>> this is n.b.r. >> susie: good evening, everyone. i'm susie gharib. home prices build a foundation, marking their first month-to- month gain this year. >> tom: i'm tom hudson. europe talks about breaking down country boundaries for some banking rules. could that help end the euro- zone crisis? >> susie: and breaking up may not be so hard to do. news corp is the latest company to consider splitting itself into different companies. >> tom: that and more tonight on nbr! >> tom: for the first time in seven months, home prices across the nation showed month-to month gains. the s&p/case-shiller 20-city housing index increased 1.3% in april from march. only detroit posted a decline, with prices there falling 2.1%. prices in all the cities were still down from a year ago,

though. suzanne pratt explores what the latest data suggests about housing. >> reporter: this stunning soho penthouse has been on the market for three months. it's priced at an equally stunning $4.75 million. with its wraparound terrace and loft sophistication, listing agent heather mcdonough thinks it will sell. that's because, in new york city right now, supply is tight. >> with not a lot of inventory, it's starting to create a shift in the market from a buyers market to a seller's market. so we're seeing upward pressure on pricing. >> reporter: manhattan's strength is a bit of an exception, fueled, in part, by foreign buyers. but other areas of the u.s. are finally firming, especially when you look at home prices. >> we do think home prices are in the process of bottoming. from an economist's perspective, that means plus or minus a few percentage points this year. but really, we've seen the worst of the downturn in housing.

>> reporter: housing may be moving out of the basement. but experts say there are still factors that will result in only modest price appreciation in the coming years. those include foreclosures that haven't hit the market and a weak jobs picture. and expect the recovery to be lumpy, with continued weakness in places like detroit, and further firming in hot spots like new york. suzanne pratt, nbr, new york. >> susie: still ahead, with a sour economy fueling the rise of home cooking, we get the dish on the multi-billion dollar housewares industry. it's part of our look at the "foodie craze". "nightly business report" is brought to you by:

captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: home prices may have been pointed higher in april, but consumers soured on the economy this month, susie. the conference board's latest reading on confidence fell for the fourth month in a row as americans focused on the still shaky job market. seemed relieved to be focused on >> susie: still, tom, investors seemed relieved to be focused on the u.s. economy and not europe today. the dow rose 32 points, the nasdaq added 17, and the s&p was up six. >> tom: more mixed messages from european leaders today. german chancellor angela merkel poured cold water on any hope soon for a european-wide bond as a tool to spread government debt problems across the continent. she reportedly told a closed door meeting of leaders that kind of shared liability would not happen in her lifetime. at the same time, european leaders are preparing to discuss a new proposal for breaking down country borders for banking regulations and deposit insurance. as darren gersh reports, many analysts think a banking union

is key to solving the euro crisis. >> reporter: just like in the united states, greece and spain insure bank deposits. across the euro-zone, governments officially guarantee deposits of up to 100,000 euros. >> the problem is that it is guaranteed by the national treasuries, who are in big debt right now, and who already had to be bailed out because they couldn't pay their own bills. >> reporter: and that's why money is flowing out of spanish and greek banks, and heading for safety further north. that's also why so many europeans are talking about the need for a banking union. >> a common supervision of banks would stop this kind of aggressive lending during up times, and would stop the kind of regressive, taking money out during down times. >> reporter: one key link in a european banking union may be forged at a summit later this week. european leaders have hinted the job of regulating europe's biggest banks may be given to the e.c.b., the european central bank, an institution investors are likely to trust. >> the e.c.b., as an independent institution, is much more likely

to be much tougher on the banks in spain or ireland or france or italy than national regulators in these countries. >> reporter: investors, however, seem less optimistic european leaders will take such a big step, given their deep differences. darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> susie: our next guest has been steering clear of investing in europe. he's stuart schweitzer, vice chairman of j.p. morgan private bank. stu, nice to see you. >> always a pleasure. >> susie: are you investing more in the u.s.? >> we have been. we've been investing less heavily in equities overall than we normally would but we've had a tilt in favor of the u.s. basically the u.s. looks like the best house in a bad neighborhood. >> susie: european leaders are meeting this week in brussels for another summit. how hopeful, how doubtful are you that they can come up with some kind of solution, some kind

of plan to fix this financial crisis? >> oh, i think they'll-- they'll make small steps, susie, but two points here. first of all, whatever they may agree on or appear to agree on at their summit at the end of the week, the odds are that just as we heard fromangula merkel today, throwing cold water in advance of the summit, afterwards we'll probably hear more cold water thrown on whatever deal is cooked up because it's still not clear who's going to be willing to bear the brunt of the costs here of all these bad debts. and the second thing is that these countries have more-- have a bigger problem than just bad debt. they have a problem of a lack of competitiveness. these countries have seen their labor costs surge since the euro came into effect. and they just can't compete against germany, whose labor costs have been almost flat over that same time span. >> susie: you know that corporate earnings are going to start coming out for the second quarter. will investors be able to decouple from what's going on in

europe and focus on profits and what kind of profits can we expect to see this season? >> well, so far, susie, the pre-anowmentz or the early warnings on corporate profits have been a little bit more to the downside than i think most of us would have liked. >> susie: is that because of europe? >> i think it's because their sales are slower. the consumer is hurting a little bit. it's because businesses are not spending as much on capital goods-- that's probably partly because of europe. it's because companies have squeezed so much cost out of their cost structures and there are limits to how far that can go. we're testing those limits because now with corporate profits possibly topping a little bit, we're seeing companies become even more cost conscious, even more restrapped, and that's part of the reason the economy has slowed a bit. so we're kind of caught in a little bit of a catch-22.

my hope is that with house prices having stabilized, improved a little bit, as you just heard on the earlier report, with oil prices down and consumers having a little bit more purchasing power, that the u.s. economy will continue to muddle through. it won't be great. but it will be the best of the global lot, i think. >> susie: we have 30 seconds left. everybody says when the markets are weak, that's the time to buy. but whenever there's a pull-back, everybody gets scared and they want to hold on to their cash and i bet you have a lot of clients like that. in a few words what, do you tell investors to do? >> well, susie, you're exactly right. it goes against human nature for people to buy when things are low. they're more likely to become scared and want to sell. so we tell our clients to make sure to balance their portfolio, to have enough diversification in their portfolio so that their portfolio doesn't swing as wildly as the market, and, therefore, they can weather the

storm. right now, i think what that means is if they've got a lot of cash, as many do, they're in a great position to take advantage of cheaper prices because we're going to have another oak ride over the coming months i believe. >> susie: oh, boy, okay. >> and get the chance to put money to work. >> susie: sturk, thank you so much, stuart schweitzer, jpmorgan private bank. >> tom: the company behind fox television and "the wall street journal" could be the next big firm to make two companies from one.

news corp is considering splitting in two. if it happens, news corp would join several other firms making breaking up the thing to do. kraft foods, conoco-phillips and mcgraw hill-- three companies that will soon be six, as they each separate their businesses into two different companies, a path news corp is now thinking about. for news corp, the split would put its newspapers, like "the wall street journal" and "new york post," into one company, and its so-called entertainment units-- fox television, cable and movies-- into another. >> this would shine a brighter light on the entertainment assets, which have a lot of good growth potential, both domestically and overseas. >> tom: a split like the one news corp chairman rupert murdoch confirms he is considering usually is seen as an effort to cleave apart businesses with different profit growth potentials. in this case, newspapers are seen as slower growing, compared to news corp's fox properties. the company's newspaper operations in the u.k. have come under intense scrutiny since last summer's phone hacking scandal, leading to government hearings and charges against former top news corp executive

rebekah brooks. viacom had the same break-up strategy in 2005 when it separated its viacom businesses, like movies, mtv and nickelodeon, from its cbs network, which included tv, radio, and book publishing. pulling apart what has taken years to put together takes a while. kraft hopes to spin off its global snack foods business-- oreo, trident gum and cadbury-- into a new company called mondelez. kraft announced the split last august with the goal of completing it by the end of this year. porter bibb is a managing partner of media-tech capital partners specializing in media companies. >> welcome back. news corp shares actively traded, stocks shooting up to a four-and-a-half-year high. clearly an endorsement of this idea. does that put add pressure on murdoch to make it happen? >> >> i think it's going to happen. the real surprise is that it hasn't happened sooner. this idea has been kicking around the news corp aboard room

for five, six years, and everybody from rupert's kids to the manager of the company have been positing they could create new value for the parent company by spinning off the print side. >> tom: some point to the strategy that they could take another run at british satellite company, that they already own 40% of, but the phone hacking scandal essentially put an end to its own ownership. is this part of the strategy, do you think? >> no, i don't think so. because rupert murdoch will still control through super voting shares both entities. the parent news corp and any spin-off that contains all of the print. and right now, it's problematic where he is going to be when off-com-- the f.c.c. of the united kingdom-- finishes their investigation and sees what happens with the three-- the parliamentary, the judicial, and the police investigation into

news corp's u.k. phone hacking. they have deemed him already an unfit and improper person to own a broadcast property. >> tom: it would make it difficult for even a reconstituted news corp to go after it. let's take a look at where the money comes from when it comes to this media conglomerate, more than half of it from cable television. films gets 17%, publishing 16%. that's the newspaper business. tv and satellite tv make up the remaining 16%. >> that's right. >> tom: for publishing, there's not much lowest for this company if it spits apart. it's not a 50-50 split. it's an 80-20 split at best. >> if that. you get some prestige trophy properties in the "times" of london and the wall street journal, and the "new york post," which we all can't live without, and seferld newspapers in australia, where rupert began his odyssey to become the print mogul of the world. and then harp or collins, the

book pubbin publishing side. these assets in a separate entity could command that if rupert ever decided to sell, some very significant prices -- remember, he paid over $5 billion for the "wall street journal" and the new entity is likely to have to carry the burden of that debt, that purchase price, when there is a spin-off. but there are plenty of people around who would pick up the "times" of london or the "wall street journal" or maybe even harper collins. >> tom: glom that would generate a lot of cash for any new company. you said "when" there is a spin-off. in the next 12 hodges? >> i think we will see it in calendar 2012. the hacking affair, coming to its first anniversary, is going to come to a head with litigation, court problems and it's going to go on for years and i don't think anybody at the top leveles, including

mr. murdoch, at news corp want to carry that baggage into 2013. >> tom: does murdoch stay in charge of both companies if it happens next year? >> yes. he's not relinquishing anything. he's going to still have the whip hand and iron control of both entities until he decides-- if he ever does decide-- to step down. >> tom: i have to ask how a deal like this is structured best for shareholders. there are always big tax implications involved in these spin-outs. how best to do this so shareholders don't necessarily get caught with a big tax bill? >> it can be a share-for-share tax-free situation if it's structured properly, and then you have to figure out what the shareholders who get the spin-off company where are going to do with those shares. they may try to unlode them as quickly as they can, and parent news corp would go right through the roof in terms of market value. >> tom: we will leave it at that. looking forward to the next calendar year.

porter bibb. >> susie: the founder of best buy may be buying. "the wall street journal" reports best buy founder richard schulze is considering making a bid for the troubled retailer. schulze is the company's largest shareholder, owning a little more than one-fifth of shares, worth about $1.4 billion. best buy shares have lost 40% in the past year as the company has struggled with stiff price competition, slower sales, and c.e.o. brian dunn stepping down after an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. the stock fell about 1% in after-hours trading from its close of $19.37 a share.

>> tom: it took a while for buyers to come out today, but they eventually did, with the indices making up a fraction of what they have lost over the previous few sessions. it wasn't until about noon eastern time that the s&p 500 regained positive territory, and kept it through the end of the session, ending with a half- percent gain. volume was 710 million shares on the big board; 1.6 billion moved on the nasdaq. it was a fairly concentrated rally, with really only two sectors seeing gains over 1%. the consumer discretionary sector was up 1.2%, and energy rebounded 1.1%. leading consumer stocks was for- profit education operator apollo group. the stock benefited from an improving profit picture, as well as a more encouraging report on new rules for the industry. apollo jumped 10.3% up to a three-month high.

it reported better than expected earnings and raised its financial forecast for the rest of the year. and the sector was helped by a department of education report showing only 5% of for-profit school operators failed a test run of new requirements. the new rules go in effect july 1 and require schools to work on students getting jobs after graduating, so-called "gainful employment." if not, the schools risk losing access to federal student loans. the better than anticipated results of this trial run help push up strayer education almost 8%, devry gained 5.8%, and grand canyon education rallied 4.3%. speaking of student loans, the senate may be getting closer to a deal that would avoid a big spike higher of student loan interest rates come july 1. without congressional okay, rates are due to double for stafford loans. also moving among consumer stocks-- news corp. as we mentioned earlier, the market likes the idea of two

companies instead of one, bidding the shares up to a multi-year high after the company confirmed it is considering splitting in two. we have more analysis on the news corp stock on our web site, nbr.com. you can find it under the "blogs" tag with michael kahn. housing was another area rebounding, thanks to the higher sales prices many top markets experienced in the past month. the homebuilders exchange traded fund gained 2%. it is in the middle of the trading range it's been in between $19 and $22 per share since the end of january. corn prices have rallied almost 10% over the past two sessions as hot dry weather continues across parts of the corn belt. that has helped fertilizer stocks. mosaic jumped more than 4%, potash gained 3.6%, and c.f. industries rallied almost 3%. all three saw heavier than usual trading volumes on today's buying. all of the five most actively traded exchange traded funds were higher, led by a nine- tenths of a percent increase in the emerging markets fund.

and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: from restaurants to buying groceries and making lunches, americans spend over $1 trillion a year on food. before the great recession hit, a lot of that money went to eating out, but that's changed. celebrity chefs like emeril lagasse and paula dean are helping make chefs out of lawyers, teachers, and everyday americans. as we continue our look at the foodie craze, diane eastabrook says that's turning the housewares industry into a multi-billion dollar business.

>> okay, so push up and pull back in same motion. >> reporter: chef carrie bradley demonstrates the proper way to separate an egg and whip the whites for a perfect strawberry almond cake. the chopping block in chicago is one part school, one part store, a place where you can outfit your kitchen like julia child's, and tap your inner french chef in a gourmet cooking class. >> it's very gratifying to make something delicious, and have a family sit down and enjoy a meal. >> reporter: consumers like grauvogl keep the $300 billion global housewares industry cooking, and the hottest tools of the trade were on display recently at the home and housewares show. >> you can cut your chicken, and then you can flip it and cut your vegetables. >> with the venturi, it allows you to instantly aerate your wine with proprietary technology. >> reporter: before the recession started, experts say the average american was eating out 205 times a year. last year, that number dropped

to 195 times, so presumably, with more americans eating at home, there's more opportunity for the housewares industry. although americans are dining in more, they're actually entertaining less. but when they do, analyst harry balzer says they typically go all out. >> it's about a monthly thing now-- once a month, you'll have people over to the house. but when you do that, you want it to be a big occasion, you want to impress your friends. you want to make this a wonderful experience. >> reporter: le creuset is cashing in on that sentiment. it sells high-end cookware. a five-piece place setting of stoneware runs $50. it's most popular item-- a five-quart cast iron pot-- costs five times that. >> when a woman or man is going out and spending $250, maybe they're giving up that pair of manolo blanicks, but they're investing in lecreuset cookware. >> let's go here or let's go here. >> reporter: at the other extreme is maxwell and williams. the australian firm sells mix- and-match dinnerware for as little as five bucks a plate. >> if you had three dinner

parties in three weeks with the same people, you could have three different dinnerware displays without spending a fortune. >> reporter: many celebrity chefs are using name recognition to sell products. curtis stone is selling bakeware lined with silicone that makes un-panning cakes seem effortless. >> the whole purpose of the brand is to try to bring confidence to people's kitchen and happiness to their dinner table. >> reporter: analysts say the hottest-selling wares are those that make cooking easier for the home chef or make them seem like one of the pros. diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. >> tom: tomorrow, our look at the foodie craze gets spicy. join us for a conversation with the c.e.o. of mccormick about the business of flavors. and we go in-depth on the economy. our exclusive interview with atlanta federal reserve bank president dennis lockhart.

>> susie: with big job losses and lots of financial stress, the recent recession fueled the rise of the pre-paid debit card industry as fewer americans had steady paychecks. but in tonight's "money file," karen gibbs says you can do better. she's founder of the gibbs perspective. >> reporter: seduced by the lure of pre-paid debit cards? resist the temptation, if you can. marketed to those with little access to mainstream financial institutions, debit cards are a source of risk-free revenue for the issuer charging you fees to use your money. the average card cost nearly $300 a year in basic fees, before considering application, activation, cancellation, paper statement, and a host of other costs. there is a cheaper alternative. many online banks and local credit unions still offer free checking accounts, some with a credit/debit card option, and are actively working to address the lack of financial services available to consumers with limited resources.

finally, don't forget cash. there are no fees associated with using it and you always know how much you're spending. and the actual act of tendering cash for a purchase helps you exercise the discipline needed to stick to a budget and avoid unnecessary spending. so sidestep the pre-paid debit card trap and enjoy the feeling of financial freedom without fees. i'm karen gibbs. >> tom: that's "nightly business report" for tuesday, june 26. have a great evening everyone, and you too, susie. >> susie: good night, tom. thanks for watching, everyone. we'lsee you online at nbr.com, and back here tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is brought to you by:

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