. this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib brought to you in part by. >> thestreet.com. founded by jim cramer, thestreet.com is an independent source for stock market analysis. cramer's action alert plus service is home to his multi million dollar portfolio. you can learn more thestreet.com/nbr. so close. investors kicked off the weekend in a buying mood. the s&p finishing just shy of a record and the nasdaq sits at a 14-year high. where is the enthusiasm coming from, and how long will it last? >> winners and losers. a big week for retail earnings but just because walmart's numbers were disappointing, doesn't mean others will follow suit. >> as the health care system

changes, insurers are facing competition. we'll focus on a hospital that's not only offering care, but also insurance plans that cover it. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for monday, february the 24th. good evening, everybody. i'm bill griffeth in for tyler mathisen. >> i'm susie gharib. what a way to kick off a new week on wall street. stocks rallied with the s&p 500 even setting a new record high. investors were in a bullish mood thanks to optimism over the latest round of corporate deal making including netflix striking a deal with comcast. we'll talk more about that subject in a few minutes. now, here is a look at the closing numbers on wall street today. the dow rose 104 points, up almost 200 points but pulled back. the nasdaq added 29 and s&p gained 11 points to 1847.

now that the average is on pace to end the month of february higher, the national association for business economics is wondering whether stocks will climb if economic growth slows down. steve liesman as more on why those experts are worried about a possible slow down in the economy and what could happen next. >> reporter: an economy is like a car engine. when everything works perfectly, there is a speed that can core ream the car down the road. the latest is that something isn't working right. that the potential of the economy to generate growth and prosperity over the next decade will be slower than id had been. one reason, people out of work for years because of a recession means the quality of the labor force declined. >> this shows, i think, a very long shadow of having so many people out of work for such a long period of time. >> reporter: elmednorf says the

recovery has fallen to 2.1% from 3.3% the previous 60 years. that's $200 billion less in growth. another problem, the ageing of the work force. >> as people age, they tend to not participate much up until the time they retire. the age and population will lead to slower growth of the folks looking to work. >> reporter: larry summers and economic advisor says this is a clear case for the government to step in and increase spending. >> ask if anybody is proud of kennedy airport and then to note that if a moment when the long-term interest rate we print is below 3%, and the construction unemployment rate approaches double digits is not the right moment to increase public investment in general and perhaps to repair kennedy

airport in particular. >> reporter: whatever the solution, there is a pretty good agreement the economy will grow slower unless new technology can be found that will kick start the american growth engine. for "nightly business report", i'm steve liesman. gold prices soared today. investors poured money into the safe haven asset on worries about slow growth in the u.s. that steve liesman just talked about and also, because of growing uncertainty in emerging markets and political turmoil in ukraine and thailand. the price of the precious metal rose by $14.40 to 1,338, that's a four-month high. more on the crisis in ukraine, which remains a divided country tonight. one that's teetering between establishing bonds with europe and the u.s. and another that's leading toward returning back into moscow's fold. michelle cabrera reports now on the latest news out of ukraine

and why it matters to all of us. >> reporter: the political situation in ukraine is similar to late last week when there was terrible bloodshed as protesters rose up against the government. although the situation is bad, financially this country needs to borrow money and fast. right now the government is running a deficit. that means every single day it spends more money it takes in tax revenues, in normal time they could borrow from the international markets. traditional lenders won't give money now because the political situation is so uncertain, so they have to turn to someone. they could turn to the european union and the united states said they would help, as well, or ukraine could turn to russia, the biggest trading partner and that's the core of the issue and why the united states is so interested in this. where will ukraine end up, in whose political satellite? the west or west? russia is concerned about having

a country e lined with the eu so close to them so they will be willing to do a lot, extend loans with few requirements to keep ukraine within their spear of influence. however, the protest is on the ground why they rose up three months ago is because they don't want their government to do that and want their government to turn to the west where there is better transparency. how this plays out is unclear. with a temporary government and over the next several days, they will try to hammer out some kind of agreement, political and financial. the outcome is deeply uncertain. for "nightly business report", i'm michelle cabrera. here now to talk more about today's market rally, patricia edwards, managing director of investments. patty, nice to have you back with us. >> nice to be here, thank you. >> let me begin by just asking you that we know that investors

are always worried about something, and, you know, all of a sudden today we get this big rally. what changed? is driving this enthusiasm and will the rally continue? >> there is a lot that went into today's numbers. fist of all you had successful closing of the games with no issues in sochi, and i think that was not to be taken lightly. on top of that you got a little resolve out of the ukraine. nothing is absolutely clear, but there is actually movement and things seem to be calming down. that helps, also. then you add in submergers and acquisitions that are helping to get the engines running here in the u.s., and earnings have been pretty good. all those taken together made for a very nice day today. >> what is wrong with the logic that says if the fed -- if we believe the fed's easy money policy of the last few years has fueled a great deal of the rally we've seen in the stock market, when they start to remove that easy money policy, why don't we see any decline in the stock market? that's not happening yet.

>> no, it's not happening yet, and i think part of the reason for that is there has been so much stimulus over the past few years. we're starting to ease off on the throttle but our foot is still on the gas peddle. there is money going into the economy, just not as much. >> speaking of the new fed chair, janet yellen will be speaking in front of congress on thursday. what do you expect her to say? is she going to be on message, or will we hear something new from her? >> we expect she'll be charmingly boring, which will probably be a good thing for the market. what we're expecting, at most, maybe a tweak maybe to put in some wording about an inflation floor, meaning they won't let things slow down too much. beyond that, she should be on message and we expect things to continue going forward the way they have. >> we seen a pickup in merger activity lately, deals been announced. there are a lot of deals brewing now. do you consider that a positive? and would you invest with that

in mind right now? >> sit a positive, bill. it's one of the things we saw actually starting last year. if you look at the second half of 2013, there were more deals in the second half than first and now we're starting to get a little more traction with that. we think there is a couple things going on there. one is that we need revenue growth in some of our major corporations. we had huge earnings growth in the past five years, about 118% but only 17% revenue growth. given that, they will be looking for different ways to get that revenue growth. we're looking more for org -- growth. >> tell us about the ukraine and what investors should do, if anything, about their portfolios. >> the ukraine situation is probably not going to affect your portfolio in the short run. the big issue here is going to be something like a connotation.

we don't think that's coming. in fact, we think there will be help from russia and the eu. the u.s. has stepped in. you have to invest over the long run using fundamentals, and this is just a small thing. >> lots of good information. thank you so much. patricia edwards, managing director out u.s. bank wealth management. moving to earning season. it's winding down but not before we hear from some of the nation's top retailers, and while some like walmart last week will partly blame weak sales on the brutal winter weather, all retailers are not created equal. others may see the bad weather as a plus for revenue. courtney regan has more. >> reporter: while the world's largest retailer blamed every issue on its disappointing earnings outlook, investors should be careful. in fact, some retailers like those external factors.

winter weather and higher home investment at the expense of discretionary buying. alan thinks home depot was a beneficiary of the winter weather, carefully positions the weather appropriate products on a region basis. with snow removal products at a particular high sales volume. plus, the upcoming spring quarter is the retailer's most important, perhaps more so this year as homeowners are expected to continue to investing in improvement in and outside the home. richard jafry thinks the cold weather helped macy's but says the tight control on inventor didn't leave much to sell in january. he has macy's as a top pick. >> macy's is a giant dominant force in the department store industry, and uses its strength effectively to have exclusive brands and offer unique product and do a great job on the

internet component, as well. >> reporter: macy's remains a standout among a sector. a shrinking sears and struggling j.c. penney. sears and j.c. penney report earnings this week. neither are expected to inspire much confidence. >> you want to look for the balance between internet and stores to make sure they are both healthy, robust and growing. >> reporter: whether merchandise is purchased in store or online compelling products remain the key success factor as retail options swell, the most special product offering will win. for "nightly business report", i'm courtney regan. and still ahead on the program, netflix agrees to pay comcast for faster access. is the deal a game changer for the industry, and will more agreements like this one follow?

billionaire activist investor carl icahn is at it again in a note to ebay board members and shareholders, he's accused members of the board of what he called lapses in corporate governance and calls for the company to spin off the successful paypal electronic unit but ebay was quick to respond to icahn who ow owns about % of the shares. ebay said it's not interested in separating it. with one of every five people in the world owning a smart phone, tech companies are looking to update products with the latest accessories and services to boost sales and this week all the big smart phone makers, social media giants and softwa software firms are doing that at a tech conference in spain.

jon fortt is in barcelona. >> reporter: this week in barcelona, many top executives in wireless and tech from around the world are gathering to try to figure out what is next. the smart phone revolution gets well underway, which means for opportunities for proof knit probably won't be in hardware so much in services. that's going to be a key theme here at the mobile world congress. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg is here and ibm ceo and cisco ceo john chambers and more. it's a chance to layout the vision for getting more people in emerging markets online. >> all the data and studies that we've shown show that it will not only increase their opportunities to find jobs and health and education and all these things, it makes the economy better and if we do this as an industry, it will also for self-interest just increase the profits of the different

companies involved here. >> reporter: lots of new products are taking a bout here including low-end android phones, new tablets from hp and an in app payment service from mastercard. lots of meetings. >> government officials, customers, partners, i meet my own employees, i meet competitors. it's the meeting place to learn and be inspired and also very effe effective, because everybody is here. >> reporter: a big week for a very big mobile industry. for "nightly business report" i'm jon fortt in barcelona. we have more now on that deal we told you about at the top of the program with netflix paying comcast to use its high speed broad band to speed up digital downloads. julia boorstin has more, who benefits from it and whether this opens the door to similar doors with other content and internet providers. >> reporter: netflix and comcast

deal aims to be a win/win giving better service to subscribers of both, addressing concerns customers have suffered from slowing broad brand speeds. with this deal netflix and comcast will cut out the middleman. netflix paying comcast to direct it. it's a valuable partnership between the nation's largest internet provider about to become much larger and streaming video netflix. >> you have a company that represents 1/3rd of the traffic on the internet strike a deal with a company that represents as much as 1/3rd of the internet subscribers. >> reporter: youtube have similar arrangements to work directly with internet providers, but this is the first time a content company like netflix paid an internet provider like comcast directly.

that doesn't mean netflix will face higher cost, it's just paying a different company. up until now, netflix paid other companies to deliver data. one of those companies, kogent. verizon ceo mcadams saying on cnbc monday morning he's in talks with netflix and expects to close a similar deal. >> the commercial model i think will work well. to me, that shows that you don't necessarily need a lot of regulation in a dynamic market here by doing these commercial deals and we'll get good investments and returns. >> reporter: internet providers hope this will give the fcc and others a reason to take a light hand showing rivals can work well together without intervention and analysts craig moffett says it reflects well on comcast as it looks for approval on the timewarner acquisition. >> it tells you if you're the department of justice or fcc that comcast is not going to engage in any competitive

practices. >> reporter: we'll see this if this speeds along regulatory approval. for "nightly business report", i'm julia boorstin in los angeles. we need to remind you that comcast is the parent company of cnbc, which produces this program. blackberry lands two major deals. shares of blackberry shuurged o news the messager service will be available to windows phone and nokia x users starting this summer. accept prettibre separately ford, picked it for the insync. rf micro devices says it's paying $1.6 million for the semi conductor. the two companies get most of the revenue by supplying parts to device makers like apple and system sung and the deal makes them a bigger player. shares of both companies surged

on the news. rf micro up 21%, triquint to $11.64. the suit saga continues. mens warehouse rised the offer for jos. a. bank by 10% spurring hopes the month-long battle of back and forth between the two companies might finally be over. men's warehouse says it may raise the bid further. shares of both companies up, as you can imagine. men's warehouse up to 4.5 -- 48.51 and jos. a. bank to close at 4.99. pfizer vaccine prevented several. the treatment is an the market to treatment childhood infections. analysts say they predict the success of the drug on older patients would boost annual

sales by $1 billion or more. it closed at $31.99. the pentagon announced deep spending cuts to the armed forces today. defense secretary chuck hagel outlined his vision for the military in the year ahead, and the changing priorities for our men and women in uniform. >> we are repositioning to focus on a strategic challenge and opportunity that will define our future. new technologies, new centers of power, and a world that is growing more volatile, more unpredictable and in some instances, more threatening to the united states. >> among the proposed cuts, shrinking the army to the smallest size before world war ii, eliminating the air force a-10 and freezing pay for generals and admirals and a 1% pay cut for all military personnel. despite that, shares of some of the biggest defense contractors rose by more than 1% today

including northrop grumman. as the health care industry changes, insurers are facing new complications, we'll take you to a hospital branching out beyond care and into insurance. >> some of the shares of the biggest insurers are moving higher because reimburse mt cuts for 2015 were not as bad as feared. that sent shares of humanna surging and well point and et that. those insurers are not only praising for reimbursement cuts

in the affordable care act but tough new competition. tonight we begin with a three-part series on the changing health care insurance business. we begin with a look at how some hospitals are now offering their own health care plans. bertha coombs reports. >> reporter: mike doesn't have to offer his workers health benefits, but he always has. >> we target people that are stable, family people who expect at this point, you know, that the insurance is going to be taken care of by their employer. >> reporter: this year the small business owner is gambling on a brand-new insurance company tied to a big hospital, northshore lig. its rates were lower and his staff is happy with the choice. >> the people that accept this insurance seem to be the doctors that they already had. so it seemed natural. >> reporter: the ceo of the care connect insurance unit says the hospital's name recognition

helped them compete on new york's exchange and in the private market. >> we are not a united health care. we're not blue cross and blue shield. we have a very narrow network but highly intense interactive network. so what you trade in choice, we hope you make up with in simplicity. >> reporter: it means care connect will reimburse northshore differently than other insurers. >> i don't necessarily reimburse for environment. i agree ahead of time i'll spend x number of dollars on health care and it's up to them to work with us to figure out the most efficient and best place for that health care to take place so that they are not trying to fight for every penny. >> reporter: if they get it right, they will join the ranks of kizer's health system in california and pennsylvania, highly regarded hospital systems that hold down cost by integrating coverage and health care. hospital systems first got into the business of insurance back

in the '90s, when hmos were popular but many found they couldn't make financials work. >> since we moved through the 2000s and into the current day, the data capabilities are much greater, and many hospitals are much more closely aligned with their physicians. >> reporter: martin says having an insurance plan can help hospitals keep patients within their systems, as long as they don't alienate other playayers. >> the other risk is really managing the relationship with the insurers that now the hospital is competing with. >> reporter: so far, care connect exceeded expectations. >> we thought we would probably have three to 4,000 individual members of which, let's say, 50 to 60% of them would pay the bill. we had almost double that on and off exchange. >> reporter: mike is hoping it

pays. >> we try things every day. we're business owners, so we have to be daring sometimes and make decisions. to read more about how hospitals are getting into the insurance business, go to our website, nbr.com. and tomorrow our series continues with a look at how an insurance startup is attempting to shakeup the industry. finally tonight, good news if you invest in companies that pay a dividend. last year the world's largest public company paid out more than $1 trillion in shareholder dividends globally. that's up more than $300 billion since 2009. henderson global says research listed firms are by far the research dividends increasing pay outs by 49%. financial firms paid out the most, no surprise, followed by technology companies.

that's "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm susie gharib. thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth, thanks for joining us. see you tomorrow. "nightly business report" has been brought to you in part by. >> thestreet.com. founded by jim cramer, thestreet.com is an independent source for stock market analy s analysis. it's home to his multimillion dollar portfolio. you can learn more thestreet.com/nbr.

(♪) (♪) daniel mansergh: imagemakers is made possible by a grant from: celebrating the vitality and power of the moving image. and by the: (♪ slow, dramatic music ) (♪)