major averages tumbled over 6%. it's "nightly business report" for friday, september 23. 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. my colleague tom hudson is on assignment. what a difference a day makes.

stock averages were up slightly, rebounding from yesterday's brutal selloff. but the gains were small as investors continue to worry about an escalation of the european debt crisis. investors shrugged off a statement from the group of 20 finance ministers meeting in washington, saying they are committed to prevent a financial crisis. let's take a look at today's closing numbers. the dow rose 37 points, the nasdaq added 27 and the s&p tacked on almost seven. for the week, the dow fell 737 points, or 6.4%, its worst week in almost three years. the nasdaq tumbled 139 points on the week, or 5%. and the s&p 500 down almost 80 points on the week, or 6.5%. commodities also got hammered this week. investors dumped gold, silver and copper-- rushing to raise cash. gold tumbled more than $100 to $1,640 today and lost 10% on the week.

silver plunged 26% over the last five trading sessions. and copper posted a loss of 16% for the week. suzanne pratt talked with investors and traders to gauge the mood on wall street as a nasty week came to an end. >> reporter: this is what the new york stock exchange looks like on a day that's not dominated by a massive rout. still, traders say don't let the calm and quiet fool you. even though investors took a break from dumping stocks, there's no doubt they're still running scared. broker doreen mogavero says she wanted to see some real buying today. >> people would've naturally thought that it was an oversold condition yesterday, and wanted to get in and buy and look for good prices and buy stocks today. and, that didn't really happen. so, i think i'm going to consider it a winning day if we just sort of end where we started. >> reporter: others say the fact that the selling didn't continue today was good enough for them. consider that in this week,

investors are now sensing the u.s. economy and many parts of the global economy are headed for recession. that is not a friendly climate for equities, and experts say then there's also the problem of the calendar. >> september historically is a terrible month, and i think that more bad things usually happen in september, and that's also weighing on the markets. people are wondering what will be the next bad thing happening. >> reporter: the dow has lost about 16% from this year's high. still, many global markets are already down even more than 20%. that's the definition of a bear market. still, market pro scott wren doesn't think the u.s. is headed for a bear market. >> i think we're in a major league period of uncertainty that caused a lot of volatility. we may hit that 20% down. it's not much lower than what we saw really over night and very early this morning, but for me i don't think that's going to be a

pattern. in other words, i don't think this is the beginning or part of a bear market. >> reporter: no doubt stock investors are happy to say good riddance to this week. next week, however, may also be tough. not only is europe still a dark cloud hanging over the market, but it's the last week of the quarter, and that can also mean volatility. suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: still ahead on the program, our "market monitor" guest chris orndorff says there are still places to invest and make money in the market. he'll tell us where to find them. the senate today tabled a short- term funding bill that would keep aid flowing to disaster victims and keep federal agencies open. the house passed the measure, including over $3.5 billion for disaster aid, but it was contingent on cuts in two loan programs. the democratically controlled senate objected to those cuts, saying they would kill jobs. government agencies will shut

down if congress can't get the bill passed by october 1, the beginning of the u.s. fiscal year. harsh criticism and tough questions today for executives from solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar panel maker. but solyndra executives declined to answer lawmaker questions at a congressional hearing over half a billion dollars in government loan guarantees. >> i want to ask mr. harrison if he thinks the american people, who invested over half a billion dollars, deserve to know what happened to that money. >> on the advice of my counsel, i invoke the right afforded to me by the fifth amendment of the constitution and i respectfully decline to answer any questions. >> reporter: that was the only answer a house subcommittee on oversight heard from solyndra c.e.o. brian harrison and chief financial officer william stover. solyndra was the first solar maker to receive stimulus dollars back in 2009. as recently as august, the company told government

officials everything was okay and that its business was growing. that's why many lawmakers were surprised when solyndra shuttered its operations, sought bankruptcy protection and laid off 1,100 workers, moves that left uncle sam on the hook for $535 million in loan guarantees. congressional lawmakers focused on those loans, but with no explanations from solyndra, representative henry waxman soon gave up. >> i want assert the fact that think it's unseemly and inappropriate for members to ask questions that they know you won't answer. you do have a privilege under the u.s. constitution not to answer these questions. should you answer any of these questions, you may well have waived your rights. >> reporter: analyst stuart sweet says the solyndra scandal could set back the struggling solar industry. >> trying to collect electricity through solar panels is just not

cost-effective. they need very large subsidies from the government to compete. and some of these tax credits that have been popping up for the renewable energy industry will be taken away. >> susie: as for what's next for solyndra? the company has halted its operations while it tries to reorganize and remains under federal scrutiny. also under scrutiny? fannie mae. the federal housing finance agency's inspector general out says fannie mae failed to monitor foreclosure proceedings after the housing bubble burst. the report says fannie allowed law firms working for it to sign off on documents they hadn't read, or fake signatures on foreclosures. the so-called robo-signing scandal led to a suspension of foreclosures last fall. the report also said the housing regulator needs more help monitoring fannie mae and that only a third of its inspectors are federally accredited.

>> susie: it was a quieter day here at the new york stock exchange, but stocks still see- sawed between red and green. let's take a look in tonight's "market focus." many investors spent today snapping up beaten-down stocks from yesterday's selloff. financials benefited from that bottom fishing. morgan stanley led the move higher. the stock jumped 5%, analysts defending the brokerage firm's ability to manage its risk

exposure to french banks. bank of america rose 4%. it was the best performer in the dow 30. it's reportedly in talks to sell a commercial mortgage portfolio to fortress investments. and citi shares adding 4%. also strong on the dow? mcdonald's. as we told you last night, it's boosting its quarterly dividend to 70 cents a share. the stock rose more than $1 to $87.37 a share. but h.p. was one of the biggest losers on the dow-- investors still not convinced new c.e.o. meg whitman can fix the struggling tech giant. the stock closed today at $22.32, a six-year low. a lot of interest in amazon today. the company said it will hold a special event in new york city next wednesday. shares rose slightly to $223 a share on speculation amazon will launch a kindle-style tablet computer.

some earnings news today moving two big cap stocks. nike surging over 5% on those solid earnings we told you about last night, up more than $4 dollars to $88.64 a share. k.b. home today said its third- quarter loss widened, but the stock rose 3% after the builder said it has resolved issues surrounding chinese drywall. airline stocks took flight today, despite growing worries about a global recession. the thinking is falling energy prices will help the industry cope with a drop in demand. j.p. morgan today raised its outlook for the group. delta, u.s. airways and united continental each gained over 6%. diane eastabrook will have more on the outlook for airlines a little later in the program. our "market monitor" tonight says the stock market will be flat for the year, but volatile. he's chris orndorff, senior portfolio manager of western asset management. hi, chris, nice to you have black. >> hi, susie, thanks very much.

>> susie: well, let's talk a little bit about this volatility. we have seen days where we've had triple-digit gains in the markets and triple digit huge triple digit losses. what is going to break the cycle? >> well, really it's going to be the problems in europe. the markets will continue to be volatile until that european situation is resolved. and in this environment really the best solution for investors is to focus on income. and i think the best way to do that is look at high-yield bonds. investors should not be fool mood thinking because of low treasury yield that there is knoll vah in bonds. >> we're going to get to your picks in just a moment but let me followup on this european situation. how much longer is this european debt crisis going to weigh on u.s. markets, do you think? >> it could take weeks or months. it's however long it takes to get it resolved. and really if you boil it down to its most base issue, what we are really talk approximating about here is how much each country is wig to give up some independence. for the peripheral countries

like greece, it's how much do they want to be told what to do, and for the core countries like germany it is how much do they want to fund everyone else's mistakes. and those are very difficult questions to answer. i think for the u.s. the best way we can help them is to show some clear sighs of economic acceleration. >> susie: let's move on and talk about some of your recommendations. at the top of your list is this close end fund that does focus on high yield-- high-yield bonds, western asset global high income fun, ticker symbol ehi. as we see here on this 52 week chart, shares been sliding, so tell us why this is attractive? >> it a good value play right now. it is running at a yield greater than 9%. corporations are flush with cash. interest expense is very low as a percent of revenues. what that means is that these bonds are swrenly safer than the market is pricing in. and there is a good time to buy. this closed-end fund is also trading at a discount.

>> let's move to your next pick, you're recommending the wisdom tree india earning fund. this is an etf it was trading at about 28 dollars, about a year ago and now it's around 18 dollars, what is the story here, why do you like it? >> well, india sun with of the few countries where economic growth is actually increasing. i expect seven and a half percent growth this year and 8% next year adjusted for inflation. if there is any kind of positive surprise in the global economy, the share of this etf will do very well over the next six months and i expect it is also a very good long-term hold much like the high income fund that we talked about previously. >> so even though people are talking a lot of analysts and economists have been telling us that there could be a global recession. you think india will be spared from that? >> i think the level of domestic demand in india as we develop a rising middle class is going to largely dampen some of that volatility that may be caused by some of the global problems. it is a very good value

right now. >> so staying on this international theme, are you recommending another international etf. you described it as a mexican key build fund. tell us why you like currency shares, mexican peso trust, the tick are there sxm. >> this is really a contrarian play, also a value play. investors are treating mexico like it is the 1990s. and a lot has changed since then. mexico is one of the best central banks in the world and trade flows, positive trade flows and interest rates will be very supportive of the currenc currency-- currency which also helps the share price go higher. >> let's review some of the picks that you recommended back in march when you were on the program. there were three of them. a western asset mortgage defined opportunity fund, down a bit from when you were last year. -- up strongly, that long-term treasury etf and the australian dollar exchange traded fund also down a bit since your last appearance. what are your thoughts on these. do you still own them?

>> i still do. the mortgage fund i think is a good long-term hold plus it's paying an 8% yield. it's an excellent place to keep your money. with the treasury long-term treasury fund i think i probably take my profits right now and likewise in the answer dollar it is probably time to helpfully you sold it last month and took some profits at that point. >> all right, so just to wrap things up, chris, what would you say is the theme of your investment strategy at this point? >> at this point it's a great opportunity for value investors. there's a lot of value in the market. and it's really a global them. there's a lot of opportunity on fixed income instruments and things that have been beaten down a little bit where the fundamentals are much stronger than the market is currently pricing at. >> all right. any disclosures to make. do you own any of these stocks. >> i own all of them. >> susie: all right that is a strong recommendation. thank you so much for congress the program. >> thanks very much, susie, good to see you.

>> susie: same here. our market monitor tonight chris orndorff, senior portfolio manager of western asset management. >> reporter: i'm erika miller. coming up, brooks brothers has been outfitting men for almost 200 years. we'll tell you how the company is trying to appeal to the new generation. >> susie: the nation's airlines are bracing themselves for a double dip recession. earlier this week, united continental airlines said it's trimming capacity even more in the coming months, and american warned that it could lose money into next year. as diane eastabook reports, this is a big departure from what had been a promising year. >> reporter: this year, things were finally looking up for u.s. airlines, allowing carriers to raise fares. through august, passenger yields-- the price consumers pay to fly one mile-- were up nearly 10% over the previous year. but now the chill of autumn is bringing with it fears of a global recession. airlines have responded by grounding planes and eliminating routes.

that's giving standand & poor's airline analyst philip baggaley a feeling of deja vu. >> that's what happened in 2009. although the airlines were already cutting capacity in response to high fuel prices, once you had an outright recession the revenues fell and the losses ballooned. >> reporter: while the fourth quarter is typically a slow time for airlines, the next one could be especially challenging. the travel website orbitz says while reservations for air travel around christmas look somewhat better than last year, reservations for thanksgiving so far are down. baggaley says that could be a sign leisure travelers are curtailing trips. >> business travel could follow. if companies think the economy is weakening, they need to be more cautious they may start to pull back, even though their profits currently are pretty good. so the order is likely to be first the consumers, then the business. >> reporter: the good news is airlines are in a much better position to weather a recession than they were a few years ago.

fare hikes earlier this year helped carriers build up cash reserves. morningstar airline analyst basili alukos thinks that could give them some wiggle room if traffic falls. >> for the airlines, since oil prices have fallen and they didn't have the out of the money hedges they had in 2008, i think they will have some willingness and the ability to actually lower their ticket prices to assure that demand doesn't fall too dramatically without sacrificing profitability. >> reporter: both alukos and baggaley say american airlines is the most vulnerable carrier. a-m-r didn't reorganize in bankruptcy a decade ago like some of its competitors, so its costs are higher. still, they say american and other airlines could survive another recession, as long as it's a short one. diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," chicago. >> susie: here's what we're watching for next week: sam stovall joins us on friday to wrap up wall street's third quarter. and we'll get an update on the

housing market with the reports on new home sales and home prices. and monday, it's our "word on the street." thestreet.com's chief market strategist, robert walberg, joins us for the latest on the markets. >> susie: a "for sale" sign could be hanging at the world's top market for industrial metals. the london metal exchange said today it's considering selling, after receiving several inquiries. record trading volumes for commodities have made the exchange an attractive takeover target. the banks and trading houses that own the london exchange have hired an advisor, but say it may or may not lead to a deal. the exchange accounts for 80% of trading volume in global metal futures. n.b.a. players and owners still can't agree on how to share earnings. the league is canceling its first week of preseason games and postponing training camps indefinitely. the two sides are at odds over salary caps and the length of player contracts.

if there's no agreement by early october, there may be no n.b.a. preseason. regular games are still scheduled to start november first. the last and only time the n.b.a. cut games because of a lockout was in 1998. there are dozens of retailers selling suits today, but few have as distinguished a

reputation as the company we are about to profile. in tonight's "shoptalk," erika miller looks at the oldest men's clothing chain in the united states and how it's changing with the times. >> reporter: abraham lincoln was a regular customer. so were teddy roosevelt and many other u.s. presidents. barack obama even wore this brand at his inauguration. this clothing chain has also dressed many movie stars, like clark gable and fred astaire. we are talking, of course, about brooks brothers-- founded in 1818 by henry sands brooks. so who oversees this iconic american brand now? it's italian billionaire claudio del vecchio. >> the benefit is that i come in, i participate in meetings and i have a little bit different perspective, sometimes, that companies that have only americans don't have. >> reporter: del vecchio's private holding company, retail brand alliance, bought brooks brothers from the british firm marks and spencer a decade ago.

but some things haven't changed. brooks brothers has been headquartered out of this store on madison avenue for the past century. >> many people think of brooks brothers as offering traditional clothing, but the company has introduced many fashion innovations to the u.s. market throughout its history. it introduced the first ready- made suits as well as the silk foulard tie, which is what most men wear to the office today. and don't forget the button-down shirt. >> the people that really inspired us were the polo players in england. they didn't want their collars to flap around, so they put two buttons there. we saw that and said, "oh, it can be a nice shirt." >> reporter: brooks brothers takes pride in being both merchant and maker. but occasionally, you'll also see other brands here too-- like levi's jeans. >> i think it's giving some new young customers one more reason to come here. >> reporter: brooks brothers has been benefiting from a resurgence in suit purchases. n.p.d.'s marshal cohen says "dress down" is going out of style, even among younger men.

>> we are now moving into a new cycle, which is dressing up. even the younger generation, using dressing up to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. >> reporter: but he admits, the store still faces hurdles beyond the weak economy. >> brooks brothers' biggest challenge is to continually find new customers. the same customer who is shopping in a brooks brothers specialty store could also be shopping in a department store, could also be shopping in an off-price designer outlet store. >> reporter: so let's "checkout" brooks brothers, an iconic american brand that has introduced numerous style innovations. the store is benefiting as "dress down" goes out of fashion, but it still faces a challenge winning over new customers. so what is the next chapter of this storied brand? it's venturing into home goods and expanding its children's clothing line. but we wondered about leadership and whether del vecchio would ever consider selling. >> i'm having a lot of fun coming to work in the morning. as long as i keep doing that, it's not a consideration.

>> reporter: and you can bet that whether he's in his office or walking the sales floor, he'll be impeccably dressed. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: you can keep up with n.b.r. any time. we're online at n.b.r. on pbs.org. there you'll find all the market data from the program, and you can watch any programs you may have missed. and finally, how are you feeling? has your confidence in the stock market been decimated after this raucous week of trading? that's the question we asked our facebook friends. here are a few snippets of the conversation. eric's been on the sidelines for nearly a year and started buying again two weeks ago. he says, "too bad i didn't wait another two weeks." john says he's looking for a tradeable bottom before the panic recedes. and kersi says it's all about europe's debt crisis, and "once europe takes its medicine, watch our market soar."

you can also join the conversation. we're on facebook at bizrpt. that's "nightly business report" for friday, september 23. i'm susie gharib. good night everyone. we hope to see all of you again next week. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" videos. to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. pbs.

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