative of mine who has been called by some the greatest endurance athlete in the history of mankind. Hes running 25 thousand miles which is the circumference of the world to raise awareness and money for impoverished children. Right. No sponsors. No support team other than his wife on a motorcycle at his side. 63 months. Averaged a marathon every other day for 63 months in very difficult conditions. Is there any connection between your drive and determination and your cousins drive and determination . We both have a load of persistence. There has to be a gene out there somewhere that says greatly persistent on it. So i think that has a lot to do with it. Both of us have used the outdoors a lot for our education so to speak. Its amazing because i did not know of him, nor did he know of me until 1995 and at that point he was already running the longest road in the world when i found him. Its a fascinating movie and it is now on the documentary circuit. Ultimately itll be on television . We certainly hope so. Televisionperhaps theatrical. Its a pretty interesting film and the producer did a great job with it. Interestingly, serge and nicole did all of the shooting of the footage on it as total amateurs. It really comes across quite well. And your life too, an amazing story. Joe roetheli, thank you so much. Youre welcome. Thank you bill, coming up. Holiday sales strategy. How one retailer is getting shoppers in the door during this competitive christmas season. And later on in chart talk. The options play that one trader swears by. Well be right back. The retail race is on. Twenty three days until christmas. And if you think you think shoppers time is squeezedthink about the squeeze retailers are feeling. Matt furman, chief Communications Officer for best buy joins us. Hi there matt. Good morning chuck. Happy holidays. Happy holidays to you too. Sales early or sales late . Whats best buys strategy . Our strategy is very simple. Shop early and shop often. Make it as convenient as possible for the consumer to shop across an assortment of products at the lowest prices they will find anywhere. As you know chuck, we have a low price guarantee. Through the Holiday Season, if you buy from us and find a price lower at a major competitor we will match that price up until christmas eve. Lets talk about xbox and sonys playstation 4. The xbox cost to manufacture is 90 dollars higher than sonys. Is this a problem for microsoft . I cant speak to microsofts business obviously but i can tell you that this is the first gaming launch weve had in 6 or 7 years. The level of excitement in the stores is palpable. Inventory is a little low now but we will be getting much more of both productsxbox and playstationthroughout the Holiday Season. So keep checking back at best buy, it will be there. This is also the holiday of the minitablet. Will amazons kindle fire hdx compete with ipad, surface and samsung . Thats right. There is no question that there is a number of small tablets available depending on what youre looking for. Last week we had an incredible price on a kindle hd fire. It was 100 off. It was half price. Youll see similar kinds of deals throughout the Holiday Season not just on the kindle , but on the ipad and a range of other small tablets. Best advice for shoppers headed out this morning . Well, you can head out and youll get great deals. Of course you can shop us online. This is of course cyber week. The deals will be extraordinary. Keep in mind as i said before, if you find a price lower, either at best buy or at a major competitor come back to us and well match that price. So buy now, confident that if the price goes down well take care of you. Very good. Matt furman of best buy, thank you very much. Thanks chuck. More than a third of tablet shoppers are leaning toward an ipad. Thats according to a study by baird equity research. Still, this Holiday Season is a little different. Instead of a completely new product, apple has launched upgrades some would argue significant upgrade but others wonder if that is enough to keep apples competitors at bay. Ive got to be honest, i expected an iwatch to be rolled out. Samsung did it, perhaps a little too early for the technology, though. And wheres the apple tv that is highly rumored . During apples Earnings Call last month, ceo tim cook predicted an ipad christmas. Iphone sales could soon be on the rise due to a potential deal between apple and China Mobile Network which has 750 million subscribers. How one trader is profiting off of the recent momentum in the nasdaq. Chart talk is next. And theres a big advantage parents can give their kids making sure they get active at least 60 minutes each day. Studies show that physical activity not only helps kids stay healthy, it can enhance important skills, like concentration and problem solving, which can improve academic performance. This means physical activity can help your kids in the most important game of all life. Alan knuckman of trading advantage joins us now for chart talk. Alan, hi there. Hi there. Good morning. What are you watching today . Well, its all about milestones. Weve seen the s p get up above 1800. Weve seen the dow about 16 thousand and the nasdaq about 4 thousand. So im keeping my eyes on the nasdaq as i have been here lately because its been surging up 10 percent here in the last month or so. Thats the sector i wanna see and take advantage of. What in particular are you watching . Im lookung at siena. Siena is a stock that was trading at 28 in october and its declined to 20 percent. And now its basing out around the 22 level. 21 is the Halfway Point of the action for the year so you can really lean on that 21 level. From a reward to risk standpoint i think this is a good buy area. Why did siena in particular catch your eye . What is it that they are doing thats gotten your attention . Im not much of a fundamentalist. Im more of a technical trader. Its about risk and reward and here at this level you can buy near the 22 level risk it to 20. So its not a lot of out of pocket risk. Looking for it to surge back to 28 and then possibly up to the 35 level. I like to play this long term with options that have staying power. So im looking at buying the 16 dollar call for june, which has about 8 monthsjuly actually8 months of time. Its deep in the money. And 16 was the pivot early in the year for the first 6 months of the year last year and its a level that i want to be long from with my stock substitution strategy. Is that generally speaking what you try to do when you look at these and try to size up whats a good risk . A good options potential . Exactly. What im using as an option as a tool to take advantage of the leverage and the ability to ride through ups and downs and have limited risk. So im buying an in the money call option thats gonna cost about 7 and its 6 in the money so its like being long the stock from 16 and i have limited risk. Thats the way i like to play things and give myself plenty of time in more of a lifestyle position than a trade. Very good advice. Alan knuckman of trading advantage, thank you very much. Thank you. Its time for us to call it quits for today. Coming up next time charity check. Well hear the ways that americans are opening their wallets on a National Holiday dedicated to giving back. From all of us at First Business, thank you for watching and have a great monday. The following is a paid advertisement for scalp med, brought to you by modern health labs, incorporated. Special television offer from scalp med. Stay tuned and find out how you can try the amazing scalp med hair regrowth system for only thats right, try the complete scalp med hair regrowth system for only details just ahead. I really can see the difference, i can see this hair coming in. I have hair on my head. I can brush my hair now. Within two months, ive g m