>> tom: five days and counting until election day, and this year, the tea party's influence is strong. >> we know that, in most polls, most americans say that they think it is very important to address the deficit and the debt issue. >> susie: a look at tea party economics in our coverage, "midterm 2010: it's the economy". you're watching "nightly business report" for thursday, october 28. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. with just a few days to go until the election, analysts are still predicting big republican gains

and a strong role for the tea party in the coming congress. >> tom: in the past, divided government has been good for investors. >> susie: but whether that holds true now may depend on the economic medicine the tea party is ready to prescribe. tonight, darren gersh continues our "midterm 2010: it's the economy" coverage with a closer look at tea party economics. >> reporter: matt kibbe helped write the book on tea party economics. his group, freedomworks, is also a big funder of the movement. kibbe says tea partiers have two key concerns about a government they consider out of control. >> one is that the government is spending too much money it doesn't have and, two, that it is getting involved in too many things, like the takeover of health care, like the running of car companies, like sitting on bank boards that it shouldn't be

doing and can't possibly do well. >> reporter: the tea party began as a protest movement, so it may not be surprising that it's easier to identify what tea partiers are against than the detailed economic policies they support. still, polls show those who identify themselves as tea party supporters are more likely to favor tax cuts than most other voters. and while they believe in deficit reduction, tea partiers haven't given their candidates clear marching orders on where to begin, says the american enterprise institute's karlyn bowman. >> we know that, in most polls, most americans say that they think it is very important to address the deficit and debt issue. but it is not clear that they are willing to make any difficult choices or tough cuts, overall. that also applies to the tea partiers. >> reporter: many in the tea party are also concerned about what they see as the cozy relationship between big business and big government. six out of ten tea partiers say the government shouldn't have bailed out wall street or the auto makers, a much higher percentage than the national average.

and then there is this big economic institution-- the federal reserve. after the election, the fed is expected to launch a new round of asset purchases to fight deflation. known as quantitative easing, that policy is likely to be very unpopular with tea party candidates who are expected to win their races next tuesday. >> the fed has gotten very politicized. and quantitative easing, from my point of view, is code for tarp two. we're going to do a second round of bailouts. >> reporter: the true test of whether there is such a thing as tea party economics will come after the election, when it's time for the candidates who do end up here to turn their campaign rhetoric into legislative reality. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: as darren mentioned, the fed is expected to announce details next week of its latest effort to stimulate the economy. that effort likely will include the fed buying government bonds, hoping to put more money into the economy. the anticipation has seen the dollar dropping over the past several weeks, making it more

expensive for other countries to buy certain commodities, like food and energy. this week, officials in china and brazil separately voiced concern about currencies and inflation. china's commerce minister said the fed's "issuance of dollars is out of control. china is being attacked by imported inflation." tim mulholland of china-america capital said the fed's quantitative easing policy could have an unintended global consequence. >> i think the risks to the global recovery and to the united states of that policy is that it could have a very bad bubble effect in developing countries, which could cause policies which try and correct those bubbles, which could cause a contraction in economic activity in the countries that are providing strength for the entire world right now. >> tom: the concerns aren't limited to developing economies. germany's economic minister has called the likely fed effort the wrong way to stimulate growth. >> susie: here are the stories in tonight's "n.b.r. newswheel."

concerns about the fed's next move had investors on the sidelines-- the dow fell 12 points, but the nasdaq gained four and the s&p 500 rose a point. trading volume dipped slightly from yesterday's levels on both the nyse and the nasdaq. some optimism in the latest employment numbers-- new claims for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 in the last week to 434,000. most economists expected an increase in claims." the new york times" is reporting china has ended its ban on exports of rare earth minerals. shipments of those minerals to the u.s., europe, and japan have been on hold. rare earth metals are used in high-tech items like cell phones, wind turbines, and hybrid cars. >> tom: still ahead, more and more americans are wondering if we're losing our competitive edge. we tackle that question in tonight's "two ways to play." >> susie: halloween costumes will be sold out or packed up by the beginning of next week, and the same goes for many of the stores that sell them.

those temporary locations are called pop-up stores, and this year, there are 15,000 seasonal halloween stores, up 15% from a year ago, according to research firm i.b.i.s. world. erika miller looks at why pop-ups are growing in popularity. >> reporter: fiends and ghouls aren't the only things making an appearance this time of year. many seasonal stores have also been also popping up. spirit of halloween is operating 850 temporary stores nationwide for exactly a month. christina norsig of pop-up insider helps merchants find short-term space. >> what you are seeing now is there's a 13% retail vacancy rate around the country. as a result of that, we're seeing a lot of empty storefronts, and owners are more receptive to the idea of having a temporary tenant. >> reporter: pop-up stores are not just for seasonal retailers. some consumer products companies also use them to create buzz

about a brand, like this pop-up store for pop-tarts. in the case of pop-tarts, the product gains visibility it would never get on store shelves. a temporary location can also be a good way to try a new concept, like this levi's photo workshop in new york city. retail real estate expert faith hope consolo says pop-ups are being used by many fashion designers this year. >> this is a good market for brands to test a new style, a new venue, or just a neighborhood that they would have never gone into. >> reporter: so what happens when the real estate market recovers? will pop-ups fizzle? >> in my opinion, i think the trend as a marketing tool is hear to stay. it's what i call "bricks, clicks and quicks." it's the bricks and mortar stores. it's the clicks, which is the internet. and "quicks," meaning "temporary retail," is now a tool in the arsenal of every retailer. >> reporter: they are also a tool for landlords, a way to bring traffic to a neighborhood. they also know a short-term

rental can sometimes lead to a long-term one. >> it brings attention to the property, and what happens is maybe a retailer that was thinking about it can see the store in action. >> reporter: of course, whether the lease is extended depends on the type of merchandise being sold. after all, who wants to look at this face after halloween? erika miller, "nightly business report," new york.

>> tom: we may live in a youth obsessed culture but there is no denying we are getting older. as are most of the developed economies such as japan and europe. even china is racing to get rich before it gets old. ted fishman is author of "shock of gray" examining the agesing of the global population and its economic consequences. welcome to nightly business report. glad to see you. so does an older population equate to a richer economy? >> it equates in this way which is populations age when they get richer. when they urbanize, when people have fewer children, when they can pour more resources into those children so that they are well educated and great workers. then over time they do age. >> tom: and then do we wind up seeing these economies like we've sean in the last 30 years or so outsourcing certain lower level paying jobs to less developed younger economys? >> yeah, this is kind of the blowback of our success. we develop a rich society. we make a promise to

ourselves that we'll provide for ourselves in old age and then when we get there the industries that employ us, say hey, we don't want to be part of that deal even though you do. so they look for ways to disemploy older people or to change the terms of their employment. >> tom: we're seeing this clearly in the united states with social security and medicare but this goes beyond just a baby boom in the u.s., doesn't it . >> sure this is a global phenomenon and some countries are front-running us on it. >> paul: . >> tom: which ones. >> japan of course. the oldest country in the world. it's workers were scarce when they made the lifetime employment deal to stay at their companies for their life but as soon as they reached 60 their companies want them out. and as soon as they reach 60 plus 1 day, they want them back for half the pay. and you know this is kind of the trend. we see increasing numbers of old people working but they're working on very, very different terms. >> tom: you highlight two american cities in the book. you look at sar societya florida and the gulf coast

and you look at rockford illinois and the upper midwest. both of these cities have pretty close to the same median age, around 40 years old or so and both of them with the same, pretty similar median household incomes around 38 to 39,000 dollars but sar societya a service type oriented-- sar society a a service oriented economy but rockford its roots in manufacturing. how are these places approach approaching aging. >> their demographics make them twins but they don't feel like twins. rockford for most of the 20th century is one of the richest in america. now it is on very hard times. it has lost many of its manufacturing jobs. it's reworked the terms under which older workers in manufacturing are employed. and young people are leaving. the well educated young don't stay there. you go there, and the place feels like it's telling people when they are 50 years old, you are old.

>> tom: meantime sarasota is seen in popular culture as a place to go retire. so it would i imagine you would see a lot of older americans. >> you see a lot of older americans but it feels so differently because they've staked their economic future on the aging of america. on the aging of the world. so if you go there when you are 60, you might have felt old when you were 50 in rockford but you go to sarasota when you are 60 and everything about the city is telling you you are young. >> tom: what about the next younger economies you see in the world that are developing these types of economies that are the beneficiary of this trend? >> you know, they are part of this trend too. you know, what started me on the book was going to china and seeing fantastic young cities. those young cities are turning into older places because once a young economy urbanizes, the birth rate goes down. education goes up. and they start the cycle all over again, rinse and repeat. >> tom: so speak of rinse and repeating, have we seen

this fully cycle through? in other words, what is the inevitable conclusion of this developing economy, younger workers, getting older, shipping jobs and production elsewhere to lower cost economies. >> you would like to think that places that have really driven their populations down, japan will be half its size at the end of the country than it is today. we'll start having more and more children. but we can't says that's going to happen. because the reason birth rates are down is because of urbanization. people aren't moving back into the country, aren't releasing their children to work on farms. i think the aging trend is here to say. we'll be getting older and older. >> tom: can't stop the march of time. >> can't stop the march of time. >> tom: appreciate the insight. ted fishman is our guest, the author of "shock of gray" >> susie: interesting interview, tom. and everybody is so focused on the job market. we're going to get new employment numbers next week. also investors are waiting for that as well as what the fed is going to do next week. so the markets are just on hold until then. >> tom: absolutely. three big things going on for next week, right, the election, the federal

reserve, and of course jobs as you mentioned. and old americans clearly have been impacted by this jobs recession we have had over the past couple of years but let's wrap it up in tonight's market focus. another mixed market today, but with very little movement for the major indices. that's been the trend over the past several days. on the upside today-- health care. it was the leading sector, driven by some positive earnings announcements. biopharmaceutical maker celgene was the sector leader today, up 3%. earnings were up thanks to strong growth of a blood cancer treatment. that allowed celgene to raise its outlook, too. pharmacy benefits manager cardinal health was up almost 3%. better than expected earnings and what it called more confidence in achieving the higher end of its guidance helped the stock today. and biogen idec hit a new 52- week high. better than expected earnings

were out tuesday, but shares keep rallying. meantime, we continue to see the most economically sensitive sectors pressure the market. today, that meant stocks like 3m-- industrials. here are the results that hit investors today. while they were two cents better than estimates, it was slow growth in the u.s. and europe. it may be best known for post-it notes and scotch tape, but it warns a film it makes to enhance lcd flat panel television screens is down due to too much inventory. all this hit the stock for almost 6%, and on big volume. the drop to around $85 is 3m's lowest price in a month. it was the biggest loser among dow industrial components the b.p. oil leak in the gulf of mexico may be capped, but new questions are being asked about the cement halliburton used on the well as it was being drilled. shares plummeted 8%. the white house commission investigating the spill said b.p. and halliburton knew of problems with the cement mixture

and design before the disaster began in april. halliburton said it's reviewing the report. while we're talking energy, the largest company in the u.s. by market value, exxon, turned in better than expected results. no surprise that higher energy prices helped it bottom line. shares had a small reaction-- trading up less than 1%. shares continue trading around six-month highs. microsoft climbed 3% in after- hours after reporting solid demand for window's 7 and office suite products in the last quarter. the software giant's profits easily topped the $5 billion mark, or 62 cents per shares. that's seven cents above analysts estimates, thanks to a pick-up in i.t. spending. the latest release of its hit video game "halo" also helped. shares came into the report at their highest level since early august. they were trading as high as $27 a share after the close. if that level holds, that would be a six-month high. one more note from technology-- from optical equipment makers.

several took nosedives today when oclaro saw higher costs leading to a big drop in quarterly profits. earnings and its outlook were disappointing. shares lost more than a third of their value. it hit j.d.s. uniphase and finisar as well. finally, a correction-- last night, i mentioned, as part of conocophillips' restructuring strategy, it was trying to sell a liquefied natural gas project in australia. that is incorrect. it is talking with potential buyers for gas from that project. that is tonight's "market focus."

>> susie: there are two sides to every trade, two sides to an issue, and two ways to play things. tonight, we look at two sides of the challenge of global competitiveness. here's "two ways to play" with kevin depew of minyanville.com. >> kevin, some people are saying that the u.s. has lost its edge. make a case that the u.s. is in jeopardy. >> not too hard. that nine years of war on multiple fronts. we have a severe financial crisis that we are only now trying to work our way out of. we see the nationalization of fannie mae, freddie mac, general motors, a massive banking bailout from that standpoint i guess you could say we have lost our competitive edge. simultaneously we have the rise of china, india, emerging markets such as brazil. so you know, we're in a tough spot right now. >> susie: other people will say the u.s. is more than holding its own against its rivals. gifers-- gives the other perspective. >> in spite of what we might feel the reality is that the united states has enjoyed

competitive advantages for decades now. if you go back to the 80s when the emergence of japan and coming into the united states buying assets, expanding their automotive manufacturing, people said the 80s that america had lost its competitive edge to japan. we've been through this before. and we're still in a bad global neighborhood, the best in the block that is probably safe to say. >> let me put you on the spot. where do you stand on this issue? what is your opinion. >> in terms of competitive edge, to me it seems like a very useful and entertaining political reference tool. when you are on the campaign trail you have this neglect miff mood, and feelings, it is easy to say america we need to regain our competitive edge. it is a rallying cry more than anything else am but we are in a global economy now. so companies, individual companies need to focus on competitiveness. i don't think outside of the political arena that it is anything more than really a sound bite because here in america we have companies based here who enjoy massive profitability from oversea sales. so while in the aggregate in

that top down level we may look that we're not as competitive, from the bottom up on a human action basis i think we are still, this is the best place to be >> tom: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: third quarter g.d.p. the first report is out, along quarterly results from chevron, cigna and merck. also tomorrow, our "market monitor" guest says gold has done no better than other commodity prices since march of last year, so why all the hype? he's james paulsen, chief investment strategist at wells capital management. >> susie: general motors announced big moves today aimed at improving its balance sheet. the auto maker will cut debt and pension obligations by $11 billion. that includes buying back nearly $2 billion in g.m. shares from uncle sam, and paying off a loan of nearly $3 billion from the united auto workers union. g.m. will also pump $6 billion in stock and cash into its under-funded pension plan. next month, the company is expected to offer shares to the public once again.

>> tom: a major recall from nissan. japan's third-largest auto maker is recalling three-quarters of a million vehicles in the u.s. and another two million worldwide. the company is fixing a problem that could cause engine stalling in some nissan and infiniti trucks and suvs. the affected vehicles include model year 2004 to 2006 armadas, titans and infiniti qx-56s. also included-- nissan frontiers, pathfinders and x-terras built in 2005 and 2006.

>> susie: are you tired yet? tonight's commentator is, and he's ready for the midterm elections to be over. here's doug holtz-eakin, president of the american action forum and former director of the congressional budget office. >> electoral fatigue is setting in. you have probably seen too many attack ads and heard too many pundits opine about the major issues driving the electorate. you know that jobs and federal spending are the top two issues on voters minds, but that lost jobs-- their jobs-- and campaign spending are the top two issues on candidates' minds. and you have probably developed your personal theory on how the election outcome will influence president obama: will he tack to the center and work with republicans, or continue a hard charge to the left to energize his sagging base? it's hard to think of something unique to say about the midterm elections, but i'm watching them closely because politics is about to change.

it has to change. the united states has been on a fiscal joyride that must stop, or else the ending will resemble "thelma and louise." the laws of finance do not support the way the president's budget has planned to spend and borrow the way that the spending requires. the tsunami is so large that it is impossible to tax enough to pay for it or grow fast enough to absorb it. spending must be cut. conventional wisdom says cutting spending is bad politics. candidates that even hint at it are accused of lacking compassion for seniors, the indigent, and babies, among other things. but if we don't cut spending, those same seniors, indigents, and babies will see their last glimpse of hope in the rearview mirror as we descend into an abyss of debt. something has to give. polls say voters will reward the fiscally frugal. i hope they are right. i'm doug holtz-eakin. >> susie: and finally, a real book about life at an advertising agency from a fictional character, "mad men's" roger sterling. the book, "sterling's gold: wit

and wisdom of an ad man," is due out next month. "mad men" viewers will remember that the writing of the book was a sub-plot last season. it compiles roger sterling's best one-liners from the show, and was written by "mad men" creator matt weiner. tom, subjects include advertising, clients, and management insights. i know are you a fan, so am i, we both want to know what is going to happen next season. >> tom: a perfect book to curl up with maybe a martini or two. >> that's fitsing. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for thursday, october 28. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everybody. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in: to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. pbs.