back room that we're not allowed to see. >> even some wall street pros have their doubts. >> this is one of the most reluctant new highs i've seen in a long time. >> many strategists say that it's better to buy at a market bottom, not when the averages are hitting new records. they also point to problems that could pull down stocks. >> i think people wanted higher volume. they wanted more conviction. >> any absolute language from the fed that works you know, curtail any further intervention in easing. >> also on the worry list, a weak economy. budget cuts in washington, uncertainty about china's economy slowing down, and the continuing financial crisis in europe. >> i don't think that's priced into the market right now, so you may get a terrible reaction to the downside. >> but money keeps flowing into stock funds. the latest numbers from the investment company institute show investors have put about $20 billion into u.s. stocks so far this year, and there's still a lot of cash on the sidelines. that's why market pros don't want to count out the bull run just yet. >> around the kitchen tables and

dining room tables, people have got to be talking about, okay, we were very nervous about the market, but stocks have moved up, so, marge, should we get in or not? >> and coming up a little later on the program, a closer look at what's fueling the rally. we dig into where the money is coming from. >> well, a lot of credit for the recent bull run is being given to federal reserve chairman bernanke. he gave stocks another boost today. the fed did, with its latest beige book survey of economic conditions around the nation, and steve liesman gives us a closer look at what the central bank found. >> reporter: the consumer is troubled, according to the federal reserve's latest beige book. the beige book is a collection of economic anecdotes from the fed's 12 districts around the country, and it helps policy-makers figure out beyond the data what's really going on in the u.s. economy. what they found was a mixed picture on consumers. they are still spending on autos and tourism and services, but retail is struggling. according to the beige book, retail sales were better in only

five district and flat to weaker in seven. the districts said retailers complained of higher payroll taxes, which went up this year, high gasoline prices and government spending cutbacks. one positive piece of news, residential real estate. according to the beige book it was up in most districts with strengthening home prices and falling inventories. new home construction also increased. labor markets were described as somewhat better, but hiring was restrained, and one fed district blamed the health care law. the richmond fed wrote in the beige book players across the district continue to cite the affordable care act and its unknown impact as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff. fed officials are likely to read this report and find good reasons to continue their policy of trying to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates at zero and buying treasuries to try and push down long-term rates. for "nightly business report," steve liesman. >> meanwhile, the top federal reserve policy-maker warned today there's risks associated with the central bank's massive

bond-buying program. charles placor, chairman of the philadelphia fed bank, want the fed to slow down its monthly purchases of bonds. he's not a voting member of the fed's policy committee meeting says the big bond purchases are posing risks to the economy that could hurt financial and price stability. lawmakers want to make sure washington doesn't collapse. the republican-controlled house passed a resolution today that will keep the federal government up and running through the end of september. now, that measure which extends the spending cuts that went into effect march 1 now goes to the senate. senate leaders say they will tweak the bill but will probably pass t.meantime, keeping the federal government up and running past march 27th is going to be a focus of a dinner that the president is host iing tonit with top senate republicans at a washington hotel. so we told you yesterday that many individual investors are still skeptical about this market, but as jane wells tells us, they are jumping in, but in their 401(k)s.

>> reporter: a funny thing happened on the way to the new dow record. the american government may be a fiscal mess, but the american people are optimistically pouring money into stocks. >> most of my retirement money is in the stock market. >> i have a retirement fund, and they invest in all different things. >> i have microsoft. i have at&t. i have -- i had hershey, but i took that out. >> i've got about 90% of my retirement account in stocks right now. >> reporter: fidelity reports the average 401(k) account hit a record $77,000 by the end of last year. for those over the age of 55, the average account topped $143,000, and it averaged $225,000 for 1 million investors using both the company savings plan and an i.r.a. >> we're seeing a renewed confidence in the housing market. people i think feel more confident are b putting money into their 401(k) and not seeing it drop not proverbial black hole. >> reporter: that's especially

true on the nation's coast where housing cratered the most and is now recovering. william blair and company says as employment returns more workers are becoming eligible for 401(k) plans, and that could be good for retirement date retirement fund but even trading outside of retirement accounts seems to be rising with increasing trade volumes. on the other hand, with those who stuck through the market with thick and thin are now back to thick, their emotional recovery may not be as robust as their 401(k) recovery. >> like people saying, you've got to be careful right now. i think you have to use common sense. >> what goes up, must come down. >> it's a bubble. >> explain that. >> you know, money is worth nothing. can't make any money in your account, savings account so everybody is trying to build up the stock market to get dividends and make some money out of the money. >> the concerns i think have been the same concerns that have been with us since 2008, you know. is this real? >> reporter: is this real?

it is for now. for "nightly business report," jane wells, los angeles. >> all right. a lot of differing opinions. let's get some more insight on the individual investor and what they should do next. joining us now tom bradley, president of retail for td ameritrade. tom, i bet you had a lot of questions today from individual investors. should i get in? is it safe? what were you telling them? >> we sure did. well, the key here is to look at the long-term trends, and then you have to determine your time horizon. the long-term trends in the stock market are up, and as long as you're five to ten years or more out, then the stock market is in your favor. it's an incredible way to build wealth. >> you know, tom, the last two times the markets hit multi-year highs back in the year 2000 it was at the end of a bubble. it was a tech bubble. in 2007 it was a housing bubble. what do you say to the person in the tape piece who says it's a bubble again and i'm going to get hurt again? >> again, you have to go back and look at the long-term

trends. it's very different, a retired person versus a younger person that still has many years of earnings left ahead of them, and it depends on how much risk you want to take, so that's the key. if you are closer to retirement, you may want perhaps 25% of your portfolio in equities. if you're much younger, still earning a living and saving money, then you'll want a much greater percentage of your portfolio in equities. >> you know, all that makes so much sense, but when you're talking so-to-somebody about their retirement savings, about college savings plans, they are still worried about putting money into stocks, even though they see the markets going up. how do you reassure them so they get comfortable and can sleep at night that they are doing the right things? >> stocks are just an amazing way to build wealth. they have been over the long term. they have beaten all other asset classes. i strongly encourage individuals that aren't as familiar with the stock market or aren't as comfortable with the stock market to seek out some help, get some guidance from a professional. not from your neighbor but a

professional. i'd love for you to come to us, go to an independent registered investment adviser, professional that has their best interest at heart, and get some professional advice. >> are you finding that still too many people are too heavily concentrated in bonds, and how do you urge them to leave that safety behind and move into something riskier in. >> yeah. a lot of people are asking that question. we don't have a significant number of investor in bonds on our platform at td ameritrade. it's a very small percentage. the ones in bonds we do a lot to educate them on what will happen if they are in longer-term bonds. when interest rates rise, it's very important. there's a significant amount of principal risk there, but what we do have, it's very interesting, at td ameritrade, is over 20% of the $500 billion that are on our -- that is on our platform is in cash. over 20%. >> that's amazing. >> so a lot of folks on the sidelines, a lot of folks stiller in vows. >> that could be a bullish sign. thanks a lot, tom. thanks for coming on the

program. really appreciate t.tom bradley, president of the retail at td ameritrade. well, coming up a little later on the program, we go in focus tonight on america's increasing fuel independence. so why are prices still going up? but first, a look at how the overseas markets finished out the day. three dow component companies are at the top of tonight's market focus. microsoft, the european union fining microsoft $331 million for breaking an agreement to offer european consumers a choice of rival browsers in the windows operating system it sells over there in the eu. microsoft blamed a technical error and has apologized but hasn't said whether it will appeal that fine. the stock down less than 1% on the day. speaking of another big, big

company, exxon mobil told financial analysts that it expects production to decline about 1% this year because of weaker natural gas output and then rise over the next four years as 22 major projects come online. the company says it expects to spend 190 billion, yes, billion, over the next five years on exploration alone. exxon shares flat today. disney ceo bob iger in the hot seat today at the company's annual meeting. activist shareholder groups questioned his dual roles as ceo and chairman and carped about his compensation. iger took home more than $40 million last year, but most shareholders gave him the thumbs up for boosting disney stock by 138% during his tenure. the activists lost on every issue. disney shares lost 12 cents, down from yesterday's all-time high. shares of staples tumbled today, even though it reported better than expected quarterly earnings. it beat by a penny, but revenues came in lower than expected, and the office supply retailer also

warned that four-year earnings will come in lower than expectations. the stock got slammed, down 7% to $12 and change. an icon to dell, not so fast, financier carl icahn reportedly taking a 6% stake in the computer-maker dell. reports are that he doesn't really love founder michael dell's plan to team with a private equity firm and take the company private. icahn favors a different tact and has a different company, southeastern company management, another big dell shareholder so dell may be in play. dell posted gains for the day. now, despite concerns about what the death of venezuelan president hugo chavez would mean to the energy market, crude oil closed lower, well off the session lows, rising after the federal reserve reported modest economic growth across the country. and that brings us to the third installment of "nbr's" week long series called "in focus, the american recovery" and tonight we look at energy. here's sharon epperson.

>> reporter: it was unthinkable a few years ago, but now u.s. energy independence appears to be within reach. the united states is virtually self-sufficient in natural gas supply and currently has the highest rate of growth in oil production in the world, producing more oil than it has in two decades. by the end of the decade, this nation is expected to become the world's top oil superpower, outpacing saudi arabia in terms of production. >> with a combination of hydraulic fracturing otherwise known as fracing and horizontal drilling, the u.s. gas position has been turned around and today the united states is the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and by the end of the decade we may exceed saudi arabia tonight world's number one oil producer. we'll certainly give saudi arabia a very good race for its money. >> reporter: here in texas unconventional oil and gas drilling is helping to fuel the state's economy, directly and

indirectly, creating nearly 580,000 jobs last year and expected to account for 930,000 jobs by 2020. according to research from ihs sierra, over 1.7 million jobs are tied to unconventional oil and gas development today, extending to every one of the lower 48 states and rising to 3 million jobs by the end of the decade. building more pipeline capacity, including the keystone xl pipeline stretching from the canadian tarsands through the middle of the country to the refinery-rich texas coast is also expected to drive employment growth. >> keystone is going to support, according to the state department, 42,000 jobs in the u.s., just in terms of the construction alone in the states that we're going through. we'll put 9,000 americans to work. >> reporter: despite the surge in u.s. oil and gas development, challenges remain as global forces continue to push oil prices higher. >> there are various factors

that contribute to the cost of crude oil. unrest in the middle east, the demand coming out of asia, particularly china and india and elsewhere around the world, the value of the dollar. a lot of things contribute to that prize. >> reporter: and drive up gasoline prices, too. with the national average for regular gasoline near the highest it's ever been for this time of year, some consumers may wonder when their wallets will see the economic benefit of the energy boom, but without the surge in u.s. oil and gas supplies, fuel prices in this country would be much higher. for "nightly business report," i'm sharon epperson in houston. >> freedom from foreign oil, american energy independence has been a kind of political and economic holy grail since the 1970s, but now as sharon pointed out it may actually be within reach. i spoke earlier today with bob dudley. he's the chief executive of bp, and i began by asking him whether he thought the u.s. could ever attain the longstanding goal of energy independence. >> we think that by 2030 it's

very likely to be practically energy independent, and that's not just oil and gas. that's coal and renewable energy as well. i don't think any countries should think about it being completely independent because i think all of the energy complex around the world connects itself, but, yes, it will fundamentally change the economics of the u.s. >> how about l that happen? >> well, it will happen because of the massive unlocking of natural gas from shale which has occurred. five years ago, even two years ago, people were wondering if this is real. it is real, and that's been a great boost for the u.s. economy, and then this new shale oil such as what's happening in the state of north dakota which now produces more oil than ecuador which is an opec nation and the renaissance of what's happening in northeast ohio, for example, and in texas, so oil and gas from new sources definitely happening, as well as the deep waters of the gulf of mexico. >> i think a lot of people might be concerned that the unlocking of those assets in natural gas and oil shale will pose very

serious environmental threats. what do you have to say about that? >> well, i think it has to be done this year talking about hydraulic fracturing, nickname of fracing, but it's a technique that actually has been around and used since the 1940s so it's not something new. it's just how it's being used today, and i think, you know, something unknown that's happening way under the ground, so it's easy to paint sort of a sensational picture about it, but it's an unbelievable tool for moving rocks slightly apart and putting sand in between it so that you unlock these natural gases and done responsibly i think this will be something done all over the world now in the coming decade >> you know, not so long ago people around the world were worried that we might run out, peak oil period, that we might run out eventually of oil. what is your working supposition about the growth in demand for both oil and energy overall over the next 15 to 20 years, and how do you see that -- the mix of energy constituents changing?

>> yeah. it's a great question. i mean, we've never subscribed to the peak oil theory because we just know there's more and more oil out there, more efficiency for our water flooding and wringing it out of existing reservoirs, and you go into deeper waters and the new three-dimensional seismic techniques that allow you to unlock the imaging below the ground, there's a lot of oil and gas still in the world, but by 2030 we expect more than additional oil consumption of 16 million barrels a day, and the world itself will need a third more energy. that 16 million barrels a day is the equivalent of combining all the oil production today from russia and canada and the united arab emirates together, that's how much more oil we think the world will be producing and use, along with other forms of energy. you know, it's an enormous challenge of the industry and governments to allow it to happen economically. >> let me turn to the legal questions that confront bp and several other of the companies that were involved in the deep water horizon drilling matter. there was some supposition weeks

ago that you would settle the case that is now taking place down in new orleans. why didn't that happen, and do you have any prospect of settling even though the trial has begun? >> well, tyler, it's -- we're in court today, so it's not appropriate to say very much about it. we -- we absolutely believe our case. we'll defend the company's interests. we've spent $25 billion today in cleanup efforts all across the gulf coast. we over provisioned as much as $40 billion for moving through this. one of the statutes is a company's response and their responsibility after an accident like that to be taken into account. we're looking forward to telling our trial -- our side of the case in court. >> mr. dudley says that by the way he has full faith in the american justice system and to put any suppositions to rest that he and bp are committed to doing business in the united states. tomorrow on "nightly business report," we continue

our special series on the american recovery and focus tomorrow the state of retail and the consumer. and coming up a little later in the program, the snowquester and the costly effects of the bad weather hitting the midwest and atlantic coast, but first, a look at where metals and treasuries closed today. a massive winter storm powering its way from the midwest to the east coast grounding thousands of flights and shutting down the federal government even though the worst of it skirted the nation's capital. hampton pearson has more on that storm that some in washington are calling a snowquester. >> reporter: in the midwest winter piled up more than a foot of snow. more backups in dayton, ohio after another tractor trailer

collision there. meanwhile, major airports have seen nearly 4,100 flight cancellations in the last two days with another 7,500 flights delayed. chicago o'hare and reagan national in washington, the most heavily impacted. 2013, weather experts say, continues the trend of more frequent and more costly weather events, but businesses are incorporating more long range forecasting to prepare for emergencies and anticipate customer demand. >> a lot of major retailers are leveraging date axa like that and factoring it in, but we're still early days and the ability to really truly optimize against that kind of intelligence. >> fedex is no stranger to contingency plans around bad wetters and walmart, the nation's largest retailer, has disaster command center personnel on standby with more capability to pre-position emergency merchandise before and after a storm hits. we're just three months into 2013, but it looks like retailers could be among the

economic weather casualties. experts say too many made plans based on last year's weather which was unseasonably warm. >> planning year over year is just a tricky business. if you assume the weather is going to be the same it won't being. statistically about the same 20% of the time. >> reporter: sometimes the threat of bad weather can cause massive disruptions. here in washington the federal government order 375,000 workers to stay home, but as you can see, it's just a little rain and mostly deserted streets here in the nation's capital. for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson in washington. "sports illustrated" magazine is out with its annual list of the 50 most powerful people in the sports business. as expected team owners and media big wigs, league commissioners and the like but number ten on the list had a lot of people on wall street taking notice today. it's called hedge fund dude. that's a catch-all title for 32 unnamed hedge fund managers who made enough money to be on the

"forbes" 400 list and on in part or in whole a major sports team. as the magazine puts it, is there any cooler rich guy play thing than a pro team? probably not, but a lot of pro teams don't make any money, suesy. >> you know who made number 44? >> who was that? >> president obama. >> big surprise, not that he owns a business. >> big basketball fan. >> he's a big basketball fan and player. and that's "nightly business report." we want to remind you this is the time of year your public television station seems your support that makes programs like "nightly business report" possible. >> on behalf of public television, thank you for your support. good night, everybody. we hope to see you back here tomorrow night. ♪ senza fine

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