>> tom: a deal over bad foreclosure documents. a settlement is in the works between dozens of states and the nation's biggest banks over abusive foreclosure practices. we talk with one attorney general that's holding out for more. >> susie: then, gold. it's the go-to investment for safety, but with the u.s. economy picking up, will gold prices continue to shine. >> gold has moved quickly in the past month. it's come a long way in a short period of time. but we're looking for gold at $1,900 an ounce by the end of the year. >> susie: it's "nightly business report" for tuesday, february 7. 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. after more than a year of negotiations, state attorneys general are close to a deal with the nation's five biggest banks over foreclosure abuses. >> susie: tom, just a few >> susie: that's when bank workers signed off on foreclosures without first checking the documents. bank of america, wells fargo, citigroup, ally financial, and j.p. morgan chase could pay an estimated $25 billion to put robo-signing claims to rest. >> tom: once that happens, what

will it mean for a housing market that is still struggling to find a bottom? darren gersh begins our reporting from washington. >> reporter: up to now, most of the efforts to help underwater homeowners have focused on reducing their interest payments. but consumer advocates like ira rheingold hope the robo-signing settlement will focus action on the real problem-- reducing the debt burden for homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth. >> my hope is that, once we begin to see that principal reduction actually makes a difference, that these homeowners who could have been in default are no longer in default with their payments. it will move some of the actors in our marketplace who are being unbelievably recalcitrant in terms of principal reduction, in terms of allowing homeowners to save their homes will move in that direction. >> reporter: the biggest piece of the robo-signing settlement is aimed at principle reduction. some $17 billion is expected to be set aside to reduce the amount that homeowners owe their banks. the deal will also offer a check for roughly $1,700 to victims of

robo-signing. there will be some money to help borrowers refinance, and the settlement should set clear rules on the foreclosure process moving forward. while $25 billion is a start, it is a small sum compared to the 12 and a half million mortgages that realtytrac says are underwater. but wharton professor susan wachter says the settlement could provide a way for banks to head off another tidal wave of foreclosures. >> it's hard to say its a good deal-- its a heavily negotiated deal on both sides. and what's really a good deal about it is, in fact, we can find stability in the housing market, that will be good for banks, that will be good for the homeowners who are underwater, and that will be good for the overall economy. >> reporter: if nothing else, the settlement is expected to formally put an end to robo- signing. that's when bank employees okayed foreclosures without properly checking documents. the settlement sets clear rules on how and when banks can take a homeowner's house. >> can you move somebody into foreclosure when they are in the middle of a loan modification? how are you going to document it? what do you need to prove that

you are entitled to foreclose? so a lot of that area that has been very broken, where banks have, time and time again, treated consumers and homeowners unfairly, hopefully, that will be remedied going forward. >> reporter: a lot of foreclosures have been on hold while this settlement was hammered out. some analysts worry banks might soon be playing catch up, flooding the market with deeply discounted distress sales. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: one of the states not signing on to the settlement is delaware. beau biden is the attorney general. he joins us from wilmington, delaware. attorney general biden welcome to nbr any chance you changed your min mind and you are going along wit with your attorney aty general. my staff is working with the people on the or side of the table. we are not on board yet. i like a number of attorney's general are not there yet. they can speak for themselves

but i'm not. >> if you look at this right now tom, it should be no surprise 000 of the teofthe ten states nt participating. and california is not on board yet and nevada is not on board yet. and these are states that are very affected. and along with those states that are investigating those things. you see ten states that are aggressively developmentsing or deeply investigated by this. >> the questions that remain.fo. what do you say to them? what terms do you want. your state would be on the line for $32 million what would you like to see instead? >> i would like to see a couple of things. one is accountability. your report that led into this segment is very good. i think to call this robosigning

is benign. i say it's too benign way to put it. tens upon tens of thousands of false affidavits have been perpetrated. that is not a small offense. would you like to see civil charges and maybe criminal charges as well. >> what i was lease pleased to s the attorney general of mississippmissouriindict the cey that help perpetrate the fraud on the american people. the president was indicted on friday in missouri i think you will see the attorney's general continue the investigation. one question i have is that making sure that our criminal investigative rights are presear preserved. you can't give up your job. the other issue that i'm focused

on is my ability to continue my lawsuit against a company called merce with which i believe is engaged in a central practice. they are involved folks that allow and facilitate the process. >> the deal that has been on the table the majority of the attorneys general that have agreed to it does that take away your ability to criminally prosecute anyone involved in fraudulent foreclosures? >> no it does not. no it does not. >> there are a couple of little things that i need to button down on that. as it stands right now i'm eye insureassured that our paint a o persue the criminal investigations. i have to make sure that my civil investigative authorities are not under mind in any way.

especially the la lawsuits thati laid last fall. you saw new york sue them last friday. and it made the banks -- i'm not sure what kind of reaction they had. there are concerns on the bank's side. they are an organization less than 60 people, less than 60 people are in charge of watchi watching -- keeping track of 30 million mortgages. 30 million mortgages are held in the name of merce. and tell me how 60 people in office park in virginia can keep track of that. that is what the deeds offices are for. >> we have to leave it there. >> as you continue yournegotiatu back on nightly business report to explain where you are at and the terms you would like to see either individually or with the

other colleagues. thank you for your time tonight. >> susie: still ahead-- from fuel prices to the economic recovery, we talk about the headwinds facing republic airways with c.e.o. bryan bedford. another day, another delay in fixing the greek debt crisis. workers there walked off the job today to protest new austerity measures. the strike came as greek politicians postponed a meeting to review a tentative deal between that nation and its creditors. despite the greek drama, u.s. stocks closed up slightly. the dow added 33, the nasdaq and the s&p both gained two points. >> tom: despite reassuring words from federal reserve chairman ben bernanke regarding support for the economy, the chairman also had a warning for congress. he told a senate panel no deal on tax cuts soon threatens to slow the economy. the payroll tax cut is set to expire at the end of this month, and the bush-era tax cuts are

scheduled to end by 2013. both have been major sticking points in congress, and many lawmakers are still at odds over how to handle them in the future. >> i don't know exactly when the uncertainty would become a factor, but surely as we get closer to january 1st and congress hasn't given a clear roadmap on how it plans to proceed, that would certainly affect planning, business decisions, household decisions as they look ahead to the next year. >> tom: the congressional budget office has projected if the bush tax cuts aren't extended, economic growth could slow to 1%. bernanke told lawmakers today he agreed with that assessment. warning fromber knac from bernas went up a little bit. when you look at it the d dow is at the highest level since may of 2008 and over the nasdaq new he is year high. >> unreal technology weave we he

seen for stocks. a quiet day on the market. it was another day of small moves by the major stock indices, but today, we saw small gains. in the first hour, the s&p 500 continued to see some follow- through selling from yesterday, given there's still no deal yet by greek bondholders. but the index climbed into positive territory before noon time eastern, and held onto the slim gains through the close. it was a mix of defensive and economically sensitive sectors leading the pack. utilities topped the sector gainers up seven tenths of a percent. energy and consumer discretionary stocks came in next. within consumer stocks, watch disney tomorrow. after the close tonight, walt disney reported better than expected earnings, beating the street estimates by nine cents per share. the company credits better attendance at its theme parks. but revenues were lighter than anticipated. shares closed at their highest

price since july before the numbers' release, and with that revenue miss, the stock was down about 1% in after hours action. we have a closer look at disney's chart on our web site, nbr.com under the blogs tab. another big dow stock, coca- cola, saw heavier volume today on its fraction gain. the stock is at a one-month high. the soft drink giant reported earnings two cents ahead of estimates. the company announced a new plan to save money, earmarking the savings for marketing, hoping to head off higher commodity prices. competitor pepsi reports earnings thursday. while energy stocks were among the market's leaders, coal stocks cooled off. with natural gas prices near historic lows, demand for coal, especially from utility companies, has been declining. alpha natural resources slipped 5%. last week, it announced it would reduce production at several appalachian coal mines. peabody and arch coal fell at least 3% each. but oil turned up today after

dropping to its lowest of the year in the past few sessions. crude oil popped a $1.50 per barrel, settling over $98 per barrel. since november, oil has been generally in a range of $105 on the high end and $95 on the low end. some of the oil boost could have come from a drop in the u.s. dollar. the dollar index settled at its lowest level since early december. that helped oil and precious metal prices today. less than a month after co-founder and c.e.o. jerry yang announced he was leaving yahoo, four of its board of directors members won't be around after the upcoming annual meeting. the quartet, which includes the chairman roy bostock, won't stand for re-election. the executive changes at yahoo began in early september when c.e.o. carol bartz was fired after failing to turn around yahoo's ad business. shares of yahoo were essentially unchanged today, and they haven't been able to trade much above $16 per share since last spring. and finally, it wasn't the

chicken wings at your super bowl party, but buffalo wild wings saw profits take flight at the end of last year. quarterly profits jumped 34%. the stock has been trending higher over the past year, and after the close tonight, it shot up 15%. if that holds through to tomorrow's opening bell, it would put the stock around $80, a new high. hold the celery. and that's tonight's "market focus."

>> tom: it's been a sparkling start to the year for gold. gold posted its biggest gain for the year today, rising $23.50, settling at $1,748.40 in new york today. the metal's rally has been virtually unstoppable for years. erika miller reports on whether is still pays to buy gold if the economy is heating up. >> reporter: there are gold statues, gold's gym, even gold pretzels. but none of those golds will make you money. here at the new york mercantile exchange, there has been a rush to buy the yellow metal. it's up 11% since the start of this year, despite a sharp sell- off yesterday. some traders believe it's shaping up to be another banner year. >> i do feel that we are going to see gold, probably mid-year, trading above $2,000. >> reporter: that would be a roughly 15% gain by summer. the big reason many are forecasting big gains is continued concerns about europe. even if greece is able to avoid

defaulting on its debt with a bailout plan, that increases the risk inflation will become a more serious global concern. >> the ecb is funding all of these things, and how is it doing that? they are printing euros. so, longer term, i do think gold is going to be a better flight- to-quality asset than it is right now. >> reporter: but many investors are skeptical gold can continue to sparkle. after all, friday's employment report suggests a brighter outlook for the u.s. economy. and that, in turn, might prompt investors to favor riskier investments like stocks. but many analysts believe that, even if stocks do well this year, gold can, too. >> when the economy has looked like its going to make a rebound, investors start looking around for investments with the best yield. and as long as treasuries and the dollar have low yields, that would tend to support stocks, and it would tend to support gold.

>> reporter: and don't discount other precious metals like silver, which also has industrial uses. assuming gold takes off, some analysts think silver could rally about 18% to $40 an ounce by midyear. >> i do believe that, if gold takes some legs, you will find some investors getting into silver as an alternative inflation-fighter investment, for lack of a better word. >> reporter: so, if he's right, that gold and silver jewelry you get for valentines day won't just be lovely to look at; it may also prove to be a glittering investment. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: another commodity also on the rise-- oil. prices are closing in on the $100-a-barrel level. they rose $1.50 to $98.41 in new york trading today. that's a serious problem for many industries, including airlines. i talked about that today with the c.e.o. of republic airways. the indiana-based airline has

been changing course. it recently announced plans to sell frontier airlines so it can focus on its core business of providing regional service for the big airline carriers. when i met with republic c.e.o. bryan bedford, we began our conversation talking about his new flight plan for republic. republic strategy will go back to it's roots as a regional airline service for all of the majors in north america. we pl fly for everybody. nobody dogs mor does more than n republic dots. -- does i. is there growth in that. >> they want to keep high yield traffic business traffic coming into their hubs and connecting to their international flights and to do that they need high quality low cost services from a cup lik -- company like republi.

it could cause us to expand the largest network of flying. >> what kind of opportunity. >> america has a restrictive labor agreement that prohibits out sourcing. they are far behind delta and united in terms of their ability to use these products. hopefully with bankruptcy they will be able to renegotiate that and their ability to fly products that we operate. >> how is your business doing? is the economy picking up and is it helping the airline industry. >> the problem is with oil. we have not seen the oil prices come back down and now with the chatter of iran and the issues there we have seen oil again diverge. that is the biggest challenge. economically in the u.s. we have seen terrific demand for the air travel. it's opinion ver been very encoe

level we have been able to maintain. your planes are flying full. >> we are at 15 months of low factors. not only are we fuller the unit revenue is higher. >> rveght we sawe saw last year. now with the oil going up will we see higher prices tood. >> oil is 30 to 40% of totaltra. if oil increases airfares have to increase. otherwise we are subsidizing losses when flying. we are going to see higher ticket prices this year. >> you are talking about thesean industry and what dog does it te to thrive and survive? >> airlines no longer chase a market share they are chasing a return on invested capital. they are looking for ways to sustain profitability.

that means we will see more consolidation. i think as ticket prices go up we will see majors like delta and united and american start to invest in the product and the quality of the service they operate. wifi on planes an dual class through the experience. a lot of difference between the major carriers on the low cost. >> who what will we say about republic. >> we are going to be averaged.n consolconsolidation it will be m buying opposed to selling. bryan thank you no for being he. >> tom: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: we'll see the weekly numbers on crude oil and gasoline stockpiles, as well as earnings from cisco systems, time warner, and whole foods market. also tomorrow, technology stocks

have been surging in the new year. we look at the nasdaq's rise and what it says about the u.s. recovery. >> susie: job openings climbed to a three-year high as 2011 came to an end. companies and governments advertised more than three million open positions in december. and with 13 million people unemployed that month, that means there were almost four people competing for each available job. its the first time that ratio was below four to one; in a healthy job market, that ratio is around two to one. >> tom: toyota's third quarter profit slid 13.5% to just over $1 billion. but the big japanese auto maker was confident enough in its recovery today to raise its annual profit outlook. it now sees full-year earnings of $3.5 billion, up from previous estimates of about $3 billion. flooding in thailand continued to dent production, cutting toyota's output by 240,000 vehicles.

>> susie: a major shift has happened in how we live and connect in the world, and tonight's commentator says it goes way beyond mobile computing. he's harry lin, executive in residence at idea lab, a technology incubator.

>> much has been said recently about apple's astounding 2011 fourth-quarter results. just their numbers are eye- popping. more than $13 billion in profit; nearly $100 billion in cash on hand. but what really intrigued many folks in the tech and startup industry is that nearly three- fourths of apple's revenue was driven by sales of iphones and ipads. apple sold more than 50 million iphones and ipads that quarter, leading some analysts to declare that the post-p.c. era is definitely here. even the industry term "mobile computing" fails to capture what's happened. it's not that we've replaced desktop computers and laptops with smaller computers; it's that our social lives, our shopping habits, our business interactions, our entertainment, even our politics have become untethered from stationary boxes. companies don't need a "mobile strategy" nowadays; they just need a strategy that recognizes that life happens in our hands on tiny screens.

giants such as microsoft, intel, and amazon all have mobile as critical initiatives for their future-- a future that probably won't even use the adjective "mobile", because it'll just be life. i'm harry lin. >> tom: and finally, after all of the hype, this is what it came down to for new york giant fans today. thousands of new yorkers lined the streets of manhattan for a ticker tape parade, celebrating the winners of super bowl xlvi. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for tuesday, february 7. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night.

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