>> this is "nightly business report" with tyler matheson and susan gaelic. >> brought to you by the street.com, interactive tools for an ever-changing financial world. our adviser guides and generates 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 the street.com. global market rally from japan to germany to the u.s., what's powering stocks around the world and can it continue? >> rebooting windows 8. microsoft does what no company wants to do, admit it needs to fix the latest version of one of its key products.

>> and are the days of tax-free shopping, sales tax-free on the internet numbers. we have both sides of the debate that's in congress, all of that tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, may 7th. good evening, everyone. another historic close on wall street today. stocks sprinted from the open and really never looked back like one of those horses in the derby. >> exactly. what a day it was and it was historic, tyler, on wall street. the dow closed about 15,000 for the first time ever and the s&p 500 also set a new closing high. so these milestones are another chapter in a remarkable year for the major stock averages. powering stocks higher today, a batch of better than expected earnings reports. more stimulus from central banks and this time from australia and renewed confidence by investors that the u.s. economy is going to be okay. the u.s. rally came in reaction to strong stock performance in world markets this morning and

we'll have more on that in just a moment. first, here's a look at the closing digits on wall street and closing at a record 15,056. the nasdaq added three and the s&p gained eight points to 1625 and its highest points ever. >> the historic highs reached in u.s. equities had helped jump-start a global rebound in stocks with burrses from asia to europe and beyond making record-set being gains. lisa has more now from london. >> hi, everyone. it's pretty amazing what's going on on global equity markets at the moment. we're seeing a lot of buying into u.s. stocks, as you know. we are also seeing a lot of buying into asian stocks. so you are looking here at asian stock markets are very, very green especially today and we saw new five-year highs being hit in japan on the nikkei and their main index there. this despite the fact that we're seeing soft economic data reports. the japanese market players also coming back from a four-day

weekend. so you have to bring that into account, as well. looking at the european market, very interesting because when you look at core europe, we're still seeing softness again in the economic data, so we are still contracting in that front and some say we might have to revisit the recession-type scenario, but nevertheless, europe's core economy hitting new all-time highs and levels that we haven't seen since before the financial crisis started unraveling in 2007. for "nightly business report," i'm louisa bojesen in london. >> japan's indeck has done the best with the nikkei up 12% year to date. france and germany up sharply. one exception, china, its key index down 1.5% this year. by comparison, the dow has catapulted almost 15%. for more on the outlook for the u.s. and stocks around the world, art hogan joins us now

and he's market strategist at lazard capital markets. >> you know, art, it's a nice round number, 15,000, but tell us what does this really tell us about what's going on in the markets, this milestone? >> susie, it's a very good question. and it's interesting. we pay attention when we knock down the numbers and when we pass the 15,000 mark and it w weighs a lot of people, and i think we touched on those. the u.s. economy is not going into a double-dip recession and the second earnings have been better than expected and albeit with lighter revenues than we'd like to see, but the thing that's most important is we have a global, synchronized central bank intervention in this economy. we have central banks pumping liquidity into the marketplace and hoping to stimulate the economy and that's helping stocks probably more than anything else. >> we looked at those numbers from europe and they would indicate that the optimism is at

least flickering over there. is europe out of the woods? >> the ecb is finally coming to the rescue, so to the extent that it will last to start doing things very much like the rest of the global central banks. mario draggy has been forth withwith commentary, talking about having to be more create of. these were cut rates and earlier last week and they'll continue to do what they can do. they're a lot better shape than this time last year. >> speak from the portfolio management as pkt, it's hard to find value in the rising markets and when you look to europe i'm sure there's lots of value, and everyone is waitinging for the other shoe to drop. >> it's interesting, susie. you and i have talked for years and we talked about having exposure to europe and having a portion of your portfolio and at

least having some exposure and what we've done for the last three months is having clients look at less european exposure and if you look at the earnings reporting season that has played out. some of those household name that have missed, europe has been the reason and we don't think it's a strong enough economy to make that a core of your investments and if you want international exposure, we would prefer asia and latin america. >> mexico is, you know, doing some very, very good things. >> so i think on the mend, but not yet a core part of our investment portfolios. >> of all of the regions in the world where would you be adding money incrementally now assuming that you got what you wanted in terms of portfolio allocation in europe and in the united states. you just told me, make the case for mexico specifically. the government did a lot to right this ship here. they have a lot of delevered balance sheets and one of the things that you're doing right -- one of the problems you

will find is the mexican american. people want to go back to mexico because the jobs are plenty and there's growth and it's not that dependent on developing marketsor emerging markets, mexico is grate for 20 then. art hogan at lazard capital markets impeach tile arer? >> one of the chip companies that has been helping power is disney. that following a year's worth of steady gains at the house of the mouse. courtney reagan joins us with news that should make disney investors even happier. >> that's right, tyler, it's not just the happiest place on earth for kids. it is also making investors very happy. the world's largest entertainment company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings after the bell beating wall street's expectations on both the top and bottom lines. for the second quarter, disney reports earnings of 79 cents per

share. 2 cents above wall street's expectations on revenue of 10.55 billion, better than wall street analyst forecast of 10.49 billion. >> they had a great quarter that was helped a lot by some of our new investments notably in disneyland and in florida and also our cruise ships and our investments in hong kong. our cable networks led by espn also had an exception in the quarter. all in all, a great quarter for the company. >> he's reveling in his success in "iron man 3." i haven't seen it yet though. >> we'll get market reaction tomorrow when investors can react to those great numbers. thanks a lot, courtney. later in the show we will look at thing business of theme parks and yet stocks from disney to six flags are riding high. >> a run of earnings reports on that record day and that begins our market focus tonight. let's begin with mandalays

reporting expectations and a slight boost to the 2013 profit outlook. mandalays sells oreos, halls, wheat thins and it closed nearly a percent higher at $41.31, they're adding a bit more in the after-hours earnings report. >> jc penney is after market by reporting numbers after the close a week ahead of schedule. the company expects the fiscal fourth quarter comp sales to drop 16% with levels to close at $16 after hours. >> whole foods reported above estimateses and the company raised its profit outlook for the year and reiterated the sales growth target of as much as 11% and approved a two-for-one stock split. so it's no wonder that investors

bought up the shares soaring as much as 10% in after hours. they were up a percent in the regular session, closing at $92.80. electronic arts' quarterly profits were shy of estimates, but revenues were in line and investors liked hearing that pre-orders are high for the popular video game battlefield 4, and the company's forecast for full-year earnings will come in above analyst estimates. as for the stock up fractionally high tore close at $18.41 before jumping higher in after hourses. >> directv said its first quarter results fell because of a currency devaluation charge, but core profits in revenue improved pushing results of key latin american business added 100 more, and shares hit, up almost 7% on the day and the

company raised its full year guidance. fossel sells jewelry, as well as nordstrom and neiman-marcus. shares gained 9% on the day to $ $198.88. microsoft is call for example a do over after the windows 8 pc system failed to wow consumers and sales have been disappointing so the software giant is retooling woesz with 8 promising big changes by the end of this year. john ford loins us live from silicon valley. so, john, will a revamped operating system make a difference? will it revive the sales of personal computers? >> updates to the operating system don't have a huge impact on pc sales. last time the new version of windows boosted sales was a couple of decades ago and the code name windows blue may not be earth shattering, but here's what to expect. it will work on smart tablet screens and executives have been

listening to user feedback so the old desktop and start button may be coming back as options if i can read into that. >> i think that the pc users would like to just get right to the windows experience and not have the tablet user interface kind of get in the way. they haven't announced yet what they're going to go the side and giving it the ability to go directie directly deck top mode and not the tablet stuff that you want to get into right now. >> he thinks so too. steve ballmer described to me in the fall right before the windows 8 launch. so really with one experience for the user, you can span a device that looks like a desktop. you can work on a device that

looks like a laptop, and the keyboard detaches or you can work on a device that never came with the keyboard at all and just looks like a tablet. >> some users do want slightly different approaches and one more like a traditional pc and another one like a tablet and we'll see if the updates make pc users and pc buyers warm up to windows 8. it might slow the pc's decline. >> john, thanks so much, reporting from silicon valley. you know, when steve ballmer introduced this product in october, he said this is a bet the company moment and now to have to rethink it -- >> yeah, this is a big thing. >> the company that has had a hard time staying out of the own way in many ways. >> when we come back, if online sales are taxed, would it change the way you shop? we have both sides of this very hot debate that's dividing congress and it could affect you and your money. first, let's take a look at some of the stocks and there are quite a few that hit all-time

highs today. ♪ ♪ ♪ tax-free shopping moved a step closer to becoming a thing of the past. the senate easilies passed a bill last night that requires out of state-retailers to collect sales tax on anything bought online. now the measure heads to the house, but as hampton pearson explains passage there is not a sure thing. >> last year internet sales topped $226 billion, up 16% from the previous year and states lost an estimated 23 billion because they couldn't collect the taxes on out of state sales. that's according to a study done

for the national conference of state legislatures. >> the bill, as amended is agreed to. >> it gives senates to require out of state retailers to collect taxes when they sell a product through the internet and through radio and tv ads. walmart, best buy and target with stores all over the country already collect those taxes. >> amazon and ebay don't have to collect that where they don't have distribution centers. amazon is on the side of states and their retail allies. >> retail is retail, a sale is a sale and fair is fair. >> businesses with less than $1 million in growth sales would be exempt. that tax revenue would be sent to the state where the shopper lives. stateses must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate those sales taxes and states must establish a single entity to receive the

revenue to lessen the burden on retailers. opponents are not convinced. >> this isn't about simplification anymore, it's about the big box retailers placing their competitors, smaller competitors into an advantage. critics also predicts a tax collection nightmare for "nightly business report t," i' hampton pearson. steve dellbianco who you just saw in the piece is executive director of net choice coalition, an advocacy group that protects online commerce. gentlemen, welcome back. we had you on a couple of weeks ago and you behaved so nicely we thought we'd invite you back this time. david, let me begin with you. we slised comments on our website and i wanted to read comments from a taylor

shoemaker. i'm concerned about the paperwork this new law will create doing a sales tax return for one state and multiply that by 50 and it could mark the end of my business' expansion. david, answer that viewer. >> every governor wants to protect the retail sdpers small businesses and this bill does that. number one, you have the small business exemption so you have to be doing $1 million of online business before it even applies. number, two there are sichl li if i kayings including the fact that it will pay for and offer software under this bill to make it much easier to do that. nobody wants to impose a big burden and steve, let me turn to you, you were strongly opposed to this measure and how does you feel it? >> the senate rammed us through

without's hear anding in the house the judiciary exity will take a hard look at us asky won't be sure that they don't have all of. 's businesses, but thea, mendment that was passed last night added 550 indian reservations who can demand tax payments and odd its from every american business as well. >> are you predicting this is dead on arrival in the house? >> never predict anything is dead on arrival, but it will have to run the gauntlet of a judiciary committee that held a hearing last week asking very tough questions. david earlier talked about free software while the legislation he favors requireses each state to offer up a single piece of free software for just that state, but america's businesses will have to pay their own dollars to integrate that software into their ordering fulfillment and accounting systems. >> let me pick up with david on that because that was one of the questions that i was going to go to. even if the states do supply the

software that ostensibly will make it easier for companies to comply. many states have different taxes that apply to different items. food is exempted in some states, clothing in others like in new jersey, that's one thing, but the other thing is who is going to be on the line when the software that the states supply me doesn't work? who's going to help me with that, david? >> this certified service providers out there now that have been working with 24 states and have been working on this for ten years. it's not -- it is a proven con set. this is not pie in the sky. this is something that can be done today. i have free software that works with every single major platform out it there that people are using with e-commerce. i'm actually very confident that both the house judiciary committee and the house itself will want to move forward because inaction causes problems in the marketplace. >> so educate me, if you

wouldn't mind, david, on that question of what happens in those states like california where different municipalities have different taxing rates and in states like virginia where certain food items are excluded from sales tax or in new jersey where most clothing is executed and how does that accounted for? >> they are providing good databases to the software company and this is the basic database problem. this is not complicated software. >> any major piece of software out there and it's complicated than actually getting that job done. >> or this doesn't exist. >> it's just not true. as you know and we said in the package. ebay is trying to raise the small businesses that are exempt and maybe 1 million in sales. would that make you feel any better about this measure knowing that small business would be better protected? >> no, susie. think about it, one million of

gross retail is a one or two-person company. i was in capitol hill today visiting offices with catalog companies, doing $20 million and $30 million a year in sales with a couple hundred employees. they were the ones that were squeezed in this trap between walmart, target and amazon trying to squeeze down on their competitors who will never be able to afford integrating these systems. it's been proven. all that's been prove sen that it's phenomenally, pensive to take free software and glue it in to all places in my process and handle customer questions and what about the incredible audit states. 550 indian tribes can punch a button and generate a letter for taxes you haven't collected and didn't need you needed to. >> we appreciate you being with us. i have a feeling we'll have both of you back in the future. >> happy to come back.

>> thank you very much, gentlemen. >> thank you. still ahead on the program, why shares of theme parks may be sending investors on the ultimate thrill ride, but first, let's take a look at how commodities, treasurys and currencies fared today. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my days of riding rollercoasters are over, mercifully, but for some thrill seekers, some are heading to amusement parks and investors are getting their thrills right now seeing shares of one of the big of the amusement park owners and operators reach new heights. jane wells is live at universal city in hollywood with more.

hi, jane. >> reporter: hey, tyler. we're heading into memorial. it's the time of year when theme park revenue start to get as exciting as a white knuckler. it turns out they're pretty thrilling even if it seems that the rest of the economy isn't. >> the economy has been on a roller coaster, but for theme parks, lately the coaster has just been going up. take the mat yas and perret families they haven't been to an amusement park in three years, but this week they came to universal studios hollywood owned by comcast. >> we are a family that saves our money and we don't throw it away on big cars. we invest and then we can enjoy. >> reporter: a lot of americans are having a whale of a good time. across country theme parks are seeing consumers willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a day of fun. comcast surprised wall street with a 12% jump in theme park revenues last quarter. its shares hit an all-time high tuesday.

disney shares hit theirs the day before and analysts say these two companies have a supply of movies they can turn into attractions. disney's planning a new avatar land for disney world which analyst matthew harrigan predicts it will will pay off just like cars land helped disneyland in california. >> going to orlando and doing a facelift in the magic kingdom which they haven't much with in the last four decades. >> it's not just a big conglomerate. six flags has emerged from bankruptcy and reported a 32% jump last quarter. its shares hit an all-time high and so did those at cedar fair. what's amazing is the companies have shown so much improvement in what analysts consider a so-so consumer environment and yet as one park visitor told me, you can't stop enjoying life. >> do you feel more confident going out? >> yes. >> how come? because i'm having a good time back home so we're good.

>> and this afternoon ceo bob iger of disney pointed out that their park revenues really beat expectations and he says the consumer is improving and susie, it's not just the american consumer and we just saw a huge group of consumers at universal studios hollywood. maybe everyone is feeling better. >> everyone wants to have a good time, jane. thank you very much. jane wells reporting from universal studios. >> finally tonight, if you were wondering where the world's millionaires live we have the answer thanks to a company that compiles data on high net worth individuals called wealth insight. the number one city for millionaires, tokyo with nearly half a million of them, next up, new york city with 389,000. the only american city in the top ten and rounding out the top five, london, paris and frankfurt and china has three citieses on the list, but the number of billion acres most of them, big apple. >> i don't have to worry about ever being on. >> that's "nightly business report" for tonight.

>> we'll see you tomorrow ". ♪ nightly business report" has been brought to you by -- >> the street.com. interactive tools for a financial world. options profits helps educate beginning and seasoned options traders. action alerts plus is a charitable trust portfolio that provides trade by trade strategies. online, mobile, social media, we are the street.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

tonight on "spark!," we step away from museums and galleries and into the urban landscape to discover artists whose work emanates from life on the street. in our first story, the gift of grafitti artist david cho, once a self-described husler and thief, he's now searching for a new direction, using art to find his way. >> no one goes to museums. you have this whole attitude and get a can of paint and go out and paint all of the stuff on the freeway and 1,000 people will see it before 8:00 on the 101 freeway in our second story, tommy guerrero's innate sense of rhythm and movement has helped him forge another career. and