this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. funded in part by -- this is "nightly business report" with tyleasa susieh nd t thesteonce plus where jim creelw portfolimshei share their investment strategies, stock picks and market insights. you can learn more at thestreet.com/nbr. shop until you drop. americans spent like crazy last month thanks to fuel prices and u"o consumers hold the key to economic growth? oil prices to $60 a barrel and those falling prices aren't going unnoticed by some of the biggest names in the world of investing and government. debt dilemma.

one in five americans never expect to get out of debt. how can you keep your money issues from spiraling out of control? mo tonight on "nightly business report" for thursday, december 11th. good evening, everyone and welcome. stocks sprinted out of the gate this morning spurred by good news about jobs, the dip in oil prices and better than expected retail sales for november but then, like a horse that ran the first furlongs too fast, the market slowed. though it did cross the finish line with modest gains. after being up as much as 225 points, the dow finished 63 points higher on the day. nasdaq added 24 and the s&p was up 9. oil moved lower again. domestic crude fell another dollar closing below $60 a barrel for the first time in 5.5 years. foreign brent crude fell half a buck finishing at $64.24 a barrel. after that pick-up in spending last month, retail sales rose

7/10 of 1%, nearly double forecast led by autos, clothing and electronics. jobless claims fell by 3,000 last week, so what do all the data threads mean for the economy? steve liesman takes a look. >> reporter: the theory was simple. with lower gas prices, americans would buy more sweaters, discretionary stuff they could purchase with extra money in their pocket. trouble was there was no proof that's what americans were doing until today. the government reported that retail sales in the critical shopping month of november were much better than expected and october sales revised higher. the key stat? gas station sales fell 0.8% but clothing and apparel, aka sweaters, up 1.2%. sales on the internet surged 1% suggesting the holiday season got off to a good start for retailers. >> some of the things that are

happening and commodity pricing is going to be a significant positive. it's the tax cut people are talking about. it's going to work its way into retail sales, it's going to work its way into consumer confidence. remember, it's not just the consumer. the enterprise benefits lower energy as well. >> reporter: economists thinking overall growth is somewhat better in the fourth quarter than originally estimated. some look a big decline after strong third quarter growth but could come in 2.5 and 3 on the strength of the consumer. attention now turns to the most 6 all. december when consumers and retailers play that great game of cat and mouse. one hopes prices are cut and the other hopes stockings get stuffed at full price. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. how consumers make their spending decisions was one of the topics at the annual conference in new york city today where some of the biggest names in business and finance

were speaking. other big topics? falling oil prices. the economy. the markets and a landmark decision in an inside trading case. mary thompson was there. >> reporter: high above the streets of new york, the falling price of oil, a popular topic at the annual deal book conference. >> lower oil prices are like a tax cut to the economy. >> reporter: goldman ceo lloyd blankfine said it's good for the u.s. and better for europe. >> europe should be ecstatic. europe is far and away on importer of oil. it's a very big boon to their economy. >> reporter: lucy's lower oil causing additional damage to the russian economy wounded by sanctions led by military actions in ukraine. >> i think there's a kind of perfect storm right now of pressures on russia's economy. now it's even weaker because of oil prices. >> reporter: here in the u.s., oil's recent plunge shaking the

stock market. though hedge fund titan ray dalio said it's in tact thanks to around the world but worry is that the central bank's helping will be limited down the road. >> we are long at equities and holding those positions and it's a reflatively good time. i'd be worried if we took a year or two in the future, what the effectiveness of monetary policy will be, particularly in a deflati deflationary environment. >> reporter: a hot topic, ruling on wednesday that would render trading places moot especially by the exchange commission. sec share mary white acknowledging it could be a landmark ruling. >> no question, it's a significant decision and my initial sense of it is that it took the opinion and decision and overly narrow view of the insider trading law and that is

a concern. but we're continuing to review it. >> reporter: a ruling that could turn the approach to regulating insider trading inside out. for "nightly business report," i'm mary thompson in new york. in washington and with hours to go before tonight's deadline to shut down the u.s. government, republican leaders delayed the vote over the controversial spending bill. the delay indicates they were not certain they had enough votes to pass the measure. opposition from republicans and liberal democrats alike. congress still has until midnight to pass a continuing resolution that would keep the government open. do you feel a little less wailt? the federal reserve said for the first time in more than three years, americans' household net worth declined during the third quarter following 00.02%. a peer to peer lender began

trading. renee lanoc said the online platform allows to cut out banks and other lenders and is poised for solid growth. >> it's really building the economy for the next decade. we think we have enough opportunities to transform the entire banking system, make it more transparent, more cost-efficient, more consumer friendly. >> well after pricing $15 a pop last night above their expected range, shares shot up 56% today and lending club isn't alone. on deck capital, a peer to peer small business lender is gearing up for its initial public stock offering in the near future but what is peer to peer lending. how can it work and can it change the banking business as we know it? let's find out from cliff goldstein, personal analyst for nerd wallet, it's for consumers. cliff, welcome. good to have you with us. >> appreciate it.

>> for people who don't know what this company, lending club, does, what does it do, how does it work and make money? >> simply put, it's an online financial marketplace that connects lenders with borrowers. they make money on origination fees from the loans that pass through their platform. >> cliff, why would someone go to the lending club as opposed to their local bank? >> they're able to>+ñ-÷ access smaller loans you're traditionally able to get. up to 35,000 for individuals and $100,000 for small businesses. this is a space that banks are not active in in terms of the size. >> who are the lenders? >> people like you and me, actually. i'm an investor personally. there are thousands of people around the country who invest in these loans. as it has become more popular, more institutions have begun to invest as well. >> what are the risks to the borrower and the lender? >> the risks to the borrower are

just that -- sorry, the risks to the lender are that the rates, there's a risk of default. just like with any loan instrument or debt instrument, default rates could increase in an economic downturn. it's a young and immature market and don't know what it's going to do over the long-term. >> did you saw you're an investor and are you making direct loans to individuals and then if so, how do you decide whether that person is qualified for the loan and what the interest rate will be? >> so, i do make direct loans. i use an automated service that lending club provides that allocates my loans in $25 segments to different borrowers and that helps me build a diversified portfolio of loans just like an etf or mutual fund to get a diversified investment. >> quickly, you might put in a

thousand dollars as a way to make 5% on a loan or 9% on a loan or $5,000 on a loan. am i understanding that correctly? >> yeah. >> you know who you're lending to or is it anonymous? >> you don't know them personally but you can see what they're using the funds for. what's interesting is over 80% of borrowers actually use these funds to consolidate existing loans and especially credit card debt. >> how about the other way around? the borrower, do they know who they're borrowing from? not going to j.p. morgan, going to cliff goldstein. how do i know what your financial standing is? >> you won't. you'll know the money has been invested with lending club and you're operating through their system. >> what if they don't pay? >> what if the lenders don't pay or the borrowers? >> the borrowers. >> there's default rates that averaged 5% so far historically

and that gets worked into the historical returns. lenders and investors have traditionally seen 5% to 8% returns historically. >> thank you for spelling it for this old guy here who doesn't cliff goldstein, nerd wallet. 20% don't think they'll ever get out of debt but there's smart ways to get your finances under control. we'll tell you after this. united technologies out with some disappointing guidance after the market closed today. the industrial giant which makes everything from sikorski

helicopters to elevators will be $60 a share versus a 1.68 a share. sending shares down initially in afterhours trading. more banks behaving badly. not toying around fining ten banks a total of nearly $44 million for violating conflict of interest rules. the financial industry regulatory authority said the banks, including j.p. morgan chase, city group, wells far goe, tried to secure advisory roles in the initial public stock offering of toys r us by offering the retailer favorable analyst coverage if they were named as underwrisohe ipo. none of the banks admitted to wrongdoing but city group spokesman said it's pleased to have resolved the issue just a few days left for individuals to renew their health insurance plan through the healthcare.gov or enroll in a new+%buplan. the deadline is this monday.

etna, one of the plan providers said it's seeing a flood of customers enrolling in 17 states. it's not only the time for individuals to sign up for a health insurance plan, but for small businesses too looking to secure health care for their employees. kate rogers has an update on the government's efforts to help small companies make some big decisions. >> reporter: the small business health options program or shop e change was set up to make it easier for businesses with fewer than 50 workers to enroll in health coverage under the affordable care act. they do not require insurance but hopes to provide coverage by making it cheap and easy. so how easy is it? we checked in with some small business guys to find out. harris jackson owner of buffalo supply said he needed

nitty-gritty details like social security numbers to enroll them in health insurance plans on colorado's state-run shop e change this fall. he has always offered them coverage and thinks it's key to attracting and retaining the best employees. he went to the exchange in search of lower costs, but found a lot of leg work. >> it took a lot of time to gather that data and to get it entered into the system and when i got finished and i attempted to get a quote, i couldn't get it to work. >> reporter: and as a small business owner, he said the time and energy required to enroll via shop wasn't worth it. in the end, he found a broker to get coverage for his workers instead. jeff valt, of logan, west virginia, managed to get enrolled on the federal share shop exchange but his experience wasn't without challenges. like jackson, he wants to offer his workers coverage simply because it's the right thing to

do. to his relief, he found shop premiums in line what he he was paying last year and found the process to take him nearly 10 hours. >> there's really nothing out there that says do this and then do that. itb]xmuuty much trial and error. one letter or number wasn't correct or an initial was there, it shouldn't have been tfrs kicked out and prevented from kicked o&háhp &hc%vented from system. >> reporter: the good news is jeff will be able to take advantage of the small business tax credit for businesses with fewer than 25 employees and average salaries of $50,000 or less. so jeff will get back 50% of the premiums he pays annually for his workeworkers' health insura. it will expand to 100 or fewer full-time equivalent workers. the shop enrollment goal for 2015 is 2 million people and there's still a long way to go. a government accountability

office report released last month found that only 76,000 workers had enrolled on shop exchanges as of summer 2014. for "nightly business report," i'm kate rogers. an activist might be eyeing a merger between office depot and staples. that's where we begin the market focus. starboard value took a stake in staples and raising the position in rival, office depot. some say the hedge fund could be setting the companies up to join forces. shares for both chains rose and staples rising rh8. lululemon with better quarterly earnings thanks to a jump in online orders. the yoga wear maker gave a disappointing outlook for investors seemed to ignore that. $56.96. shares of urban outfitters also rose after issued sive guidance oitfinc the retailer expects same store sales to rise in the current quarter. shares popped 7.5% to $32.29.

shares of coach rose on the word of the french product maker lvmh is interested in buying the handbag maker. lvmh, the louis vuitton. coach rose to $34.46. ebay may be preparing to cut thousands of jnñkñ "the wall street journal" said the company is thinking about the cuts ahead of the paypal unit. the 3,000 potential layoffs, about 10% of ebay's workforce, reportedly come from the core operation and report said a stand alone ebay would be an attractive takeover target. shares rose almost 3% today to $56.78. seaworld ceo is stepping down in january. the chairman will serve as interim chief and current ceo will stay on as vice chairman of the board. investors didn't quite know what to make of the shares. as you see there, before the close, 3% higher at $16.09.

norwegian saw its shares slide after report of a fire on a ship. three people died after a fire broke out on oceania cruise ship which was in st. lucia at the time. guests have been disembarked. norwegian acquired oceania. closing down about 2% to $43.73. and researchers suspended a clinical trial of a new ebola vaccine developed by merck and link genetics because fewer volunteers in the study [ozpx complained of pain in their hand and feet. the stock was down 19 cents finishing at $59.34. even though more people have health insurance, a lot of americans are saddled w unpaidil a new government report said nearly 20% of all consumers, that's about 43 million people

owe money for past medical care. the consumer financial protection bureau also says many people are confused by notices they get from hospitals and insurance companies about the cost of treatment. the debt dilemma is becoming more dire for some americans. one in five say they never expect to get out of debt. sharon epperson with surprising statistics from a recent survey and money makes to make to keep debt from getting out of control. is the debt problem getting worse or better? >> it's worse since credit card did this survey in may of 2013, they saw double in percentage of americans who say they'll be in debt forever. they're now saying that 18% of the people who responded to their survey said they would have debt for their lifetime and many people say if they are able to pay off that debt, they'll be in their 50s before they're able to do so. some say they'll probably be in debt until they're at least 61 or older. in debt forever.

>> what kind of debt, and who's most impacted by this? >> we're talking about credit cards, car loans, mortgages. all types of debt. medical debt earlier. this is encompassing all kinds of consumer debt. we look at people, as you would expect, the older americans, 65 and older still in debt saying, i'm going to have this the rest of my life. millennials, 18 to 29 years old have more time to pay off the z debt and more likely to say they'll be able to do that. only 6% of them say they'll be in debt for life. >> i think we think about debt differently than our parents' generation. is it necessarily a bad thing? please tell me it isn't. and i've got a lot of debt. is it a bad thing to have debt? >> what's really interesting is that in a household, $75,000 or more in income are just as kind of pessimistic about their debt situation as lower income folks because i think people have so much debt when you think about college tuition debt, when you think about mortgages and all of

that and we're putting on that much debt. it can be a bad thing if you don't have control over it, and that's one of the things that i think this brought to light. the importance of really getting that debt under control. >> how do you fix the problem? what one or two pieces of advice can you get toee? it's like telling somebody how to lose weight, eat less, exercise more. but what? v know what you know. many people just don't know how mucho yed what the interest rate is on that. you can't tackle the problem until you have that information. once you have that information, you start to pay the most expensive debt first and work your way down and now we're in the holiday shopping season, so many people using their card and rack up debt, use the lowest interest debt. pull it out if you have to use it. make sure it's low interest. >> sharon, thank you very much. >> sure. >> always good to talk with you. coming up, do you use navigation apps to make your daily commcsm(rá easier? well, now one such app owned by google has become the target of

very angry homeowners. we'll tell you why right after this. another blow to the struggling retailer, radioshack. fell last quarter as it lost more money than expected. $161 million. sales have fallen for 11 quarters in a row. the chain now plans to close a fifth of its stores to help cut costs even though some of its lenders said they don't want to see that store closing happen. some mixed news in housing to tell you about. foreclosures including scheduled auctions and bank repossessions

fell 9% in november from e month pr but new foreclosure notices known as stars shot up 6% from the same year ago, first increase in two years. realty track said florida had the nation's highest foreclosure rate followed by new sa maryd. in california, trying to outsmart the freeway traffic is a way of life but now los a angeles area residents are dealing with a new problem. frustrated drivers using a popular traffic app to avoid those crowded freeways and invade local streets to get around the jams. is there anything those residents can do? jane wells has our story. >> so i got my way using it to get to the interview this morning and already it's taking me on a different route. i have to get off the freeway. >> reporter: i am a wazer. waze is a gps app that's popular in los angeles. they crowd source their traffic

patterns and app reroutes you to clearer paths, well, usually. i guess i'm not the only one who had this idea from waze. that's the problem. not so much for drivers but the neighborhoods which have suddenly become popular shortcuts. >> pam wynn lives in the most congested. >> reporter: two months ago, she noticed an uptick in traffic on her street d g as ways in particula >> you can tell these people don't know where they're going.k it's their first time here. they're looking around. i'm in a new neighborhood. looking at their phone, making sure they're going in the right direction. >> hi. >> reporter: lapd officer said he's writing more tickets for people breaking the law. google maps, is that what you're using now?

>> reporter: but there's no law driving down the street. >> nothing illegal unless they're driving unsafely or breaking any laws. all we can tell them is sorry. >> as homeownersens back too. >> reporter: but it may be a losing battle. >> when the community comes together, it's going to make a difference. >> reporter: for "nightly business report" jane wells, los angeles. and finally tonight, a nearly 40-year-old personal computer was sold by christy's auction house for, get this, $365,000. but it's not just any pc. the rickets apple 1. a first generation computer named after original owner and it's the only known surviving apple 1 known to have been owned it comes with a check from the original purchase.

really pretty amazing. >> cool. think how much more power is in your pocket today. >> and think about all the computers we talked about. would have been worse. that's "nightly business ro for toni. thank you for joining us. i'm susie ghar. >> i'm tyler mate thank you froms have a good evening. we'll see you back here tomorrow. "nightly business report" has been funded in part by -- thestreet.com and action alerts plus where jim cramer and fellow portfolio manager stephanie link share their investment z2r;ç strategies, stock picks and market insights. you can learn more at thestreet.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. 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.