>> tom: three hits and a miss-- a big earnings miss. shares of web giant google tumble in after-hours trading as earnings fall well short of estimates. but the other big technology names reporting tonight-- intel, ibm, and microsoft-- all post better than expected results. >> susie: and natural gas prices tumble to the lowest level in a decade. how those rock-bottom prices are helping users and hurting producers. it's "nightly business report" for thursday, january 19. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. one huge earnings disappointment tonight from google. quarterly earnings came in well below wall street expectations, and, susie, the reaction was swift. >> susie: google shares tumbled 10% in after-hours trading on this rare earnings miss for the web giant. it earned $9.50 a share, almost a full dollar below estimates. revenues were also less than expected, coming in at just over $8 billion. but a trio of other big technology firms reported stronger than predicted results. microsoft earnings were two

cents ahead of wall street estimates. profits at intel were three cents over what was expected. and ibm's earnings were almost a dime stronger than predicted. >> tom: so far this year, the nasdaq and its technology stocks have been the hot market, up 7% already. david garrity is principal at gva research. he joins us from the nasdaq. david, it's great to see you. we've got to start with the size abandon earnings miss at google. the stock closed down at 639 in the regular serks down around 577 afterhours. is this a hiccup in its quarterly performance or something more sustainable tow worry about? >> well, i mean, the question for google is its exposure in terms of overseas markets. the price per click that the company realized was something of a disappointment. expect had been the pricing would improve in the quarter and it looked as if price per:00 fell about 8%, primarily due to weakness in europe and to the extent google has this exposure and to the extent europe isn't going to turn around quickly

this might be something google has to work its way through. >> tom: how about any growth on the android side of the market, in that area, which has been seen for a future growth perhaps in the years ahead? >> android adoption remains very strong and it's, obviously, important for google because google wants to be as significant in the mobile internet as it is in the stationery internet, desktops and laptops. nevertheless, there are concerns in the marketplace that googles acquisition of motorola mobility, even though it may be for the intellectual property portfolio to the extent google will own a handset maker might cause some of the partners, such as samsung or h.t.c., to back off over time. >> tom: let's get to the other three earnings that beat estimates, including microsoft. shares were up 2.5% after the close, close to $29 per share. it called this holiday season its strongest ever, thanks to the entertain and device business, x-box 360. is this changing the revenue mix at microsoft? >> to some extent it is, but i

think the other piece of news that didn't necessarily grab the headlines as much, in the online service division, the bing search engine or partnership of yahoo! mist has, they have been losing substantial amountas of money and managed to cut their losses in the quarter. this is the second consecutive quarter where they've seen the losses narrow and from the standpoint we could see a turnaround opener a move to break even profitability in that business it could make a big difference to microsoft's bottom line to the tune of about 25 cents a share annually, worth about $2.5 for the stock gloam microsoft brings us to intel, the chip maker, about $26 per share in afterhours trading. has it weathered the shift we from personal computers? >> obviously, that's going to remain anaissue for intel, given just their dominance in that form factor. we think the flooding in thailand which caused the channel to get drawn down, something that affected nighs as well will pass and to the except we see a rebuild we think intel

will be able to offset the end market weakness in the calendar fourth quarter of the first half of 2012. >> tom: ibm, also, out with numbers. it regained what it's lost during the regular session after the close, close to $186 per share late today. relief this corporate customers are still buying services? >> obviously, how long they continue to do that, if we see an uncertainty economic environment, remains to be seen. but to the extent that ibm's management team, even under their new c.e.o., is sticking with the five-year plan of having $20 a share in earnings is something that investors are taking great comfort in, and, obviously, the stock is showing the best after-hour performance in peacage terms of these four names. >> tom: you have the black turtleneck on today perhaps in homage to steve jobs. big profits to come soon for apple in this, or is this just a

move to diversify? >> i think it's really buttressing apple's core traditional position, the education market for years, has been an area where apple has prospeered, to the extent that they're moving more into the content business of helping to enable the creation of ebooks, to go on to their ipads and other devices. certainly, an area of sort of backfilling in this area. i think, also, as far as the education market is concerned, apple might be hurrying up a little bit to the extent amazon has come out with a new ereader, the kindle, within the last four months, and that certainly saw strong adoption. obviously, we'll see amazon's results next week. >> tom: david do you or your firm or family have positions in these stocks? >> we own apple. we own microsoft, and we own intel. and google. >> tom: david garrity air, laundry list of technology list today with gva research. >> susie: more signs of

improvement in the labor market. new claims for jobless benefits fell by 50,000 in the past week to 352,000, their lowest level in four years. meanwhile, consumer prices stayed flat in december as energy costs fell. investors welcomed those positive reports and some good earnings news from bank of america. by the closing bell, the dow rose 45 points, the nasdaq added 18, and the s&p 500 up six. >> we were warned it was going to be a bad winter and we were going to see higher bills, but that hasn't come to pass. obviously, it's been a very mild winter. >> reporter: still ahead, an unexpected boost to the bottom line for some companies-- a decade low for natural gas prices. >> susie: the south carolina primary has seen carpet-bombing ads from super-pacs. those political action committees can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. so, should investors in public companies be worried their money is going to support candidates? darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: in the 2010

election, campaign spending hit a record $4 billion. but for all the concerns about the impact of the supreme court's "citizen's united" decision unleashing corporate money, opensecrets.org says only two fortune 500 companies were active donors-- ohio-based american financial group and mgm resorts. >> companies are typically cautious animals; they want to avoid the limelight. >> reporter: target is the exception that proves the rule. in 2010, the retailer donated $150,000 to support a republican running for governor of minnesota. >> and when it was discovered that target had made this big contribution, there was a consumer backlash-- a consumer boycott by gay rights activists and moveon.org activists. and nobody wants to be the next target. >> reporter: supporters of campaign finance reform want to make sure investors know what publicly traded companies are doing with their cash. u.s. public interest research

group is asking the s.e.c. to require more timely disclosure of corporate contributions to super-pacs. >> i save up money because i really support someone or some issue, and i don't want to know that my pension fund is going behind my back and doing the opposite. >> reporter: many corporate executives have donated to super-pacs, but the only donation we could find from a publicly traded company so far in this election cycle is a $50,000 check from b/e aerospace to a super-pac supporting mitt romney. some conservatives argue there is nothing wrong with companies, public or private, funding the kind of ad campaign being run by backers of newt gingrich in south carolina. >> that seems to me classic political speech, and if you're saying that he should not be able... people should not be able to fund that kind of speech, then what does the first amendment mean, what does it protect? >> reporter: super-pacs that have reported spending almost $13 million so far in this election have not released any information about where they got

the money. we are going to get more information on super-pac donors by the end of the month, but by then, the fight for the republican nomination may be all but over. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: picture this-- the legendary eastman kodak company landed in bankruptcy court today. the filing was expected-- the 131-year-old company has been running low on cash for some time as it struggled to keep up with the rise of digital technology. kodak, once a bellwether stock in the dow jones industrial average, stopped trading here on the big board today, ending a long history as one of america's famous technology success stories. the eastman kodak story began back in 1879 when a young george eastman turned experiments in his mother's kitchen into a photography business. about a decade later, he launched kodak with the first handheld camera and the slogan, "you press the button; we do the rest." the rochester, new york, company became famous for many more

firsts: the $1 brownie camera; the first motion picture film debuted in the depression; the instamatic camera; and the invention of the first digital camera. at its peak in the early 1980s, kodak employed 130,000 workers worldwide with sales of $10 billion. today, it has just 17,000 employees. c.e.o. antonio perez blamed kodak's collapse on its competitors, saying the photo giant spent too much time and money fighting for its intellectual property. >> we have seen certain key industry players follow a litigation strategy of delay. and this has resulted in kodak not being paid what it was rightfully owed. >> susie: kodak plans to continue operating its business as it reorganizes its finances. it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy next year. our next guest tells us why many iconic companies, not just kodak, fail after being leaders

in their field. he's jeffrey sonnenfeld, professor of management at yale university school of business. jeff, nice to see you again. >> it's good to see, susie. >> susie: we know companies fail all the time but why are we recently seeing companies that have marquee names end up in bankruptcy-- kodak today, but also general motors, american airlines, barnes & noble, why is this happening? >> it is tragic when we see that portrait, and it has to do with the mindset. this is not a case of governance failures having to do with corrupt c.e.o.s that are plundering shareholder wealth or grandiost, but it's a bit of a mindset. as you saw with c.e.o. antonio perez in your piece, he's blame the competition for having done this to him. that's what capitalism is all about on the good side. he's not blame china or el nino or blaming wall street or all these different excuses. in this case, it's that

consumers and the competition and technology have changed and this company didn't stay with it. they basically were the analogy of a razor blade manufacturer that really didn't care about selling the razors. they were selling the blades. this is a company-- >> susie: you know, what's interesting is that kodak had the brand name, had the money. it even invented the digital camera, so why is it that the sonys and canons became the dominant players and kodak the also-ran? >> their technology moved ahead. the developer, as you point out, in the mid-1970s, david cesson, who is still employed at kodak, invented cigital photography but it became comoditized very quickly. we saw this happen to great companies from digital equipment, westinghouse, rca, and companies like ibm have reinvented themselves, pepsi, dell, are -- of course, apple-- is to not ride a legacy of past success, and this is a critical lesson here. this company didn't keep moving.

right now they've moved into the ink jet space. they're trying to do something different with much more valuable equipment about the it's only starting to pay off now. they didn't have enough time. they didn't stay current with change technology. they're riding on a past legacy. and entirely too complacent. it's a tragedy we see repeated so often with winning companies. >> susie: what is the lesson, or advice, perhaps, you would give technology power eds houses today like apple or google that are riding high so they don't end up the way kodak did? >> as we saw just in your opening news on the technology titans that figured themselves out, ibm is not driving their revenue off mainfreedom leases. they're reinventing themselves, and the way dell has done. intel constantly goes through points of inflection, recent venning themselves and saw good news today on intel where they know they have lost out on handsets. they're not whining about

handsets not using their chips. they moved to the ultrabox. they're constantly moving and staying ahead of where technology is evolving. >> susie: i'm sorry to interrupt again but we have less than a minute. but i want to ask you this. kodak is saying it plans to continue operating while it goes through this restructuring process. you're talking about reinventing yourself. do you think kodak will be able to reinvent itselfo is this truly the end for this iconic company? >> i'm worried about this being a likely wind-down. xerox was pearlly close to the end, but anne mull kayy was able to reinvent them, not by seeling off their core technology but not taking a nickel, a dime out of research and development. here, kodak is selling off a lot of their great intellectual property and hoping this new graphic business they're in is going to save the day and i'm just not so sure that that space isn't too crowded for them. >> susie: all right, fascinating story of a legend. thank you so much, jeff, for coming on our program. and we've been speaking with

jeffrey sonnenfeld, professor of management at yale university school of business. >> tom: we are in the throes of earning season. we mentioned the big technology earnings earlier. there were plenty more. here is tonight's "market focus." before the big google earnings disappointment, the major

indices ended at new six-month highs. bank of america led the way higher for the dow industrials, up more than 2%. volume was extremely heavy with almost a half-billion shares trading. shares have rebounded 40% since their december low. buyers may have been reacting to these results from b-of-a, earnings coming in as expected. unlike other major banks, which increased the number of loans they made last quarter, bank of america's total loans dropped. after the close tonight, american express turned results three cents stronger than anticipated, driven by higher spending by amex cardholders. still, the company increased money it has set aside for unpaid loans. amex shares were up a fraction during the regular session, but gave up those gains and then some after the close, trading closer to $50 per share.

capital one, however, was well off its closing price in after- hours trading. the stock was down as much as $2.50 from the regular session close after a big earnings miss. results were 68 cents less than what wall street expected. the company set aside more money for bad loans, even as it increased its loan business. some banks continue to lose money. morgan stanley did last quarter, but it lost less money than feared. the firm was able to reduce its exposure to european government debt by 40% since the end of last month. that may have helped today's 5% rally. there have been concerns since last summer about morgan stanley's portfolio of derivatives tied to european government ious. financial earnings weren't the only thing driving trading today. in fact, the consumer sector led the market higher today, thanks to troubled retailer sears. shares shot up almost 10% today, continuing the sharp rally since hitting $29 per share just two weeks ago. tonight, they're over $43. there are reports c.i.t. may resume making loans for sears suppliers, a key source of credit for those companies. the strongest s&p 500 stock was computer network firm f-5. shares jumped more than 10%, thanks to better than expected

earnings and a strong outlook. finally, the utility sector was the weakest today as natural gas prices continue cooling off, falling another 6% plus today. it's the eighth straight session of falling prices, down 24% during that time. susie, last winter at this time, nat gas futures were over $5. they're less than half that tonight. >> susie: tom, usually natural gas prices rise in the winter time but, already, winter is one-third over. lower natural gas prices are part of the reason producer prices fell last month by one- tenth of a percent. businesses and consumers are getting a break on lower heating costs thanks to one of the mildest winters in years. but as diane eastabrook reports, what is benefiting natural gas users is costing suppliers plenty. >> reporter: this is what

chicago is supposed to look like in the dead of winter. but this season, temperatures have been about six degrees warmer, on average, than normal. unseasonably warm winter weather across the u.s. is driving down the price of natural gas to levels not seen in a decade. dan mccauley isn't complaining. the natural gas bill for his chicago bakery was $50 lower in december than it was the previous year. >> any little bit helps, obviously, because when you think about saving a penny here, a dime there, it all adds up. >> reporter: demand, or a lack of it, isn't the only reason nat gas prices are plummeting. utilities had expected a colder than normal winter and socked away more of it last fall. on top of that, the u.s. has been producing a mother load of natural gas, thanks to new technology that enables producers to extract it from areas once unreachable. but with prices so low, morningstar energy analyst robert bellinski says many producers are now suspending some exploration and drilling. >> there's not enough demand, despite the price coming down,

at a fast enough rate to offset that supply. and gas is landlocked within north america. there's no real methods of exporting it to other countries because, a few years ago, we thought we were going to have a lack of supply of natural gas. >> reporter: in the long run, industry watchers think natural gas prices will rise as the economy improves. in the short run, prices could remain depressed for the foreseeable future, unless the weather does a 180. >> there are many weather factors that affect natural gas, and so, as we get into spring, of course, and we have a late winter, we could see those supplies dwindle fairly quickly and prices could find a base here. >> reporter: for now, bakery owner dan mccauley is savoring any savings he gets from lower gas bills. diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," chicago. >> tom: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: we'll see how existing home sales finished the year with december's sales numbers, and get the latest earnings from general electric, plus regional

bank fifth third and suntrust. then, investors are too obsessed with europe-- so says tomorrow's "market monitor" guest, john dorfman. he's chairman of thunderstorm capital. >> susie: about 20000 white collar workers at ford will soon have more money in their paychecks. the auto maker is boosting their pay by 2.7% on april 1, and its no joke. ford's business has been picking up with sales rising 11% last year. so the company sent letters to workers last week notifying them of the raise. ford says the goal of the pay boost is to hold on to top talent. >> tom: from detroit to wall street, 2,000 fewer people reported for work on wall street last month. that decline is expected to continue. poor profits have forced banks and brokerage firms to tighten their belts. tens of thousands of additional layoffs have been announced, but they came without specific locations.

that means more layoffs are likely in new york city, where the unemployment rate climbed in december to 9%. if recent history holds, about a if recent history holds, about a half million americans will start their own businesses this year. tonight's commentator thinks they should get to know one another better to help each other survive.

here's alfred edmond, jr., senior vice president and editor-at-large at black enterprise. >> for my first "nightly business report" commentary of the new year, i want to talk to those for whom 2012 will be your first as business owners. if this is you, listen in; if it's not you, but someone you know, i hope that you'll take the time to share this with them. my advice? simply this-- spend as much time as you can with other entrepreneurs. and whatever you do, don't get so caught up with the day-to-day challenges of getting your business off the ground that you isolate yourself from others. no matter how brilliant your idea or how much passion and hard work you bring to the task, entrepreneurship is hard, especially in the beginning. if you are persistent, flexible, resourceful, and fortunate, your business will survive long enough to reap major rewards for you. until then, you're going to need all of the advice, mentorship, ideas, encouragement, and understanding you can get. more experienced entrepreneurs can help you to avoid reinventing the wheel. fellow newbies can share both your triumphs and your fears, because they have them, too.

more practically, staying active in networks of entrepreneurs in your city or industry will keep you plugged into information about financing, contracting opportunities, and other resources you'll need to survive and thrive. so join local business groups, attend events and online social media to network with other entrepreneurs. establishing strong, healthy business networks in your first year of business could be the key to making it to your second, your fifth and beyond. i'm alfred edmond, jr. >> susie: and finally, when last summer's out-of-the-ordinary earthquake hit the northeast, one of the nation's most recognizable buildings was damaged. the washington monument was shaken badly during the 5.8 magnitude quake and was forced to close to the public with cracks topping the towering landmark. billionaire investor and history buff david rubenstein came forward wanting to help. today, we learned he's matched the $7.5 million congress set aside to cover repairs. >> the country's been wonderful to me, the city's been wonderful to me and my family. that's really what's behind it.

>> susie: repairs will get underway this summer with the washington monument expected to reopen to the public in about a year. >> tom: what a wonderful gesture. what a wonderful gesture. that's "nightly business report" for thursday, january 19. i'm tom hudson. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, susie. >> susie: good night, tom. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org