with the tax portion of the fiscal cliff addressed, and now the federal reserve looking to end its quantitative easing this year, yields have jumped as bonds have sold off. it is worries about insurance premiums not keeping pace with high medical costs this year that hit shares of united health care. the stock fell 4.7% as volume almost tripled. this is its lowest price since mid-november. investment bank deutsche bank downgraded its rating of the managed health insurance sector, including united health care to neutral. the analyst pointed to more competition for customers holding down premium price increases. retail stocks were in focus with many of them reporting december sales. we'll have more on that in a moment, but two very different retailers had very different updates on their financial outlooks. deep discount store family dollar cut its outlook after a disappointing quarterly profit. shares fell 13%, dropping to a 10 month low. teen apparel store hot topic jumped 11.1% to a new 52 week high. hott topic predicted its

earnings growth this year to be twice what wall street analysts had expected. just what spiced ham needs, peanut butter. spam maker hormel foods is buying the skippy peanut butter business from unilever. hormel is paying $700 million for skippy. the deal continues hormel's expansion beyond its meat business, which includes spam, and the jennie-o turkey store brands. investors like the recipe, hormel shares rallied 3.7%. volume more than tripled with shares breaking out to an all- time high. the deal will add to earnings this year. hormel also gets faster international growth. skippy is the top selling peanut butter in china. unilever shares fell modestly, down 0.8%, but it remains less than a dollar off its most recent high. all of the five most actively traded exchange traded products were lower. the emerging markets fund led the losers, down 0.7%. and that's tonight's "market focus."

>> susie: it ended up being a merry christmas after all for the nation's retailers. a number of chains reported today better than expected december sales. according to research firm "retail metrics", excluding drug stores, sales rose 4.8%. that's much higher than the 3.4% expected. costco was a big gainer, with sales surging 9%. nordstrom did nearly as well, followed by discounter t.j.x. sales at the gap were also better than expected: up 5%. but there was an even bigger surprise from gap today. it's buying luxury chain "intermix" for $130 million dollars. now intermix and its 38 stores, will become part of gap's portfolio of brands, which include banana republic and old navy.

does this latest acquisition make sense for gap? erika miller reports. >> reporter: at first it may seem strange that gap bought a chain selling designer clothing for women. until you realize that one of major reasons gap is struggling is lack of a fashion edge. remember the '90s? gap was a megabrand, defining fashion with its khakis, denim, tees and button down shirts. but as the millennium turned, so did gap's u.s. sales. the retailer has steadily lost ground to rivals like h&m and zara. >> the fast fashion retailers have really markedly changed the face of fashion as we know it. kids, teens, adults no longer want to wear an identifiable uniform. you are not going to see as many logo-driven items any more. >> reporter: in the past year, gap has made some bold changes, shaking up its management team, and putting more emphasis on fashion. that's where intermix comes in. the chain sells designer labels

like jimmy choo, mulberry, yves saint laurent, fendi, and rag and bone. analyst oliver chen, whose firm does business with gap, thinks the deal is a win-win for both firms: >> i think intermix brings a lot of fashion credibility to the gap. also the gap brings cash flow and capital to intermix. intermix can probably have a very successful online business. >> the acquisition comes as gap plans to close more than 20% of its namesake north american stores. like many retailers, gap is looking overseas for growth. >> reporter: gap also plans to also expand intermix abroad, presumably to luxury-obsessed markets like china. gap has plenty of experience with acquisitions, it bought women's athletic apparel retailer athleta in 2008, but analysts do see some risks to the intermix deal. >> we'll have to watch intermix to make sure it stays special. intermix is joining a big billion dollar, and it is a $100

million retailer with entrepreneurial roots, and relationships with these special designers. >> reporter: he's keeping his neutral rating on gap shares, which are up an impressive 75% in the past year. now gap is waiting for its fashion turnaround to have the same success. erika miller, "n.b.r.," new york. >> tom: tomorrow on n.b.r. we head to florida's citrus groves, to find out what's behind an expected drop during the orange harvest. we'll talk to the c.e.o. of smoothie and juice chain jamba juice. and our friday "market monitor," kate warne of edward jones expects solid corporate earnings this year. we will hear how that plays into her investment strategy. finally doctor mcdreamey, is going toe to toe with starbucks. "grey's anatomy" star patrick dempsey in seattle today leading a group of investors trying to buy tully's, a bankrupt, seattle coffee chain. the actor has spent several year's filming in seattle, and he has some big competition, starbucks is also bidding for

some of tully's assets. dempsey says buying the coffee chain is all about saving jobs. a judge will decide who get's tully's next friday. >> how much you wajted to bet if they get it will you see a lot of product placement on that abc show. >> tom: more than a cup of coffee is what it will be worth. that's "nightly business report" for thursday, january 3. have a great evening everyone, and you too susie. >> susie: goodnight tom. thanks for watching everyone. we'll see you online at: www.nbr.com and back here tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ and their buns are something i have yet to find anywhere else. >> i'm not inviting you to my house for dinner. >> breaded and fried and gooey and lovely. >> in the words of arnold schwarzenegger, i'll be back! >> you've heard of connoisseur. i'm a common-sewer! >> they knew i had to ward off some vampires or something.