tonight on "nightline," a bear of a day. fears over the stalled economy sends wall street reeling. a 500-point dump is the worst hit in years. what does it mean for your nest egg? and how bad will it get? our experts answer your most pressing questions. where the jobs are. unemployment is a national crisis, but you'd never know it here. we'll take you to the one place where economies are throwing themselves at new hires with stellar salaries and outlandish perks. but who among us has the right stuff? plus, happy birthday, mr. president. another day older, deeper in debt. president obama turns 50 today, and looks it. we examine the greatnene and the

grayness on the west wing on a day there is a not much to celebrate and a lot to wish for. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," august 4th, 2011. >> thanks for joining us, everyone, , m bill weir. well, the closing bell on wall street was hardly a death knell tonight, but it was certainly an indication of just how sick our economy is these days. and that sickness, only compounded by fear. anyone with a 401(k) can reasonable worry that unemployment might crash that euro might crash, that unemployment could get worse that recession would be our new normal. but in an effort to replace some of that fear with knowledge, we asked some smart people the four big questions of the day. so, how bad was it really? it was bad. the drop in the dow, the worst since the great recession crash of late '08. >> tough day on wall street

today. >> today's massive selloff on wall street.t. >> stocks around the world take a major tumble. >> reporter: both nasdaq and the s&p were down around 5% and today caps a brutal couple weeks. the markets have gobbled up almost $1 trillion in wealth over that stretch and the average american 401(k) is almost $12,000 lighter tonight than it was two thursdays ago. so, who is to blame? some of twitter want to pit all all of this on the smurfs. after all, the dow jones is down more than 850 points since they rang the bell. but there's a lot more legitimate anger aimim at the cartoon characters in washington. after weeks of political mud wrestling, america came within ten hours of proving to the world it can no longer pay its bills. >> there isn't much washington can do right now and even if there was, there isn't much trust they would do the right thing. >> reporter: but we can aim a stink eye at the italians, spaniards and greeks. their economies are in worse shape than ours.

and this whole selloff started when t t european markets lost faith that there's any fix for it. so guy in athens dodges his taxes and you get scalped. such is life in our ever more connected world. so, with so much gloom around the globe, is it time to sell, sell, sell? well, all the money men and women we heard from tonight say not yet. >> a snap back seems more likely, could be in the cards, definitely at a lower level after this quick hideous drop but you know what, it's a snap back. >> reporter: just about everything was down today. commodities, oil, even gold. which means today's dump was first driven by short-term investors out to make a quick buck on bad news and then accelerated by everyone else looking to get out of stocks and stick some cash in the mattress. apple, mcdonald's, walmart. all those companies are just as valuable tonight as they were this morning. and some believe corrections like this are the best time for

smart investors to find some bargains and make money. but all agree that we are in for a rough ride. but could it be so bad that we're doomed for a double dip recession? >> economists believe that there's a real chance, a real high probability that the economy will go into another recession or a double dip. >> i think the risk of a double dip recession has gone up. >> people worried about a double dip recession and i don't think that's going to happen. i think k e corporations have plenty of cash on hand. i think at some point they will start either repurchasing their shares o ostarting expanding business again when they feel the need to. >> reporter: the grindingly slow recovery got even slower in april l d may and then went backwards in june. though average folks have more savings, stores are busier and gas prices are dropping, the housing market is still brutal and unemployment continues to hang like a cement block around america's neck. >> even when there are jobs, people can't -- they're willing to relocate to get those jobs but they can't do that because they can't sell their homes. the problems seem to be

compounded all of the time in this environment. >> reporter: if tomorrow's jobs report doesn't meet or exceed expectations, brace yourself. >> make sure that you have enough cash, because this volatility will continue for awhile. second, don't panic sell unless you have to raise cash. some of these stocks will come back and just like your seat belt, be ready because this volatility is fundamentally driven and, therefore, it's going to be with us for a while. >> meanwhile, the misery moves west. the asian markets dropped. dropped since the japanese tsunami back in march. "good morning america" will have those numbers bright and early. but up next, the glimmer of light in the darkness of national unemployment. why companies are practically begging these guys to work for them.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with bill weir. >> 90,000. that's how many jobs economists think were created in july. but even if they're right, that paltry number r ll not put a debt in the unemployment rate and part of it is the skills gap across country, and silicon valley, in particular. good help is so hard to find in the tech sector, comompaes are tripping over themselves to offer cash, cool perks and swank offices. but who are they looking for exactly? here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> reporter: if you feel yourself daydreaming around the cubicle, wishing your office was more like "mad men," complete with a steady diet of booze and cigarettes -- >> does wonders for your career.

>> reporter: -- but feel more like you're stuck in "office space," living the life of a drone -- >> if they move my desk one more time, then, i'm quitting. >> reporter: -- then silicon valley may be the place for you. while so many businesses nationwide are struggling, america's newest tech companies are locked in a war for talent. and it's fueling an arms race in laid back, unorthodox office space. >> the first thing we said is that we wanted to make sure that our office is a recruiting tool. the company is only as good as the company can get. we want to hire the best people in the world and they have a lot of companies that they can work at. >> reporter: brian is co-founder of airbnb, a thriving startup that connects people around the world with unique places to vacation, by turning anyone's home into a bed and breakfast. they can't hire people fast enough. right now, on average, two new employees every single day. employees who are often being courted by other tech companies as well for their precious

software writing skills. >> people spend more time at work than they do in their home. that's a big portion of their life. we want to make sure they can look forward to coming here every single day. >> reporter: the day we visited, the sound of a bell suddenly going off wasn't a fire alarm. it was tea time. a spontaneous gathering right in the middle of the company's kitchen, of course. joe is another co-founder. >> silicon valley is heating up right now. you have other companies that are hiring amazing talent. and one of the ways we can distinguish ourselves from that was to create a one-of-a-kind workplace. >> reporter: plenty of high tech companies have cool offices. ping-pong tables along with colorful paint schemes, scooters and pets roaming free have become almost cliche. so, airbnb is upping the ante. much of the office doesn't look like an office at all. no cubicles, just loads of open space. a random piece of an airplane fuselage and replicas of some of their most sought-after vacation properties turned into meeting

rooms. what is this? >> this is actually one of the top listings on airbnb. it's the mushroom dome cabin. and it's right here in california. >> reporter: welcome to what they call the berlin room. a meeting space that is an exact replica of someone's apartment in berlin. a job that fell to office manager kelly robinson. >> the couch you see is custom made. all of the art work, you know, we had an artist paint them to exact replication. even the m mirrors you see, there's a hand mirror that's in the listing, you know, very antiquey kind of feel. and this lamp as well is definitely painted. all the same, all the details, these bottles were in the actual apartment. >> reporter: right about now, you might be thinking, really? come on. how can this help a business? these two unlikely looking guys are your answer. they're less than a week into working here and they had their pickckf tech company job offers thanks to some pretty heavy duty software writing brain power.

>> my interview was in the berlin room. it's wild. you are just sitting in a living room having a conversation with all the engineers. it was a pretty spectacular introduction. >> reporter: did that help seal the deal for you, being in that cool room? >> being in the space, yeah. >> reporter:r:his is a generation that incredibly demand comfort and gets it. forget the boardroom. we watched a marketing meeting taking place on couches in a corner. >> you're going to spend a lot of hours at your job, you want it to have some personality and character and a lifestyle as opposed to a 9:00 to 5:00 cubicle space. it's inspiring to work here. you want to show up. >> meetings are really painful. i think one of the reasons it's painful is the rooms are not rooms you would be in if you didn't have to be in them for a meeting. we thought, what if we have a really comfortable environment to have a a conversation? >> reporter: well-known tech writer sara lacey says this s isn't the sign of overspending at the edge of a tech bubble.

she says there's a real war on talent going on,n,ainly because of america's growing talent gap. silicon valley employers expect a 15% bump in tech jobs over the next two years but they are having a hard time finding qualified people to fill them. >> office space is kind of a symptom on the very top of the surface of a much deeper thing going on in silicon valley which is this huge talent war. look, if engineers are what are driving your business, and that one great brilliant engineer is going to make the difference, then it's worth tricking out your office. >> reporter: here's something that may surprise you. the people who put this office together say it was cheaper than if they used traditional office furniture. many of the tables and other things were picked up at flea markets and just given a fresh coat of paint. although the berlin n om wasn't necessarily cheap. what was the budget for this room? >> you'd be surprised. one of the things we really pride ourselves on is resourcefulness. the budget for this is much less than you might imagine.

>> reporter: $30,000? >> less than that. >> reporter: 20 grand? less than that. >> reporter: 15? >> we'll see. >> reporter: in silicon valley, it's the price and the style of doing business. ying to lure workers in and keep them here by making the office hipper and happier than home. i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in san francisco. >> mommas, let your babies grow up to be software engineers. thanks to neal karlinsky. and coming up, well, president obama picked a hell of a day to turn 50. and a hell of a time to be president. we'll look at the science of aging in the stressful west wing, next. but with the help of p&g and communities in schools, desiree isn't one of them. desiree received support from communities in schools. and today i'm graduating.

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since presidents are almost never re-elected when unemployment is high, it's safe to assume mr. obama was thinking jobs when he blew out his birthday candles today. after two and a half years of almost constant crisis, it's understandable why that once fresh face from illinois looks his 50 years tonight. but as abc's john donvan tells us, no man is immune to the ravages of the west wing, where the clock seems to run twice as fast. >> reporter: he's got the worst drop in the dow since 2008. >> stocks around the world take a major tumble. >> a government that came this close to facing default --

>> we are almost out of time. >> reporter: and as a result, poll numbers lower than they've ever been. so, let's just say -- ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: happy birthday, mr. president. because, that's what today is. jennifer hudson floating the song of that name at an event in his honor, and not just that. it's number 50. and so all day the inevitable comparison, oh, look at how young he looked back then, and oh, just look at him now. then. now. then. now. >> many of you knew me before i had gray hair. >> reporter: so, that gets a little laugh. but this gets a big laugh. >> mr. president, look at your hair. if your hair gets any whiter, the tea party is going to endorse it. >> reporter: the office does seem to age its occupants quickly. lincoln, going in and shortly before his death at 56, four years and look at the change. fdr going in and then at the

end, and yes, it was 12 years but he was only 63 years old. indeed, a doctor at the cleveland clinic who has made a study of presidential aging has done some calculations. >> every president from roosevelt through obama, for every year they're in office, they age two years, or they age twice as fast as the typical person in the population. >> reporter: that's based on looking back how long presidents survive once they're elected. their vital signs coming in and going out. so, ronald reagan, starting out, loloing like this, left after his two terms at a calendar 77 but a presidential accelerated age of 85. george w. bush, add two terms, that makes him calendar 62 but age accelerated 70. >> what they have that they don't take care of well is stress. >> reporter: so, there he is running on youth back in the old days. america's fifth youngest president. well, today, he turns 50, but maybe it's really 55. and tomorrow with what he'll

still be facing, you can add two days. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> happy birthday, mr. president. and our thanks to john donvan. and finally tonight, there is a verdict in the trial of warren jeffs, the leader of a polygamous religious sect. he's accused of sexually assaulting two children, little girls. his followers claim are his wives and what they call celestial marriages. after a week-long trial in texas the 55-year-old jeffs was found guilty on all counts. could face more than 100 years in prison. early on, jeffs fired his defense team and chose to represent himself, going on rambling diatribes. prosecutors introduced dna evidence and audiotapes on which they said jeffs could be heard taking advantage of a 12-year-old girl. well that is our show for tonight. thank you for watching abc news. we hope you check in on "good morning america."