Nightly Business Report (PBS) - 2006-11-27

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] The Dow takes a dive on dollar woes as

[0:06] the dollar hits a 20-month low against

[0:07] the euro. The blue chip index drops 158

[0:10] points and the Nasdaq composite loses

[0:13] 54. The greenbacks dive and Wall

[0:15] Street's reaction coming up.

[0:18] >> Walmart also weighed on Wall Street. The

[0:20] Dow component shares drop over a buck on

[0:23] word giant retailer will post its first

[0:25] monthly sales decline in over a decade.

[0:28] After spending the weekend at the malls,

[0:31] shoppers head back to work and onto the

[0:33] net, searching for deals. It's a

[0:35] phenomenon known as Cyber Monday.

[0:38] >> Then you've heard of micromanagement.

[0:40] How about micro management? We look at a

[0:43] company using algae microbes to clean up

[0:46] pollution.

[0:47] >> I'm Paul Kangas.

[0:48] >> And I'm Susie Garup. This is Nightly

[0:49] Business Report for Monday, November

[0:51] 27th.

[0:53] Nightly Business Report is made possible

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[1:59] Good evening everyone. A sharp sell-off

[2:01] on Wall Street today as oil prices rose,

[2:04] the dollar fell, and Walmart sales

[2:06] disappointed. On the first full trading

[2:09] day since the Thanksgiving holiday, the

[2:11] Dow tumbled 158 points, and the Nasdaq

[2:13] dropped 54 points or more than 2%.

[2:16] Leading today's concerns, the US dollar,

[2:19] which fell to a 20month low against the

[2:21] euro. Darren Gersh reports on what's

[2:24] behind the weakness in the greenback.

[2:27] >> While Americans were busy shopping over

[2:29] the last few days, currency traders were

[2:31] also looking for a good deal and they

[2:33] were not finding one in the US dollar.

[2:35] Institutional investors are indeed

[2:37] shopping around looking at what the next

[2:39] play is to make money in the currency

[2:41] markets. In other words, the dollar has

[2:44] ridden its course in terms of

[2:45] strengthening. Now that the Fed is done

[2:47] raising rates, the markets are looking

[2:49] for other currencies, other options that

[2:51] can yield better returns.

[2:53] >> Earlier today, it cost almost a$1.32

[2:55] cents to buy one euro. That's a 20-month

[2:58] high for the euro against the dollar,

[3:00] although the greenback recovered some

[3:01] ground by the afternoon close. For the

[3:04] year, the euro is up almost 11% against

[3:06] the dollar. And there's every reason to

[3:08] believe the dollar's decline will

[3:10] continue. The US economy is cooling

[3:12] while growth in Europe is strong.

[3:14] Interest rates here may head down while

[3:16] interest rates in the Euro zone are

[3:18] likely to rise making the euro what

[3:20] analyst Ashra Lidi calls the anti-doll.

[3:24] >> This doesn't mean that the central banks

[3:25] of the world are going to do outright

[3:27] selling of the US dollar because if they

[3:30] do that then their existing dollar

[3:31] holdings will lose value. What they're

[3:33] to do is their future moves they're

[3:36] going to uh consider holding euros,

[3:40] sterings and gold. And that's basically

[3:42] what the vice governor of the People's

[3:44] Bank of China said on Thanksgiving,

[3:46] warning Asian central banks faced

[3:48] increased depreciating risk for their

[3:50] dollar reserves. So far this year, the

[3:52] yuan has gained 3% against the dollar

[3:54] and 5.5% since the Chinese adopted a

[3:57] more flexible exchange rate in July

[4:00] 2005. But critics say the yuan is still

[4:03] 25 to 35% undervalued against the

[4:06] dollar. We're all trying to get the

[4:08] Chinese to manage an increase in the

[4:11] value of their currency so that we can

[4:14] rectify the imbalances that are in the

[4:17] global economy.

[4:18] >> Which is why Treasury Secretary Henry

[4:20] Pollson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernani are

[4:22] heading to China next month. It was

[4:24] easier for the Bush administration to

[4:26] push for a stronger yuan when the dollar

[4:28] was strong. Now with the greenback

[4:30] weakening, Pollson will have to tread

[4:32] more carefully. Analysts caution too

[4:35] sharp an adjustment in currency markets

[4:37] could undermine confidence in US

[4:39] financial assets. Darren Gersh, Nightly

[4:42] Business Report, Washington. One big

[4:44] contributor to the slide in the Dow.

[4:46] Shares of Walmart fell almost 3% today

[4:49] on concerns about weak sales for

[4:51] November. The giant retailer says sales

[4:53] fell onetenth of a percent last month.

[4:56] It's the first time in more than 10

[4:57] years that Walmart's monthly sales have

[5:00] fallen. Some analysts say they're

[5:02] wondering why sales aren't improving

[5:04] considering gasoline prices have fallen

[5:06] in recent weeks. Also discouraging,

[5:08] Walmart does not seem to be getting a

[5:10] big lift from its $4 generic drugs

[5:12] program, which was rolled out today to

[5:14] all its pharmacies nationwide. Well, one

[5:18] segment of the retail sector that's

[5:19] expected to do well this season,

[5:21] internet retailing. The Monday after

[5:23] Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, is

[5:26] one of the busier online shopping days

[5:28] as Americans return to work and log on

[5:30] to employers high-speed internet

[5:32] connections. Suzanne Pratt takes a look

[5:34] at the prospects for cyber shopping this

[5:37] holiday season. Tis the season to let

[5:40] your fingers do the shopping, and a

[5:42] growing number of Americans are doing

[5:44] just that. Cyber Monday may be the

[5:47] official start of the online shopping

[5:49] season, but online retailers have been

[5:51] courting shoppers for weeks with big

[5:54] promotions. It's all part of a push to

[5:56] draw more shoppers to websites and

[5:58] interest them in spending big dollars

[6:00] online. Experts say it's working. Not

[6:04] really anything consumers won't buy

[6:06] online. In fact, they'll buy their milk

[6:08] online and they'll buy a $10,000 ring

[6:10] online and an HD TV and a Christmas tree

[6:13] online. Jupiter Research predicts US

[6:15] online holiday sales will reach $ 32

[6:18] billion this year, an 18% jump over

[6:22] sales in the same period last year.

[6:24] That's nearly three times what Americans

[6:26] spent online 5 years ago. Experts credit

[6:30] convenience and value, free shipping in

[6:32] particular, for the aggressive growth in

[6:34] online sales. Jupiter also says much of

[6:37] this year's growth in sales will come

[6:39] from existing web shoppers with bigger

[6:41] budgets. Average online holiday spending

[6:45] per buyer is expected to increase to

[6:47] $281 in 2006, up from 251 last year.

[6:53] There are less and less people to come

[6:55] online who have never purchased before.

[6:57] So that as a driver of increase of sales

[7:00] is diminishing over time and being made

[7:02] up by per buyer spending. Overall

[7:05] internet sales make up only 5% of total

[7:08] retail sales in the US year round, but

[7:10] analysts are forecasting robust growth

[7:13] in online shopping in the coming years.

[7:16] >> We look for online retailing, at least

[7:17] in the US, to grow about 20% a year over

[7:20] the next couple of years. We think

[7:21] that's largely going to be driven,

[7:23] interestingly, by brickandmortar

[7:26] retailers that are increasingly focusing

[7:28] their attention and their investment

[7:30] online. Even though Cyber Monday gets a

[7:32] lot of media attention, it's not the

[7:34] busiest online shopping day. Last year,

[7:37] that honor came on December 12th. This

[7:39] year, analysts say it's likely to happen

[7:41] even later as retailers extend the

[7:44] deadline for free shipping. Suzanne

[7:46] Pratt, Nightly Business Report, New

[7:48] York.

[7:49] >> Stocks on Wall Street sold off sharply

[7:51] this morning as the weak dollar,

[7:53] Walmart's disappointing November sales,

[7:55] and higher oil futures gave investors an

[7:57] excuse to take some profits on the

[7:59] market's recent runup. By noon, the Dow

[8:01] tumbled 136 points. NASDAQ was off a

[8:04] hefty 44 points. The plunge activated

[8:07] many stop-loss orders, which kept the

[8:09] selling pressures on this afternoon. So,

[8:11] the market ended at its lowest level of

[8:13] the day. Dow industrial average closed

[8:15] off 158.46 points, putting it at

[8:18] 12,121.71.

[8:20] The NASDAQ composite tumbled 54.34,

[8:24] ending at 2405.92.

[8:26] Standard and pores 500 index down 19.05

[8:29] 5 at 1381.90.

[8:32] Over in the bond market, the 10-year

[8:33] note rose 732 to par in 2330 seconds,

[8:37] putting the yield at 4.53%.

[8:56] For more analysis now on today's market

[8:58] selloff, we're joined by Tobias Leco,

[9:00] chief US strategist at Cityroup. Hi

[9:02] Tobias.

[9:03] >> Hi Susie.

[9:04] >> As you know, investors have a lot of

[9:06] worries on their worry list. They're

[9:07] worried about the economy. They're

[9:09] worried about housing, high oil prices,

[9:12] and now the dollar.

[9:14] How how worried should they be that a

[9:16] decline in the dollar will be bad for

[9:18] the markets?

[9:19] >> Uh it's not really that big a deal. I

[9:21] mean, think of it in these terms. In

[9:23] 1985 through87, the dollar plunged

[9:25] significantly more than uh anyone's

[9:28] looking for right now. And the markets

[9:29] actually rallied pretty strongly. On the

[9:31] other hand, from 1997 through 2000, the

[9:34] dollar was strong as was the stock

[9:35] market. And more more interestingly, the

[9:38] dollar was very strong from 2000 through

[9:40] 2002. Didn't protect anyone from a big

[9:42] sell-off. So, what's your outlook for

[9:44] the markets between now and the end of

[9:46] the year and the beginning of 2007?

[9:49] >> Well, we're looking for the S&P uh 500

[9:51] to close at 1400, which is pretty much

[9:53] where we were as of Friday's close. Um,

[9:55] so I think we'll recoup what we've lost

[9:57] today over the course of the next month,

[9:58] but to a great extent, we still see move

[10:01] to 1500 by the end of next year. We

[10:03] could have a little bit of a rough spot

[10:04] early next year as investors kind of

[10:06] deal with a slowdown in what has been

[10:08] very powerful earnings growth to

[10:10] something a little bit more moderate.

[10:11] And we suspect there'll be concerns even

[10:13] on the housing market as we move into

[10:14] the spring.

[10:15] >> So, have we seen the highs for the Dow

[10:17] and the NASDAQ for 2006?

[10:20] >> Uh, we suspect so. I mean, it's hard to

[10:22] to definitively say if something changes

[10:24] on December 30th versus what happens on

[10:26] January 2nd, but generally speaking, uh,

[10:28] you know, we had hit pretty much our

[10:29] targets a couple of days ago.

[10:31] >> Some people say that these high prices

[10:34] that we've seen in in stocks recently

[10:36] have u have resulted in an overvalued

[10:39] market. What's your view on all of that?

[10:41] um you know we think that's that's

[10:44] false. If we look at uh where the market

[10:46] multiples are relative to interest

[10:47] rates, relative to equity or premiums,

[10:50] they're very attractive. In one of our

[10:51] measures, uh we're sitting at a level

[10:53] that we've seen about 85 times before in

[10:56] the past 45 years. And in every single

[10:58] one of those instances, the market was

[10:59] up a year later. So we we definitely

[11:02] disagree with that view that market's

[11:03] overvalued by any stretch. Uh there are

[11:05] certain areas of the market that can be

[11:07] a little bit uh stretched at times but

[11:10] overall it looks pretty good

[11:11] particularly in the large cap areas.

[11:13] >> Has today's selloff in any way caused

[11:15] you to begin to rethink your strategy?

[11:18] >> Now when we look at the data um

[11:20] sentiment is still pretty skeptical. We

[11:22] can look at just the money flows into

[11:24] domestic equity mutual funds. They've

[11:26] been outflows for five months straight

[11:28] ending in September. Last time we had

[11:29] five months straight or five months in a

[11:31] row of outflows was back in October 2002

[11:34] and that was the bottom of the market.

[11:36] We see earnings expectations pre pretty

[11:39] much being cautious as we go forward and

[11:41] they've been cautious for the past 12

[11:43] quarters which has led to earnings

[11:44] upside surprises and again as I

[11:46] indicated before valuation looks pretty

[11:48] good. Clearly, some people got spooked

[11:50] by a large retailer's numbers, but uh on

[11:52] the other hand, the rest of the

[11:53] retailing uh area was very strong with I

[11:56] think the National Association of

[11:57] Realtors talking about 19% gains over

[11:59] the holiday weekend.

[12:00] >> Okay. Tomorrow, Federal Reserve Chairman

[12:02] Ben Bernani is going to make his uh

[12:04] first speech, first speech in months.

[12:06] What do you think the markets need to

[12:07] hear from Ben Bernani?

[12:09] >> I think they're going to want to

[12:10] continue to hear that uh the inflation's

[12:12] going to moderate, that the economy is

[12:14] still on firm footing, but not

[12:16] excessively strong. Um, and I think this

[12:18] is the key issue. You know, everybody

[12:20] keeps talking about this concept called

[12:21] the Goldilocks economy as if it were a

[12:23] fairy tale. We've had this quote unquote

[12:26] Goldilocks economy for about 40 quarters

[12:28] in a row. I mean, when does it stop

[12:30] becoming a fairy tale and become

[12:31] something very real?

[12:33] >> All right, Tobias, thank you very much

[12:34] for coming on the program. We really

[12:35] appreciate it.

[12:37] >> You're very welcome.

[12:38] >> We've been speaking with Tobias Levich,

[12:40] chief US strategist at Cityroup. Ford

[12:42] Motor has secured $18 billion in

[12:45] financing to help pay for its North

[12:47] American turnaround. Ford says that the

[12:49] additional liquidity will shore up its

[12:51] cash position and act as a cushion

[12:53] against any recession. For the first

[12:55] time in the struggling automakers

[12:57] 103-year history, Ford's core auto

[13:00] assets are being used as collateral on

[13:02] the loans.

[13:30] A big win for big tobacco today. The US

[13:33] Supreme Court refused to review a lower

[13:35] court decision throwing out a $10

[13:37] billion judgment against Philip Morris

[13:40] USA. That judgment originally came in

[13:42] 2003 in a lawsuit accusing Philip Morris

[13:45] of fraud by knowing its light cigarettes

[13:48] were no safer than regular ones. That

[13:50] decision was overturned last year, then

[13:52] appealed to the US Supreme Court, which

[13:55] today refused to reconsider it. But

[13:57] there's another case against the company

[13:59] that's still pending at the high court.

[14:01] Paul.

[14:01] >> Well, shares of Altria, the parent of

[14:03] Philip Morris, fell 33 cents Susie,

[14:05] closing at $8342.

[14:08] Now, let's look at the rest of our

[14:09] stocks in the news tonight.

[14:15] Most active New York exchange issue on

[14:17] 17.4 million shares. Lucent Technologies

[14:19] losing 6 cents. Alcatel's takeover of

[14:21] the firm is slated for completion later

[14:23] this week. Fizer, one of only three

[14:25] gainers in the Dow 30, edging up 8

[14:27] cents. Time Warner 22cent loss. AT&T was

[14:30] one of those three Dow gainers, but

[14:31] gained only a penny. And then Ford Motor

[14:34] down 36 cents. You just heard about the

[14:36] $18 billion financing.

[14:38] Walmart stores off a$129. You heard the

[14:41] bad news about November sales. And let's

[14:43] have a look at some other big DAO

[14:44] losers. American Express, Boeing, IBM,

[14:48] and United Tech all off a dollar or

[14:50] more. Very weak high tech or I should

[14:53] say blue chip sector. GE down 24 cents.

[14:56] Exon Mobile was the third of the three

[14:58] gainers in the Dow, moving up 9 cents.

[15:00] Quest Communications down 19 cents. EMC,

[15:03] a loss of 24 cents. A website called Red

[15:06] Herring mentions EMC as a possible

[15:08] takeover target of private equity firms.

[15:10] Nothing specific. Home Depot lost 13

[15:13] cents, although Bank of America repeated

[15:14] a buy and boosted its price target from

[15:17] 42 to $45 a share. And also upgraded

[15:21] Lowe's by the same upgrade. Low stock

[15:23] was up 40 cents at $3040.

[15:26] The airline stocks particularly well, no

[15:28] happy landings there today. Alaska, AMR,

[15:31] Continental and United and US Air all

[15:33] down on that rise in oil prices by about

[15:35] a dollar a barrel. United States Steel

[15:38] fell $314. Solelay Securities downgraded

[15:41] it from buy to a hold. And the hotel

[15:44] major hotel stocks weak off a $1.70. AG

[15:47] Edwards downgraded Hilton from buy to

[15:49] hold. Did the same for Starwood which

[15:50] fell a $1.92.

[15:53] RH Donnelly on the upside by 27 cents.

[15:56] Deutsurities upgraded it from hold to

[15:58] buy and has a $72 a share target for the

[16:00] stock. J Crew Group last week it ran up

[16:04] sharply on third quarter earnings

[16:06] turnaround but today CIBC World Markets

[16:08] brokerage downgraded it from sector

[16:10] outperform to just sector perform.

[16:12] NASDAQ's most active Google down $2025.

[16:16] This week's Baron's financial notes,

[16:18] investors seem to be ignoring Google's

[16:20] slowing growth rate and also its high

[16:22] price earnings ratio, a 37 multiple.

[16:25] Apple computer coming off of record

[16:27] highs last week, down $29. And then

[16:30] Microsoft 28cent loss. Cisco fell a$14.

[16:32] Intel 57 loss there, fifth in dollar

[16:35] volume. Research in Motion down $6.26.

[16:38] Oracle fell 68. Dell was down 32 cents.

[16:42] at red herring website mentions Dell as

[16:44] a possible takeover candidate of private

[16:46] equity firms. Qualcomm off$1.13 and

[16:48] Yahoo lost 76 cents tenth and dollar

[16:51] volume. XM satellite radio off 83 cents.

[16:54] Bank of America noted that sales of the

[16:56] company's radios are expected to fall

[16:58] about 20% this year. And then Trubion

[17:02] Pharmaceuticals up a $16, one of the few

[17:04] gainers we see on NASDAQ here. That

[17:06] stock just went public uh October 17th

[17:09] at 13. And today, Bank of America

[17:11] started covering it with a buy

[17:12] recommendation and a $23 a share target.

[17:15] And over in the American Exchange, Amcon

[17:18] Distributing distributes consumer

[17:19] products. A real turnaround in the third

[17:21] quarter, 41 cents in earnings versus a

[17:24] loss of 32 cents a year ago. And those

[17:27] are the stocks in the news tonight,

[17:28] Susie,

[17:29] >> Paul. As Americans and American

[17:31] businesses become more concerned about

[17:32] the environment, new ways are surfacing

[17:34] to tackle problems like pollution. In

[17:37] New England, one company is taking an

[17:39] unusual approach to cutting emissions

[17:41] from power plants, and it's using a

[17:43] totally different kind of plant to do

[17:45] it. From Cambridge, Massachusetts,

[17:47] here's reporter Mont Fennel.

[17:51] Every year in the US, power plants spew

[17:54] out more than 2 billion tons of

[17:56] polluting carbon dioxide.

[17:58] >> It's mindboggling. It's a lot.

[18:00] >> But a Cambridge, Massachusetts company

[18:02] hopes to combat the problem with algae.

[18:05] You know that green stuff that grows in

[18:07] ponds and on the sides of your fish

[18:09] tank. Algae can be used to make paper,

[18:12] plastics, and pharmaceuticals. You can

[18:14] actually drink algae like this health

[18:16] food product called Superfood.

[18:20] That's not bad.

[18:21] >> At every board meeting, we have a

[18:23] tradition of toasting using algae drink.

[18:26] >> Green Fuel Technologies has developed a

[18:28] system which pumps algae and smoke stack

[18:30] emissions through a series of tubes.

[18:33] When exposed to sunlight, the algae,

[18:35] which are nature's fastest growing

[18:37] plants, eat the polluting gases, just

[18:39] like trees, absorb carbon dioxide. This

[18:42] is a way to turn an enemy to a friend.

[18:45] >> The result is either a dried powder,

[18:47] which the power plant can burn instead

[18:49] of coal, or a liquid, which could be

[18:51] sold for a profit to make ethanol or

[18:53] biodiesel. Those are less polluting fuel

[18:56] alternatives for autos.

[18:58] >> So, you can drive with a clean

[18:59] conscience and with a clean exhaust gas

[19:01] as well. Green Fuel says its system

[19:03] reduces poisonous nitrous oxide by up to

[19:06] 86%. That it cuts carbon dioxide, which

[19:09] many scientists believe contributes to

[19:11] global warming, by up to 40%.

[19:14] >> It's a very powerful technology. And

[19:16] when you use algae, you can use any

[19:17] water quality, you can use aid land,

[19:20] then it's even more exciting.

[19:22] >> Massachusetts venture capital firm

[19:24] Polaris Ventures recently invested

[19:26] nearly $7 million. That's on top of 13

[19:29] million Green Fuel had already raised.

[19:31] >> Bob Metaf, he's a very perceptive

[19:34] investor. He's invested in a lot of uh

[19:37] companies that have done well.

[19:38] >> The payback could be huge. This power

[19:41] plant in the southwest is the company's

[19:42] first customer now testing if the system

[19:45] will be cost effective. If it installed

[19:47] the algae bioreactors over thousands of

[19:50] acres, they could in one year produce

[19:52] double the amount of biodeiesel fuel

[19:54] currently used throughout the nation.

[19:56] There are 1,700 similar plants.

[19:59] >> If we outfit every eligible plant uh in

[20:03] the United States today, it reduces our

[20:06] oil imports by roughly the quantity of

[20:08] Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and a couple of

[20:10] more countries.

[20:11] >> Still, green fuel faces challenges like

[20:14] how to ensure it would cost less to

[20:16] build and operate the algae units than

[20:18] the cost of the fuel they produce. But

[20:20] we believe that we have a team that's

[20:22] strong enough to deal with all the

[20:24] challenges and to find the right

[20:25] solutions.

[20:26] >> Execs are negotiating with nearly two

[20:28] dozen electrical generators worldwide.

[20:30] Companies which could make hard green

[20:32] cash out of slimy green algae. Mont

[20:35] Fennel Nightly Business Report

[20:37] Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[20:39] >> Tomorrow, finding new ways to power the

[20:41] nation. We begin a special series on

[20:43] alternative energy called Power

[20:46] Struggle.

[21:15] Heat.

[21:39] Heat.

[22:03] Heat. Heat.

[22:07] Here's

[22:24] a look now at what's happening tomorrow.

[22:26] Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Berneni

[22:28] speaks in New York City. Also tomorrow,

[22:30] October, durable goods, existing home

[22:32] sales, and the Conference Board's

[22:34] November Consumer Confidence Index.

[22:37] Tonight's commentator sees positive

[22:39] signs ahead for the US economy. He's

[22:41] Bernard Bow Maul, director of the

[22:43] economic outlook group.

[22:46] >> With the new year just weeks away, what

[22:48] can we expect of the economy in 2007?

[22:51] Some forecasters warn the pullback in

[22:54] housing will either drag the economy

[22:55] into recession or condemn it to a feeble

[22:58] 2% growth rate next year. But some new

[23:02] reports suggest we could see a more

[23:03] vibrant economy, one growing at a lively

[23:06] 3 to 4% pace. What will fuel this

[23:09] activity? First, the seeds of a housing

[23:12] recovery are moving into place. With

[23:15] mortgage rates the lowest since January,

[23:17] home affordability is rising. Builders

[23:20] report seeing serious buyers again. In

[23:23] fact, sales of new homes have turned up

[23:25] the last few months, and the inventory

[23:27] of unsold houses has been falling. There

[23:30] are more promising signs. Unemployment

[23:32] is at multi-year lows and real wages are

[23:35] rising at the fastest pace in nearly a

[23:38] decade. In addition, household wealth

[23:40] keeps climbing. The stock market has

[23:42] enriched investors by 2.7 trillion this

[23:45] year, which more than offsets the 750

[23:48] billion in losses from falling home

[23:50] values. All these factors should propel

[23:53] growth in the months ahead. This leaves

[23:56] us with one big concern, inflation. The

[23:59] combination of a stronger economy and

[24:01] fewer available workers could lead to

[24:04] excessive wage inflation and that is

[24:06] enemy number one at the Federal Reserve.

[24:09] So while the economy is set to stage a

[24:11] comeback in 2007, the price will

[24:14] probably be higher interest rates later

[24:16] in the year. I'm Bernard Bow.

[24:18] >> Recapping today's market action, the Dow

[24:20] takes a dive on concerns about the

[24:22] dollar. The blue chips lose 158 points.

[24:24] NASDAQ falls 54. To learn more about the

[24:27] stories in tonight's broadcast, go to

[24:29] nightly business report on pbs.org.

[24:32] >> And finally tonight, the 12 days of

[24:34] Christmas are going to cost you more

[24:36] this year. PNC Wealth Management

[24:39] calculated the cost of the items from

[24:40] the song The 12 Days of Christmas. And

[24:43] this year, they're up 3% to almost

[24:45] $19,000.

[24:47] A big jump in pear tree prices led to a

[24:49] 44% increase in the cost of a partridge

[24:52] in a pear tree. Also rising, the price

[24:54] of four calling birds, but but turtle

[24:57] doves and French hens were unchanged.

[24:59] Prices for golden rings, geese of

[25:01] laying, swans of swimming, and maids of

[25:04] milking held steady. But rising skilled

[25:06] labor costs meant a 4% jump in salaries

[25:09] for nine ladies dancing and 3% raises

[25:12] for the lords of leaping, pipers piping,

[25:14] and drummers drumming. And Paul, you

[25:17] won't save any money by buying these

[25:19] items online because don't forget, you

[25:20] have to pay for the shipping cost

[25:22] >> at these prices. We're going to have to

[25:23] cut it back to the 10 days of Christmas.

[25:27] >> That's Nightly Business Report for

[25:28] Monday, November 27th. I'm Susie Garup.

[25:30] Good night, everyone. Good night to you,

[25:32] Paul.

[25:32] >> Good night, Susie. I'm Paul Kangas,

[25:34] wishing all of you the best of goodbyes.

[25:37] >> Nightly Business Report is made possible

[25:40] by Franklin Templeton Investments. Our

[25:44] unique perspective helps us see domestic

[25:46] and international markets in a different

[25:48] light.

[25:51] Franklin Templeton Investments

[25:54] gain from our perspective

[25:57] >> and by AG Edwards.

[26:01] This program was made possible by

[26:03] contributions to your PBS station from

[26:06] viewers like you. Thank you.

[26:12] Stay with OPB. The NewsHour with Jim

[26:14] Larer is next.