this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you in part by. the street.com, feature stephanie link who shares her investment strategies, stock picks and market insights with action alerts plus, the multi-million dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. you can learn more at the street.com/nbr. rally mode as stocks powered higher on one of the busiest earnings days of the year, driven by stwo old and blue staid chips. red is the new black, amazon still is not making money reporting a wider than expected loss and the outlook for sales is not much brighter. and life in the clouds, does microsoft's strong quarter show the company's push into cloud is

paying off? we have that and much more on "nightly business report." good afternoon, and welcome, a solid bounceback rally on wall street today as a pair of earnings from two big blue chips helped to erase all of yesterday's losses and then some, not even a spike but the unconfirmed case of ebola in the u.s. could hurt investors' appetites for stocks of today. it turned out to be one of the best days of the year for equities, at the close, dow up 216 points after briefly seeing a 318-point gain, the s&p 500 added 23. bob pasani adding more on the rally of the "the new york times." stocks face another impressive rally today. what exactly is going on, well, there are two factors that seem most important, first, there are earnings. by the end of the day, almost

40% of the s&p 500 reported for this quarter with the numbers very good, today, for example, strong reports from caterpillar, and union pacific listed the industrials and strong reports, diamond offshore lifted oil drillers. excellent reports from dana and o'reilly also lifted that sector, the commentary on weakness in europe has not been as dire as some feared. the weakness has been mentioned by a number of companies, but the concerns are off set about strength in the u.s. or even china. hedge funds have been forced back into the market. in recent days they have been very active buyers. so there are several other factors helpful to stocks today, first, oil had stabilized second, china's stock markets stabilized, third, the incident with canada appears to be the

work of a lone wolf. finally, the person reported with a high fever and concerns about ebola knocked about 300 points off in the final hour of trading. it is a very good reminder that concerns about ebola have not gone away. but it is also a sign that the market may be a bit more nuanced in its reaction to ebola worries, let's face it. if this happened three weeks ago dow up, likely the dow would have dropped 280 points, not 80, from this news. now, after the closing bell it was the tale of two tech stocks, earnings from bell, amazon and microsoft and the results could not have been more different. we begin with amazon.com and the e commerce giant's huge myth, reporting the sales that analysts forecasted. revenues also came in below expectations but only by a

fraction with the number increasing last year. amazon sales guidance came in below wall street estimates. shares plunge nearly 11% in after-hours trading. they were flat in the regular session today. bertha coombs joins us with the one big take-away from amazon's disappointing report. >> you know, i think increasingly people on the street say we love using amazon. a lot of folks love to use it. there are a lot of consumers who really like the service. but it seems as though amazon can deliver on everything except earnings and profits. and for a long time because they were growing so fast, a lot of investors forgave them that. but that time is now drawing to a close. and people are starting to say maybe you're just in too many things, in contacts and devices you now give away for free. also you're increasing your delivery options but when will you pay us with better profits.

>> all right, bertha, stay right there if you don't mind as we look at microsoft's very, very different story. the software giant top forecasted took in 54 cents a share, a full nickel above the analy analysts' estimates, revenues were much higher than a year ago as you see right there. but net income did fall 13% from last year. this, after the firm took a more than $1 billion charge related to layoffs in the nokia hand set division. shares were actually strong there, and the market moving sharply as you see there in the after hours. bertha, once again at the nasdaq, the big takeaway from you from these numbers from mr. so softy. microsoft is cool again, satya na deadnadelli took over,

away from the software sales and packets to on the cloud, where things are moving. also moving towards mobile. it shows he is starting to change this big ship around, and for now, the honeymoon continues for him. >> all right, bertha, thank you so much for reporting on both of those companies. now, let's bring in david garretty to talk more about amazon and microsoft. david let me just start off saying i know going into turnings reports you were not recommending microsoft or amazonme amaz me that you see the stock up and down, have you changed your opinion? >> well, in terms of amazon we still would be probably avoiding the stock more as a holiday year-end shopping trade just given the disappointment we were seeing in terms of the revenue

guidance. there are concerns here quite clearly with respect to amazon, we don't really see a lot in terms of profits falling to the bottom line. we've seen good sales growth but that sales growth is decelerating. any time you see a stock trading at very, very high multiples, slowing growth is death as far as the stock is concerned. we're not surprised to see it down so much after hours. >> what about microsoft? microsoft's numbers are pretty good. they have a new ceo, albeit with a different pay, do you like it? >> seeing the nice incident in terms of revenue growth, obviously up better than the 20% we saw from amazon. but certainly that revenue growth is being driven by some fairly high profit margin areas. there are cloud computing initiative where they're taking the sharing away from areas like cloud and amazon, there are

challenges, they have legacy businesses which are very profitable with slow growth. we have to see how the company will re-engineer its breath in order to get the stock over $50. we continue to hold, obviously, amazon we thought there could be a trade going into year-end. looking at these numbers we would reserve judgment. >> bertha brought up two interesting points, with microsoft she said it is a cool stock. i want to get your opinion on that, and analysts are saying, when will they deliver a profit? your thoughts on both? >> we do have nice upgrades in terms of taking place with the x-box phenomenon. but if it is cool, in terms of the cloud computing initiative, we need to see continued progress there. if people want to look at a company that was cool obviously you have to look at apple. and then when you size up microsoft against apple, microsoft looks maybe a little bit more attractive but not

necessarily cool. >> so i was going to ask you if these two big mega cap text dot are. >> apple clearly, google, despite the fact they had somewhat disappointing results we believe is set up well for the end of the year, google could be potentially a $700 stock. we also like facebook, selling metrics and selling 1.5 less than its growth rate. it could be 100 within the next six to 12 months. >> all right, good information, thank you, david garretty with research. more on the strong earnings, and making everything from post-it notes, profits there up 6% last quarter as it sold more materials to automaker and they

raised the high end, ended the lower end. shares among the biggest gainers in the dow today, up about 4.5%. >> but the biggest gainer in the dow today, caterpillar, the industrial equipment giant, the stocks surged 5% after they reported earlier earnings. the company said the solid results were helped by cost cuts and by strong sales of construction and oil drilling machines. so what is the outlook for caterpill caterpillar? dominic chu has more. >> their bulldozers, dump trucks and heavy machiny are used by everything from miners to drillers and construction worker, and they're used all over the world. that is why many use their growth as a gauge. caterpillar reported full sales and raised the full-year profit forecast thanks to increased demand from the north american

construction, oil and gas markets. the strength in caterpillar stock helped to fuel gains in the overall stock market. but while many traders and investors focused on the stock gains others are a bit more cautious. >> one of the reasons that caterpillar headed into 2015 was exactly on that piece with oil prices coming down, if they fall further going into 2015 that

will impact many of t way.illar's business, not for "nightly business report,". another big name out with solid earnings just general motors despite the recalls of more than 30 million vehicles in the first half of the year gm had its best third quarter since 1980. surging the demand for pickups and suvs and offset sales in europe. but the chief financial officer is upbeat for sales forecasted outside the u.s. >> europe, again, very much on plan towards executing the profitability in 2016. and china, as we said, we expect the china industry to grow, our

share and revenue to grow faster than the industry and to maintain the margins. >> despite the optimism and the good report, shares of the automaker were down today by more than 1%. moving from the roads to the skies with more americans flying and oil prices falling to $82 a barrel. a handful of u.s. carriers reported very strong third quarter earnings. that helped shares of united, continental, american and alaska air take off today. phil lebeau has more on why shares of the airlines are soaring. >> reporter: pardon the pun, but the airline industry is soaring. the combination of strong demand, a limited number of seats to support higher tict prices and moderate jet fuel prices have combined to make it a profitable third quarter on the runway. depending on the carrier, profits jumped between 27 and 97%. >> from a macro perspective the economy has been more stable this year, energy prices have been very stable for really

close to the last two years until the recent drops. and then travel demand has been very strong. >> reporter: the robust earnings are a welcome relief for shareholders who in recent weeks have watched their airline stocks come under pressure due to fears that the ebola virus would scare travellers into delays or cancelling future trips. but while discussing earnings, executives and several airlines say they have not seen a drop in future bookings. the airlines are set up for a strong holiday travel season which is good news for them but not as much for you if fou are planning a trip. because demand is not slowing down. if you plan to take a trip before the end of the year, don't expect to find anymore air fare deals. phil lebeau, chicago. still ahead, the racing industry is trying to keep up with demands. sounds like a good thing, right? so why is it turning into a big headache for the railroads?

a new warning from the u.s. government, do not, do not buy oil from isis. the obama administration says it will slap sanctions on anyone who buys oil from the islamic militants in syria and iraq. it is estimated that isis makes a million dollars a day from refining and selling crude oil to smugglers who bring much of

the oil out of syria and iraq and then transport it through turkey. back here in the u.s., a lot of oil travels by rail. and carrying more freight at higher rate helped union pacific railroad deliver a 19% jump last quarter. with the company ceo predicting record results for the full year, shares today chugged 5% higher. but with more goods moving across the country, grid lock is an increasingly large problem on the nation's rails, already costing operators billions. railroad companies are stapled, so what is the industry doing to try to relief the pressure? morgan brennan has more. >> reporter: railroad operators had seen a surging freight volume, as more goods by train. the association of american railroads says so far the gear volume is nearly 4% higher than the same period of 2014, that is expected to continue as the u.s. economy recovers and this type of transport proves more cost

effective than trucking. but the growth comes with a catch. beyond the harsh winters, we've seen back logs and delays, the boom is one key reason. >> we've seen impact in our region from growth in the energy business from fracking to natural gas liquids to crude oil, we have a lot of infrastructure and work going on. but right now we just have a slower network which affects every train on the network. >> this issue manifests in choke points like chicago where all the rail ways converge. it is why they now approached them about a merger, the ceo predicts the worst growth ever if the industry continues as is. >> but others, such as union pacific, say that it wouldn't help the problem. they're investing billions into more trains and crews and better technology to make networks more efficient. just today a new railroad bridge meant to help ease traffic in chicago opening for business.

analysts expect the congestion to continue into 2015 but ease up as all the plans come on line. >> towards the end of 2015 we would expect to see some of the service issues tart to right themselves. obviously, a merger could in our opinion go a long way in terms of improves in the long-term. you could see the mergers ultimately have benefit here, i think in the shorter term we'll see additional crews and additional locomotives trying to do most of the work. >> some companies grapple with congestion more than others, berkshire hathaway has struggled, and some experienced problems in the two quarters, nevertheless some in the industry is watching and watching closely since delays can translate into higher costs for the railroad and ultimately fewer customers. for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. we begin the market focus tonight with sfoopfizer announca

buyback, this is in addition to what is remaining on the current buyback program which works out a little over a billion dollars. on top of that, the drug maker will return more crash to shareholders, payable in december. shares spiked when the news came out after the bell, the stock up 1% closing at 28.60. an improving housing market, home builder's third quarter profit and revenue topped estimates thanks to improving economy and higher selling profits. it hiked the quarterly dividend to 8 cents a share and announced a plan to raise its share buyback program by $750 million. shares popped almost 2% to 19.51. eli lily is one company to didn't participate. the earnings plunged almost 60% hurt by special charges and

generic competition for the depression drug. the company is still optimistic when it comes to the u.s. but the ceo says that europe is another story. >> i thinky. europe is a bit mo of a challenge as the economy sort of remains stuck in many countries in europe. that, of course, affects the government decision about the things like reimbursement of medicines. so our business in europe has been somewhat flat. >> eli lily shares were off 64.35. and shares of dunkin donuts issued a warning, saying it will be a challenge to meet the low-end growth for the end of the year. despite the challenges the ceo is still optimistic. >> even though i'm very excited about the programs we have in the fourth quarter, i temper that with the fact that the consumers we discussed is in a little bit of a difficult place. we're going to try to get our

amounts as high as possible. but my big concern is the franchise profitability and we're doing a great job. >> despite that enthusiasm, the stock fell 6% to $44. and reports out that sears will lay off more than 3500 workers, doing it before christmas, sears has been struggling to cut costs as sales fall. and it has already closed 100 of its locations, shares up 30%, kla ten core, surging and trading on its earnings reports. the company announced a dividend, $16.50 a share. it approved and increased the stock repurchase program for up to 3.6 million more shares. the stock a percentage higher before the close at 71. but look at that spike after hours. maxim integrated profit, but revenue well below target, the

guidance for the second quarter also missed. that worried investors, shares falling right after the close as you see right there. during the trading day, shares were a percentage point higher, 27.66 the close. coming up, the surprising company and sectors with the most at risk as the california drought dragged on. that is next.

who says the irs is all mean and bad? the agency is changing rules to let workers put away more for their retirements. the annual limit employees can contribute to their 401(k) or similar retirement savings plan will be raised next year to $18,000 up from 17,500 this year in an effort to keep up with inflation. the year's long california drought has been the worst on record in the golden state. that lack of water is bad for lawns, bad for crops, and bad for a whole lot of other companies and industries. jane wells has more. >> california doesn't have a drop of water to spare. >> we saw the -- you know, the gutter completely flooded all the way down the street. >> cities like sacramento have restricted watering and so-called water cops like steve patrol before dawn.

everywhere, the drought is taking its toll from the lawn to the hamburger, cattle herds are thinner. >> it now costs 25 to 50 cents more to have a burger than it used to. >> now lawns see the initial drought, but new analysis shows that you would be surprised which industries are most at risk. she says the quarter of industry products for such companies as conoco philips are in regions where there is not much water, which could be a problem for some, but for some like xcel in the west, it could be worse because the water is used for things like cooling. >> the average utility company, per dollar capital, the standard deviations, not just ten times, more than all the other companies in all the other industries. >> she says utilities are making

changes but change does not happen overnight. oil, electricity, beef, crops and people all competing for less water. and as the west looks to the skies for rain, sacramento water conservation manager will granger says it looks more likely the rain will not come. >> it is looking more like a la nada. >> jane wells, sacramento. and finally, kids who once told their teachers that the dog ate their homework came a long way. a new survey from career.com lists some of the worst excuses that employers have used from underlings. here are a few of the best, i'm stuck in a blood pressure machine at the grocery store. i'm not kidding, real things, folks, i put in uniform in the microwave to dry it and it caught fire. i accidentally got on a plane. how you do that, i don't know. and this one, at least gets credit for honesty. i was in a good mood and i

didn't want to ruin it. >> how do you come up with this stuff? can't make it up. >> hope my son sees that segment. >> that is "nightly business report" tonight, i'm susie gharib, thank you for joining us. i'm tyler mathisen, have a great evening, everybody. we'll see you tomorrow night. >> "nightly business report" has been brought to you in part by. the street.com, featuring stephanie link who shares her investment strategies, stock picks and market insights with action alerts plus. the multi-million dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. you can learn more at the street.com/nbr.

man: it's like holy mother of comfort food.ion. kastner: throw it down. it's noodle crack. patel: you have to be ready for the heart attack on a platter. crowell: okay, i'm the bacon guy, right? man: oh, i just did a jig every time i dipped into it. man #2: it just completely blew my mind. woman: it felt like i had a mouthful of raw vegetables and dry dough. sbrocco: oh, please. i want the dessert first! [ laughs ] i told him he had to wait.