this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you in part by -- thestreet.com. featuring stephanie link who shares her investment strategies, stock picks and market insights with action alerts plus, the multimillion dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. we trialment -- retirement crisis. one-third of americans have less than $1,000 saved for their later years. many aren't trying to figure out how much they'll need. what can be done to get people saving? microsoft's mojo, stock closes at a 14-year high on reports of a big push into mobile. is this a sign of more things to come under the company's new ceo? oracle's profit and

revenue fall short of expectations but there's one key takeaway hidden in that report that investors need to know. we'll have all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, march 18th. >> good evening. a wake-up call big time for our country. a comprehensive survey on retirement reveals one-third of workers have less than $1,000 tucked away for their golden years. many don't even know how much they should be saving. some are calling it an impending crisis, and others want to know how we got here and what can be done to fix it. but first here's sharon epperson with the sobering details of the state of retirement planning or unplaning in america. >> reporter: most americans aren't even close to being financially prepared to retire. >> i can't save for my retirement. because of my bills. >> i'm not really thinking about planning for retirement yet but i probably should. >> i'm not thinking about it. focused on right now.

>> reporter: more than one-third of americans have less than $1,000 in savings and investments according to a new survey from the employee benefits and research institute. of 6 /* /- fewer than half have done calculation to figure out how much they should be saving. their confident in retiring comfortably has increased. up from 13% last year. why the change? the increase in confidence is almost exclusively among those with higher incomes or those who are in a retirement plan more than a third of workers with household incomes of $75,000 or more feel very confident. >> i think the message, people who are taking action are the ones that are feeling more confident. >> reporter: but financial advisers say it's a false confidence, tied to stock market gains, not time proved saving

habits. >> we're looking at the returns in their iras and 401-ks and realizing they have more money than 2009. this gives them a false sense of comfort. the problem is they don't know what the end game it. >> reporter: a separate survey says most folks spend more time choosing a flat screen tv or where to eat for dinner than an investment an ira. for "nightly business report" i'm sharon epperson. >> nevin adams is director of education at the employee benefit research institute and co-author of that 2014 retirement confidence survey. let me just begin by saying to you that we all know this is a serious problem. we have to save for retirement. let's say somebody comes to you, says i haven't started to do anything. how do you get started? what would you say is the key one or two things? just one or two things you should do to get started?

>> the most obvious is get started. start saving right now. don't stop. don't try to figure out how much. just need to go and start that process. that's so important. the second step is to figure out how much you should be saving. as what is pointed out in the introduction, fewer than half of the people responding to our survey have ever tried to make a retirement calculation. i think most people are just afraid that it's too complicated, and so they haven't made the step. but doing that step can make a big difference. >> where can you learn how much you need to put away? >> there are any number of online calculators and tools these days that will help you do it. we have a great one called wall park estimate at choosetosave.gov. you'll get a very accurate read on your need for retirement. >> do you need a financial adviser or somebody like that to advise you what to do? when does that make sense? >> a lot depends on your comfort as an individual investor. some people need sitting down, the process just to have the

discipline to sit down and sort of get over that initial inertia. honestly a lot of people who start with a calculator then find that they are waiting for the next step in terms of talking to a financial professional to help them go to the next level. so a lot depends on you. the bottom line is, you can start with one or you can migrate to one later on if you're ready. >> how did we get in this mess? >> we've always been in this mess. this is not a new problem. this is not a new concern. the thing that probably is happening is people get older and heading into retirement, 10,000 a day they estimate at the boomers, we're more aware of it. the problem is not really new. >> on that subject you have to save for retirement. let me bring up the other thing, saving for your kids' college education. what do you do? you've got to do both? choose a priority of the kids first and yourself later? what's your advice on that? >> well, it depends again unfortunately on your individual situation. but the priorities most people

look at paying for the college tuition and say i've got to do that in two years or five years whereas retirement might be 30 or 40 years away. so they might very well choose to start with the education first because that's a need that has to be met first. i've always maintained that you should do both. you may not be able to do as much on both as you'd like. you obviously have to take care of the here and now sooner. but there's no reason you can't set goals to do both. >> the here and now like college education may be sooner. but on the other side of the coin, there are other ways to pay for college education through loans and grants and so on and so forth. should people start by making sure that they are putting as much as they can into any tax-deferred, tax-advantaged account? is that where you should go first? >> i think that's where people find it easier to go. certainly if they've got the advantage of a workplace a 401 k or 43 v plan at work will be easier for them. easier to do, to find information.

easier to have the switch turned on to have the money drawn out of your payroll automatically. and many of those programs also offer you an employer match to go with whatever you save. so it's an easy way to add up your money quickly. >> nevin, thank you so much, from the employee benefit research institute. a second straight day of gains on wall street after russian president vladimir putin said he wasn't looking to take the rest of ukraine. some data showing a rebound in building permits added to the somewhat upbeat mood today, but the comments by putin were the main catalyst. dow adding 89 points, nasdaq jumped 53 and the s&p was up 13. steve sedgwick is in kiev and has more now on the russian president. >> reporter: the crisis in the ukraine moved on a leg on tuesday as russia moved to formerly annex crimea into the russian federation in an hour-long address to members of the russian duma in moss course, president putin was highly critical or the west and highly

critical once again of the government which he called illegitimate in kiev. although he did say that olive branch to the west he has no more territorial aspirations for ukraine. and of course there had been a lot of fears that he would move on military to the east of this country. prime minister yatsenyuk has been talking about the need to move forward and give more autonomy to the regions. nato not in terms of membership in the near future. that would sooth some of the russian fears about nato being on the russian federation doorstep. steve sedgwick for for "nightly business report" in kiev. microsoft stock jumped on reports that the company plans to unveil an ipad version of its popular office software. shares rose almost 4% today, closing in on $40. that's a level investors haven't seen since the year 2000 and the dot-com boom. as josh lipton reports, this

first big move by microsoft's new ceo could be a peek into the company's future. >> reporter: new microsoft ceo hasn't been on the job long but he's already signalling his company could look a lot different under his direction. next thursday at an event in san francisco, nadela will be talking to the press about mobile and cloud computing. he might also announce that its office software suite will be available for apples ipad tablets. that could boost microsoft's bottom line big time. >> we're talking 3 to 5 billion type of market opportunity potentially per year. it's been low-hanging fruit for microsoft in terms of this opportunity. and now they finally looked in the mirror and realized they needed to open up the platform. >> reporter: the office suite includes tools such as word, excel and powerpoint, and it generates the majority of the company's profits. analysts on wall street have

been telling microsoft to make a version of office available for mobile devices for rivals like apple and google. now microsoft's management is coming around. analysts say that is the right move. >> two of the biggest microsoft pillars are windows and office. you don't want to sacrifice one pillar for the other because you could end up losing both. by doing office for the ipad, they're able to maintain and secure the pillar which may be the sustaining pillar overall. >> reporter: analysts have been concerned nadella might act too much like a company man. this news suggests otherwise. >> he's willing to change it up. not going to be a core redmond insider. this is a good example strategic changes could be on the horizon. he's not afraid to make hard decisions. that's why you're seeing investors cheer this move as it seems like it's a sign of things

to come >> caller: the suite in redmond is thinking differently. take home, expect a very different microsoft as it transitions from steve balmer to sacha nadella. ceos are feeling a little bit better about the u.s. economy according to a survey by the business round table. the chief executives are more optimistic on hiring and capital spending over the next six months, but they see economic growth rising a tepid 2.4% this year. those ceos and investors all around the world will be keeping an close watch on the federal reserve, which kicked off an important two-day policy meeting today. this will be the first meeting headed by new chair janet yellen. investors are eager to get guidance from her on possible policy changes on interest rates and any changes in the fed's w numerical goals. will proposed reforms do enough to help level the playing

field on wall street? general motors is taking another step stop overhaul its safety processes. tase the automaker created a new position, a global safety chief whose job it will be to quickly identify and resolve safety issues. jeff buoyer, a veteran gm engineer, will be the first person to hold that position. general motors ceo mary barra in a meeting with journalists today emphasized the position is permanent and not a temporary one to handle the current recall for an ignition switch defect. oracle reported disappointing earnings and revenues after the market closed today. the business software company earned 68 cents a share.

that was 2 cents below analyst estimates. revenue came in around $9 billion but that was also slightly shy of expectations. oracle shares fell as much as 5% in after the-hours trading. in the regular session they closed at 38.84 a gain of 1.5%. sheila c shei sheila dharmarajan. >> reporter: this company is in transition. transitions can take time and be bumpy along the way. over the past two years oracle has been dealing with rival cloud computing and getting more into cloud computing and and retool its internal sales force. this quarter we are starting to see evidence that all of the efforts are paying off. sales were up overall 4% and the president said this was the best

quarter ever when it came to overall cloud sales. as evidenced by the overall quarter, transitions take time and the question is whether investors will wait. disney avoids battle at its shareholder meeting with a compromise. it agreed to split the roles of chairman and ceo in the future. ceo bob eiger's dual role has drawn criticism. today he was re-elected to both his positions. disney is also reportedly in talks to buy meeker studios. one of the largest content providers for youtube. if the deal does go through, it would be a big bet by a traditional media company on the fast-growing digital studio business. and as morgan brennan tells us, it could be the start of a new wave of acquisitions in hollywoo hollywood. >> reporter: you may not know the term multichannel network, but if you've ever watched a youtube video you probably know

the content. multichannel networks are mcns produce digital videos and distribute them through youtube. they test hundreds of channels, hundreds of thousands of subscribers, billions of monthly views and now the funding of traditional media giants like warner brothers and dreamworks animation. to access the young adults to have been increasingly foregoing pay tv subscriptions in favor of online video. >> it's a different kind of content. now you have the studios going from the more traditional content packages of motion pictures, television, down into these microsegments of content where there's also a lot of innovation happening. >> reporter: big studios can offer more distribution and in return get access to new content and new talent geared toward a different kind of audience, an audience whose digital consumption could disrupt traditional pay tv models for years to comment rico.net

reports disney is in negotiations to buy one of these companies. last year dreamworks animation bought awesomeness tv hi has 65 million monthly views. another one with 2 billion views per month just raised $18 million from investors led by warner brothers. >> i think it's a really natural partnership. because traditional media companies have all sorts of distribution outlets and monetization outlets. the online video, mcms have huge audiences and brands they're building. the connection between the two worlds makes sense. >> reporter: that's why full screen and big name known best for helping creators market content and representing youtube

stars. but this fast-growing new industry still has a long way to go. many companies have not yet turned a profit. and thanks to heavy revenue sharing with youtube, many are looking for other ways to make money. for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in los angeles. google and viacom settle a landmark lawsuit. the two companies reached an agreement on a 7-year-old case in which viacom sued google's youtube unit for uploading content from its programs without permission. the terms of this agreement were not disclosed. shares of viacom up to $88. google rose to 1211.26. shares of dfw lower on weak sales and a disappointing -- profit revenue missed the street's estimates. the company did boost its quarterly dividend, though. still, shares fell nearly 3% to

38.90. >> amazon rose on reports that it will release a video streaming device in early april. reportedly the gadget will be available on amazon.com and also at retailers like best buy and staples. the stock was up about 1% to $378.77. >> hertz is planning to spin off its equipment rental business. the company will receive $2.5 billion from the transaction and it plans to use about half that money for a new stock buy back program. separately hertz posted quarterly earnings that came in below estimates and issued guidance that also fell short of analysts' forecasts. the stock slipped a fraction to $27.08. >> and general electric's credit card business is the subject of two federal investigations. regulators are looking into possible violations of consumer finance laws. according to a regulatory filing, related to the unit's planned initial public offering. the new company now named

synchrony financial. g.e.'s shares rose. new york's attorney general is cracking down on high frequency trading, a strategy which uses superfast compute tors gain an edge over others. eric sneiderman who has already made clear his intention to police speed traders is now expanding his investigation and calling for tougher regulations. it's something he calls insider trading 2.0. eamon javers is following the story for us from washington and joins us with the details. eamon, what's he trying to do and why? >> reporter: he says he's going to launch a longer-term investigation. he's been looking into for over a year. that term insider trading 2.0 is the way he's branding much of what's going on in the high frequency trading world. very tough comments today from eric sneiderman. >> building tremendously lucrative advantages into markets for high frequency traders at the expense of the investing public is wrong. it's time we for ks on

structural reforms and restoring the mindset of winning based on price, winning based on smarts rather than winning based on speed. >> reporter: tyler, he said today that one of the ideas he's looking at is something called batch trading. right now in financial markets you have continuous trading in real time, in high-speed versions. what he's talking about is something like a one half or one second delay where trades get processed in batches. that, he says, would take out the telecommunications arms race component of all this and make it more fair for average mom and pop investors, tyler. >> did he single out any high frequency firms by name? >> reporter: he referenced the trading firm that filed for an ipo last week. they said in a filing last week he cited today without naming the company they have gone just about four years with only one down trading day in that entire time. sneiderman says that's suspicious. he doesn't like it. >> eamon, every time this topic

comes up, the industry people, the high frequency traders say look you've just got to adapt to new technology. you can't run away from it. but this go around how does the industry defend itself? >> reporter: that's what they're saying. high frequency trading is actually democratization helping liquidity and price discovery to markets. they say high frequency trading in essence is a good thing, guys. coming up on the program after big cutbacks in commercial real estate, is the industry about to go on a hiring spree? that's next.

january was a rough month for the airlines and for passengers. the industry posted one of its worst monthly on time performances ever. the reason the brutal winter storms. according to the department of transportation, one-third of all flights arrived late in january. of those late flights, 29% were delayed by weather. walmart has its eyes set on a new venture, video game trades in. the world's largest retailer plans to expand its program that lets shoppers trade in used video games and receive a gift card in return you can use it at walmart or sam's club. walmart hopes the program will give it a share of the 2 billion pre-owned video game market. but the news sent shares of stocks lower. the cold weather last month seems to have slowed new home constructions. housing starts fell .2%. according to the commerce department, building permits a sign of future construction activity rose more than 7%. that's the most since october,

signalling a possible spring rebound. that rise in permits also reflects a surge in applications for an apartment building construction, which continues to be a hot sector as more people rent instead of buy. and that means the commercial firms that are managing all those dwellings are ramping up hiring to keep up with demand. diana olick has more. >> reporter: the housing recovery is making gains, but renting is still robust. and that has meant a resurgence in hiring at apartment firms. >> from a sector perspective, multifamily is the hottest sector as it results to hiring people simply because of the demographic trends and the cyclicality of the home building business. >> reporter: 82% of commercial real estate companies in the u.s. intend to increase their workforces this year, according to a study by ferguson partners, an executive search firm. it found demand is greatest for construction executives, asset management, acquisitions and

property and leasing management. over at cassidy turley, a commercial real estate services firm, ceo joseph satinias says they're hiring hundreds of new employees but hiring with specific purposes in mind. >> in 2013, we hired 934 net new people. both through mergers and acquisitions as well as organic. so our growth is ramping up. let's say it's ramping up based on client demand and based on specific reactive opportunities. we still aren't in a place where we're hiring in advance of demand. >> reporter: while multifamily may be the hottest sector, industrial warehouse isn't far behind. as people move from retail centers to online shopping. distribution is key, and warehouse space and management is in high demand. the lrklaggard is office space.

some companies are using shared spaces or desks. they call it hoteling. >> what i think it could mean is that second floor and challenging office spaces because distribution centers. and so it just changes the complexion of a building. and it plays right with mixed use. >> reporter: as with all real estate, hiring strength depend on location. but social change is now having an almost equal impact as technology alters the way we work, shop and live, commercial real estate is recreating itself as well. for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. and finally tonight, $400 million is up for grabs, the megamillions jackpot has swelled to the third largest in multi-state lottery games history after no one matched all six numbers on friday. the odds of winning are long. one in 259 million. and if no one hits it tonight,

friday's jackpot could march toward 500 million. got to get your ticket. >> get your ticket. >> that's "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm susie gharib. thanks for joining us. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. thanks from me as well. have a great evening, everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. >> "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 analysis. cramer's action alerts plus service is home to his multimillion dollar portfolio. you can learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. 

the following kqed production was produced in high definition. this time on "spark" -- first, mary sano carries on the spirit and legacy of modern dance pioneer isadora duncan. >> really, she opened up the new era of freedom. then, ron nagle's small-scale ceramic pieces are inspired by hot rods and '50s culture, and his irreverent rock songs have been recorded by some of our biggest pop icons. >> a great song and a great piece of art evoke some form of emotion. and visual artist sandow birk takes puppetry to a whole new level in his filmic adaptation of dante's epic "the divine comedy" -- next on "spark."