VELSHI: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning. Alcoa, America's largest aluminum producer, kicks off a week full of second quarter earnings on Wall Street today. The company will report its earnings after the closing bell this afternoon. Google, JP Morgan Chase, Yum Brands, CitiGroup, all of them are releasing earnings this week. The Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P; 500 are all set to open sharply lower this morning. Feelings of uncertainty are running high on Wall Street after that dismal jobs report out on Friday and concerns over the continuing debt crisis in Europe. Crisis at the pump are stabilizing after two months of declines, and the new Lundberg Survey says any further big drops in gas prices are unlikely. One reason, oil prices are rising again. The current national average for a gallon of gas is $3.62. If you smoke, there's a good chance your employer will want you to pay more for health insurance than your non-smoking co-workers. More companies are doing it. We want to know what you think. Is it fair to ask employees who smoke to pay more for health insurance? E-mail us, give us a Tweet, or tell us on Facebook. We'll read through some of your responses later in the show. The new "Transformers" movie is doing well at the box office again. The movie raked in about $47 million this weekend and $262 million in just two weeks. Already the highest grossing film of the year. "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling keeping fans on the edge of their seats at the world premiere of "The Deathly Hallows part two" in London last week. Right now, no immediate plans for a new "Harry Potter" book, but she also says never say never. The new movie opens in U.S. theaters on Friday. Up next, the assist of a lifetime. A Compton high school basketball star wins a free-throw contest, then he gives his $40,000 prize away to his opponents. We'll speak to him live, next. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
Second Quarter Earnings This Week