this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie iler. >> street.com, for an ever-changing financial world. our dividend stock adviser guides and helps generate income during a period of low interest rates. real money helps you think through ideas for investing and trading stocks. action alerts plus is a charitable trust portfolio that provides trade by trade strategies. online, mobile, social media. we are thestreet.com. shorter lines. unemployment claims dropped to the lowest level in more than five years. and that lights a fire under stocks, sending the dow up triple digits. >> and mutual experience. we'll talk about the $27 trillion global mutual fund industry with the ceo of franklin templeton.

>> and more green for your groceries. the numbers are in, and you might be surprised what it means for your food bill. all of that and more on this "nightly business report" for thursday, may 2nd, 2013. good evening, everyone, i'm sue herrera. susie is in omaha getting ready for the berkshire hathaway shareholders' meeting. >> sue, i'm tyler mathisen in washington at the big investment company institute. it's their 55th annual meeting, and we will talk about the $27 trillion global mutual fund business with greg johnson, the ceo of one of the biggest franklin templeton. but first, sue, it seems like all of yesterday's sellers turned around and became buyers today. >> they sure did, ty. sell in may, well, not today. stocks surged higher with traders taking back and making back all of the losses from yesterday. and that's after first-time jobless claims fell by 18,000 last week. dropping to a more than five-year low and on hopes that an interest rate cut by the

european central bank will help jump-start the eurozone economy. well, taking a look at how the numbers finished on wall street, the dow rose 130 points, the nasdaq was up 41 on the strength of technology stocks. and the s&p 500 added nearly 15, just enough to reach another all-time closing high. >> well, sue, in addition to the weekly jobless claims numbers, planned layoffs in april dipped 23% to their lowest levels of the year so far. that, according to the monthly survey from the outplacement firm, challenger, gray and christmas. so with tomorrow's jobs report looming on everybody's mind on wall street and main street, let's talk to john challenger. mr. challenger, welcome. good to have you with us. one of the things that struck me, apart from the individual monthly numbers for april, which were down in terms of planned layoffs from march, was the fact that this year's numbers cumulatively, the year so far, almost exactly matched the number of layoffs planned at

this time a year ago. what does that tell you? >> well, the layoffs have been steady this year. they haven't been heavy, though. these numbers are very light. these were the lowest numbers we had seen, monthly numbers for layoffs, since december. you combine that with these very low weekly jobs claims, and those were expected to go up. so they came down. a big surprise. i think that fueled the market. but it also fueled hopes that more companies are poised to do some of the hiring that's been missing over the last several years. >> we can certainly hope that's the case, john. but there were certain sectors or areas, if you will, that saw more job cuts than others. what sectors were those? >> well, we saw heavy job cuts, heaviest in retail. retail has been hit hard. consumer spending has been down. there is real concern that with the payroll tax hikes, that consumers just don't have as much money in their pockets, consumer confidence is not

strong. so retail seems to be one of the areas that's getting hit hard. but there are areas that are growing, too. >> such as? >> are there any -- >> health care -- >> oh, go ahead. >> energy, housing, construction. those are areas that have been seeing job growth over the first quarter in the economy. >> are you seeing, john, any indication that the federal spending cuts, so-called sequester is driving anything in a measurable way? >> we didn't see it this month in terms of defense job cuts, but we know that's coming. certainly those budgets are being slashed, those kinds of announcements are going to be certainly ones we have seen in the summer throughout 2013, because they're just not going to be as much in the budgets to go around. so we will see more job cuts there going forward. >> you know, john, i find it interesting health care is on the list. yet when you talk to stock

analysts, they say that health care is the area in many cases that is starting to grow. so why would that particular area see a significant number of job cuts? >> well, health care -- we saw some job cuts, but it is an area, you know, where we are seeing growth. that's what i would say. there is always change going on in everybody's sector. but health care has been creating jobs consistently, net new jobs really more than any other sector in the economy. and with new health care laws coming on board, there's another 30, 40 million people who have access to health care services. that really didn't before. at least not to this degree. so health care is likely to be a net job creator for some time to come. >> john, why did these numbers seem, or correct me if i'm incorrect, why do they seem so lumpy, so volatile? the february federal jobs report was very good. then march turned out to be good. your numbers indicate a similar kind of lumpiness.

>> well, certainly it depends on sometimes situations that occur month by month. the weather affected job creation, seemingly, in the month of march, where just 88,000 jobs were created. in the month before, it was almost 250,000 jobs. so you have to look at these numbers not on a -- just a week by week basis, and in the case of the jobless claims or even on a monthly basis sometimes in the case of the unemployment report. but more by quarter, by what's happening. and one of the key issues out here right now is that we are seeing job openings really now at a very high level. highest in five years. in fact, a real -- tie into the fact that jobless claims, weekly jobless claims, layoffs, are at a five-elow. job openings at a five-year high. you would think we're going to see more job growth and the unemployment rate drop as we

move forward into the new year. into the summer. >> john challenger, thank you very much for being with us. john is with allenger, gray and christmas. well, ty, earnings news out of general motors also helped set the tone for stocks today. four years after two of detroit's big three were bailed out by the government, the automakers seem to be on a roll again. phil lebeau has more. >> reporter: things are picking up on america's assembly lines. just look at ford's plant outside kansas city, where they're adding 1,000 new jobs and a third shift to keep up with demand for f-series pickups. >> now is the time to add more production, because we're very bullish on our sales. we have had our f-series sales grow 19% so far this year in the u.s. 26% in canada. and now is the time with the auto industry growing. >> reporter: f-series sales have steadily improved in recent years. but dealers say they're really in demand now, because contractors have the cash to buy a new truck, thanks to the housing market coming back. >> i've been saying for a long

time that when housing kicks in and with the recovery going on in energy that pickup truck sales would be there. and it's a very strong year for pickup truck sales. >> reporter: america's auto industry hasn't been this strong in decades. sales are up and so is employment in the industry. with nearly 100,000 jobs added in the last two years. but most importantly, the big three are all profitable. today, gm said it made almost $1 billion last quarter. >> it was a solid quarter and good start to the year, very much on plan from our point of view. we're really getting into the heart of all of our launch activity we've been talking about for some time now. you see that starting to show up in the top line. >> with pent-up demand driving sales and automakers keeping costs in check, many believe america's auto industry is at the start of an extended profitable run. phil lebeau, "nightly business report," chicago. to market focus now. aig reporting after today's close. the big insurer beat earnings

estimates with profits of $2 billion. that was above what the street was expecting, but they did miss on revenue. aig shares were up more than 2% ahead of the report to $42.13 and added more in after-hours trading. also after the close, gilead sciences reported increased sales, but profits in revenues were light. the company reported its full-year guidance. shares were up 4% at 52.18 before that report. ty? well, sue, linkedinned's profit grew on premium descriptions. the company said its second quarter revenue will be below the estimates of the market. shares closed 3.5% higher to $201.67 and dropped sharply on the second forecast. intel has named an insider as its new ceo. brian crevanich, a 30-year

veteran, chief operating officer since early last year. investors didn't really react sharply to this news. but shares of intel have been floundering over the past year, off more than 17%. sue? the u.s. unit of dutch insurer and retirement planner ing hit the street today as shares debuted on the new york stock exchange. after pricing below the initial range at $19.50 a share, the stock closed up about 7.5% to $20.97. earlier today, i sat down with the company's ceo, rodney martin, and began by asking him about the future of the company. >> ing group, as a result of the european commission agreement, had to divest in the insurance assets from the bank. the ipo of ing west was part of that. the bank will be retaining the name ing, and we planned a very orderly process. so we will continue to brand ing through the end of 2014 when ing group deacon some dates and the

is sale is down, and more than 50% by the end of 2014 and 100% by the end of 2016. so we are introducing our ticker symbol today. and we will begin commercially branding financials beginning in 2015. >> it seems as though it's aptly named, because it stands for voyage, basically. you're trying to help the consumers you serve on their voyage to and through retirement. is that a correct interpretation? >> that's a perfect interpretation, sue. and we are now the -- one of the largest publicly listed retirement focused organizations. our aspiration is to be viewed as america's retirement company. we've got 13 million customers, $460 billion of assets and one of the largest players in the u.s. serving needs. and one of the biggest problems americans face today, and that's preparedness for retirement. >> absolutely. and one of the things we found, though, is that after the '08 financial crisis, a lot of the baby boomers and others,

certainly, backed away from the equities market, backed away from financial instruments, because they didn't trust the market. how do you lure that group back, especially since probably underfunded for their retirement. >> you're absolutely correct. and it's really built around our strategy of retirement readiness. and that's preparing people both on the asset accumulation side, the protection side, the what happens if component, and then the distribution side. so two -- and as you pointed out, through retirement. and it's a combination of kind of slow and steady movements, people have moved back into the market cautiously. retirement is a long-term plan. and that's really, again, why we have chosen the abstract of voyage, voya, because we think retirement is not just a destination, it's preparing and being secure in however you as an individual or i choose to define retirement. >> it's a tough environment, on the one hand, because it's a low or no interest rate environment.

so it's tough for you to invest your clients' money, and get a return, but it's also harder for you to make money with a low interest rate or no interest rate environment. >> it is. but companies like ours, and many other fine companies are, you know, long-term investors. retirement is a long-term objective, and, you know, we go through cycles. we happen to be in a lower interest rate cycle today, but many other countries face the same thing. so, again, i think a prudent and steady course, both from an investment perspective as an individual, or frankly, as a company, is a prudent way to go forward. >> and a few numbers to think about. in 2012, the retirement segment for ing accounted for 49% of operating earnings. and individual life insurance accounted for 21%. coming up, the mutual fund industry has grown to $27 trillion worldwide. and half of that money is right here in the u.s. ty is going to talk with the ceo

of franklin temple ton. but first, a look at how the international markets fared today. and some of the world's top mutual fund ceos are converging here on washington, d.c. for the annual meeting, the 55 lt.3 of the fund industry's trade group, the investment company institute. its members manage assets of more than $13.6 trillion in the u.s. alone. and the answer to about 90 million shareholders, many of whom are just like you. greg johnson is the current chair of ici and perhaps best known as the president and ceo

of franklin templeton. welcome. good to see you again. >> thank you, tyler. >> how is business. >> business is good. >> money is coming in. >> strong first quarter. and we hope we can keep that rolling. >> are you seeing any change in the mix of fund flows, more into equiti equities, less into bonds or what? >> we're pleased to see that equities had a positive quarter. and that's been against the trend for active managers here over the last couple years. but fixed income had another huge quarter. so it wasn't one at the expense of the other. i think what we have seen is after the sequester more money moving back into the market. also some tax changes at year-end. so january was a record month at the expense of some money funds, money that's been parked and moved into equities and fixed unt income. >> are you having to swallow some as other companies are doing? >> we are, but for us a small part. >> i want to play a sound bite from lloyd blankfein from

earlier today, because one of the discussion points this week is the weight of regulation on business generally and most especially on the financial services business. let's listen to lloyd blankfein earlier today. >> there is uncertainty now, but i don't think spectacularly more than in other periods that i've grown into now. but the recent history is really what's getting everybody nervous. >> mr. blankfein basically had a rafael nadal serve that he could have smashed and said regulation is worse. but he said, yeah, it's there, but we just deal with it. is that what you see? >> well, i think, like any ceo, he's very careful about his words when he's in public. and regulation, you know, after the financial crisis, dodd/frank and, you know, obviously he's very involved in many different rules that have to be written. so there's less new legislation coming, but there's lots of new rules being written.

so it's very active from that perspective, and i think some of the backlog -- we're already three years past dodd/frank coming to light. you know, that backlog has put a real -- a lot of pressure on many different regulatory bodies to get the rulemaking out in time. and the good news is, i think they're being very thoughtful about the changes, because there are unintended consequences to many of these rules. >> we talked about the boko rule, he basically said that. he said well-intentioned but the unintended consequences are really the detail here. another thing he talked about was the level of risk aversion in the investment business and in american business generally. let's listen to what he said there, and i want to get your reaction to that, as well. >> people are nervous about taking risks. it's a huge consequence and fallout with getting things wrong. nobody agrees on the price of anything. we have a situation where debt is very cheap. and yet nobody is borrowing to invest in their own businesses. given where you can borrow debt, does that mean people think they

can't get a return out of their own businesses? higher than their cost of funding and their cost of money? it seems unlikely, but that's where we are today. >> i think what he was really driving at in part there was the idea that the financial crisis had left such deep scars that the cost of getting something wrong was so intense that there's a risk aversion that is lingering even today. is that how you see it? >> well, i think that's true. i mean, the financial crisis had a huge impact, and i think for many companies, when they don't see growth prospects, they tend to move towards cost-cutting. and even thoh balance sheets are healthier than ever, if we don't think that incremental investment is going to bring growth and a lot of that is based on how you feel about the economy, that money is not going to be spent. so you can have liquidity, you can have easy access to loans and a healthy balance sheet. but if you don't think that dollar is going to earn more than sitting on your balance sheet, you know, then you're hesitant to do that. so, you know, i think it just -- it really comes to how people --

the consumer feels about the direction of the country. and that's a lot of big issues. >> one of the things i learned about your business today is how global it is. you have offices in 30 countries, you sell in, what, 150 or 180 countries around the world. is that where the growth is for you and is that where the growth is going to be for the mutual fund business? >> well, i think for franklin templeton, we have been focused on building our business outside of the united states for 25 years. and like any business, we knew your household penetration will hit saturation at some point here in the states. and that pretty much has happened and it's a biged busins and a good business. but we wanted to make sure we were in places where middle classes were emerging. and i think for franklin, having templeton having the network of offices, the research and the relationships, we are able to build out distribution, build out local asset managers, in many of these countries that are just growing much faster. consumers are being created, middle classes are growing, and that's translating to mutual fund investment. >> you said earlier that 30% of your assets are out of the u.s., but 50% of your flows are --

that really sums it up. greg johnson, thank you for being with us. >> thank you, todd. >> appreciate it. sue? >> thanks. rising costs oh were the key for oh kellogg and kraft. beat the street. the company is saying price increases helped offset higher commodity costs. and kellogg basically blamed higher costs for its lower profits. shares of both companies ended the day off about 1%. and if you think you've been paying more for groceries, you're probably right. prices are higher for just about everything. jane wells takes us down the grocery aisle. >> that zucchini growing. >> reporter: david is growing his own food in his backyard in l.a. >> we planted watermelon. >> reporter: this real tore is the parent in charge of grocery shopping for his family of four and says he is spending $100 a week more than a year ago. >> asparagus, $4.99' pound. why? where is it being grown?

>> reporter: the federal government says overall, food prices will rise about 3% this year. but new numbers show how much it costs to provide a healthy diet of groceries for a family of four. the usda says anywhere from a little over $127 a week for a thrifty shopper to more than 289 it is for someone who spends liberally, and this doesn't include eating out. that's anywhere from an 18 to 39% jump in a decade, depending on your budget. and in places like new york and new jersey, it can cost a lot more. >> my groceries goes to 5 to $600. this year it literally went up $100. >> probably spend like $700. >> hopefully they can lower the prices. but if -- i mean, i can't change for my children. >> a gallon of milk at one grocery store might be $4, where another grocery store, $2.99, 3 bucks. >> reporter: back in l.a., david checks coupons and shops around for the lowest prices. >> i buy chicken and steak, fish, at costco.

>> reporter: but he realizes part of the reason his grocery bill is going they'll eat us out of house and home. >> for "nightly business report," jane wells, los angeles. coming up, why disney's latest super hero flick is flying high at the box office and how it's helping the company's $4 billion purchase of a comic book franchise pay off. but first, here's a look at commodities. oil had its best day so far this year.

the summer blockbuster season gets under way tonight when "iron man 3" hits u.s. theatres. the movie has already shattered overseas box office records and is paying off big-time for disney. julia boorstin looks at how the movie is important not only to disney's present but its futureç >> go! before "iron man 3" opens this week, it's already a global hit, breaking records and grossing more than $300 million internationally, setting it up to be one of the biggest u.s. films of the year in just its first weekend. kicking off the big summer movie season and turning around months of declining sales at the box office. >> disney is being very savvy about packaging this in a way, both in terms of the release date, the timing of the merchandising, the partnerships, the tie-ins.

everything. when you make a $4 billion investment in marvel, you're not going to blow >> when a studio, you know, changes the content or adds content for a particular market, and in this case being china, that's a big deal and that shows the clout of that marketplace. >> china is the second-largest movie market behind the u.s. and is growing much faster. so the success of "iron man 3" should pave the way for more partnerships. disney is not just cashing in on box office sales, but also on

product placement, featuring audi, verizon fios, subway and tcl and others. plus, promotional deals, including hasbro and leg o provide tense of millions of advertising that marvel doesn't pay for. $200 million to produce, plus much more to market. but working with brands around the world is one way disney will yield the return on its investment. for "nightly business report," i'm julia boorstin in los angeles. you know, sue, i think you may have some of those "iron man" action figures in your future. >> i think i do too, and i know you do, as well, ty. lots of them all over the floor, all of the time. >> all over the floor. >> all right. that will do it for us on "nightly business report." i'm sue herrer thanks so much for watching. >> i'm tyler mathisen. a remindder that susie will be in omaha tomorrow for the berkshire hathaway shareholders' meeting. have a great evening, everyone. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night.

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a kqed television production. >> it's sort of like old fisherman's wharf. it reminds me of old san francisco. >> and you'd be a little bit like jean valjean, with the teeth, whatever. >> and worth the calories, the cholesterol, and the heart attack you might have. >> it's like an adventure, you know? you gotta put on your miner's helmet. >> it reminds me of oatmeal with a touch of wet dog. >> i did. inhaled it. >> people when they sa