. this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> east coast paralysis, an historic snowstorm slams one of the country's major economic arteries. disrupting business and travel along the east coast. but it may not be a record breaker for the economy. greece's austerity candidate sworn in as the country's next prime minister setting up a showdown with the country's biggest lenders. looking for clues. the federal reserve two-day meeting begins tomorrow and investors will be looking for any hints of when rates may start to rise. all that and more on "nightly business report," this monday january 26th. good evening, everyone. from the mid-atlantic 13

million americans brace for the first blizzard of 2015. it will bring frigid temperatures near hurricane force winds and snow that could top three feet in the hardest hit places. millions of school children already sent home early today, be home again tomorrow maybe throughout much of the week. 5,000 airline flights already canceled. stranding travelers from d.c. to boston and beyond. 7,000 state national guard troops are called out tonight. games already postponed. given the seasons they're having it may not be all bad. the snow is already piling up outside our studio doors. worries growing about the size of the storm, and its disruptions along with downed power lines, shuttered commuter railways and impassable roads. how much damage could a major storm like this do to the u.s. econom >> reporter: if it's as massive a snowstorm as being predicted,

there will be some negative economic impact. measured in work not completed, lost hours, and lost pay. much depends not so much on the amount of snow that falls, but over how wide an area how quickly it's cleared, and how soon people can get back to work. >> what's really important from an economic perspective as it relates to metro areas, and the costs to cleaning up snow it's more important the number of storms not the amount of the storms. if you've got ten storms where you've got five inches that has a bigger impact than if you have one storm with 50 inches. >> reporter: some work can be made up some is lost forever, yet in the internet age if the power lines don't go down a lot of work gets done from home. but a single massive snowstorm, if that's all it is and here's hoping that's the case won't rise to the level of last year where we had both unusually cold temperatures and lots of snow that was widespread. leading to a surprise 2.1% decline of growth in the first quarter. it was so big, many doubted it could be weather related.

but jobs bounced back. and gkdp was a big part of lastier's de clean. snow in places that don't usually have it like in the south. this storm, though dangerous and massive is hitting in a place that's comes to expect hard storms. in fact data for the new york city area showed there have been more big storms of 15 inches or more in the current 25-year period than any quarter century since 1790. most of those storms have happened in the past 11 years. for a major storm about once every two years. so it's almost the rule rather than the exception. >> it's not a storm to be taken lightly, but as far as the economics go new york city is tough. and so is the nation's economy it will take a lot more than a blizzard to cause growth to skid off the >> according to the insurance information institute, between

1994 and 2013 winter storms resulted in about $27 billion worth of insured losses. that's more than $1 billion a year on averag despite the blizzard stocks will continue to trade on tuesday. the owners of the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq both say their exchanges will be open for regular business hours tomorrow. >> it may be business as usual on the exchanges, but it won't be for the operators of trains planes and automobile and bus services. rail systems are shutting down thousands of flights already canceled and the ripple effects will be felt for most of the week and all across the country. kate rogers has more from new york city's laguardia airport. >> reporter: snow is falling all around us both airlines and airports are taking winter storm threats very seriously. as of this evening, more than 6,300 flights have been

completely canceled between today and tomorrow. continuing into tomorrow tuesday, and hoping to have things back up and running on wednesday. also united and american airlines completely suspending service tomorrow to northeast area airports including laguardia where we are, jfk, boston philadelphia and newark airports. the passengers and travelers we caught up with here today arrived hours early, hoping to beat the storm. >> we changed to an earlier flight. >> i'm a little concerned that you know if this does live up to the hype that things won't be clear in time and i'll get stuck in columbus for the weekend. >> reporter: we've been was behind me turn redder and redder throughout the day with the cancellation also. what does this mean for the airlines. you can expect revenues to take somewhat of a hit other the next several days but don't expect earnings to be that greatly impacted. that's because airlines they do plan and budget for these types

of major storms. in their first quarters and fourth quarters of each year. "nightly business report," kate rogers. >> it's having a big impact on bond sales. they postponed the sale of nearly $300 million worth of municipal bonds. the bond markets are expected to be open on the usual schedule tomorrow. a few feet of snow is expected to have a big impact on retail and restaurant sales. citigroup say it could cause retail traffic to fall between 2% and 4% this week. home depot, lowe's tractor supply they're expected to see big sales gains. fast-food chains casual dining outfits should see comp sales fall. on wall street today, stocks hovered between small gains and losses. getting a lift from a handful of corporate mergers, despite

worries about election results in greece. we'll talk more about that in a moment. at the close, the dow was up six points the nasdaq was up 13 and s&p 500 added five points. in the energy market both domestic crude and brent ended lower after an opec official said the market may have bottomed out. economic news from washington. the congressional budget office now predicts the 2015 budget will be 68$68 billion. the cbo is forecasting economic growth of 2.9% and low inflation for the next few year good news from business owners today. a new survey from the national association for business economics found that many companies are optimistic that continued improvements in business conditions will result in more hiring and higher wages. and more than half of owners say their businesses or industries will benefit from the sharp drop

in energy prices. overseas now with economic reverberations coming out much ru ratings agency snp cut the credit rating to junk status. with the election of a far left anti-austerity party in greece that nation's credit rating could be in the crosshairs ahead of a scheduled reassessment in march. with a radical leftist elected as the new prime minister of greece it's setting the stage for a showdown with the nation's biggest lenders who have lent the struggling economy hundreds of billions of dollar that's got investors worried about the stability of the entire european economy and the future of the euro currency. michelle has more now from athens. >> reporter: in his acceptance speech last night he told his followers the painful austerity

measures of the past five years, the severe budget cuts and much higher taxes are over. >> we will regain dignity. a common future in europe is not the future of austerity. it is the future of democracy, solidarity and cooperation. >> reporter: greece's international creditors, the international monetary fund the european union and european central bank which leftnt the company more than $200 million do not necessarily agree with the prescription. >> more or less everything is bad for the economy. increasing public spending either making public investments, either saying we increase the number of public servants or increase the minimum wage. >> reporter: this country is still dependent on billions of dollars of bailout money this year. it's possible the lenders could cut the country off. that would lead to a collapse of

the banks and the likely exit from the common currency the euro. economic adviser and professor doesn't believe they would risk it. >> no one wants a collapse of banks in the eurozone. this is going to be lehman brothers to the square. no one wants to destroy or to jeopardize the future of the eurozone eurozone g is emerging from a five-year depression. the business community is desperate for improvement. >> one thing i expect from the new government is to leave alone and do my job. >> reporter: she said the government's regulations are punishing. and even worse, they change all the time. >> nobody can foresee, nobody can do a business plan, nobody can budget. and nobody can operate. >> reporter: it's an environment that needs to improve if the country is ever going to recover economical.

"nightly business report," athens greece. >> how will the future of europe affect u.s. monetary policy when the federal reserve begins its two-day policy meeting tomorrow? let's find out from a guy who's been there, former president of the dallas federal reserve. bosh welcome back to "nightly business report." how is the weather in dallas? is it good? >> 70 degrees and sunny. >> all right. well you know in new york, it's all about new yorkers. >> i'd love to be there. >> why, in a phrase or two, does europe greece and the euro matter to individual u.s. investors? why should we care? >> well in a way, we shouldn't. greece is a very small part of the eurozone and we're not as dependent on international trade as a lot of countries. on the other hand to the extent that their problems affect the price of the euro in terms of dollars, it could continue to cause an unhelpful increase in the strength of the dollar

strong dollar is very good for a country that's not fighting recession, and low -- and high unemployment. but everybody has devalued against the dollar. and it's time for it to come to an end, i think. >> so bob, does that -- does the situation in greece the strength of the u.s. dollar affect our monetary policy here at home with the fed meeting this week? do you expect any changes due to the situation in europe in greece? >> well to begin with they weren't going to contemplate changing policy until the middle of the year anyway so they won't -- it won't affect anything now. if similar things are going on, though in the middle of the year i suspect it will delay the feds' beginning of normalization of interest rates. already what's been going on over there has pushed our rates down instead of up.

and our rates are still considerably higher than european rates, which are negative in many cases on the short end of the yield curve. so we're getting headwinds from a weaker euro and tailwinds, unwanted tailwinds probably from interest rate arbitrage. >> the stronger dollar means american companies might not export as much as they otherwise would to europe and a weaker euro means european imported goods cost less. that's exactly what the fed doesn't want low, low, low inflation, an economic situation that's in the headwinds, right on the bow. >> you're exactly right. in normal times, those things would be good things. lower inflation, cheaper import prices. but in normal times, lower oil prices is good too. but we've got a little too much of that too fast. this feels similar. they're happening at the same

time. it's a little bit scary. >> all right. bob, thank you so much for helping us through it tonight. we appre. >> thank you. >> former president of the dallas federal reserve. coming up as microsoft reports a drop in profits, there's one business unit getting investors' attention. more earnings for you after the closing bell we heard from software company microsoft which saw profits fall on a strong u.s. dollar and weaker demand for personal computers, which hurt sales of the windows software. earnings of 71 cents a share,

excludeextr shares were initially lower in after-hours trading. we're joined now from the nasdaq change from the results. hi bertha. >> there's been a bit of a romance, coming off the one-year anniversary after having taken the helm as ceo of microsoft. he still has the ceo smell. there were good things in this report. you've got record sales of their phone, albeit at lower prices. you also have strong sales of the surface pro. they really hadn't gotten much traction with that piece of hardware. that's starting to improve. the cloud area also once again showing doubling of revenue year over year. how can that translate to real momentum on the bottom line. that's going to be critical for mr. nodela to maintain that romance of wall street. >> bertha thank you very much.

microsoft is not just about computer software as you may well know there's the surface tablet the hand-set business they bought from nokia, and the growing popularity of its xbox video game systems. big in my house, i can tell you. how much does gaming mean to microsoft? josh takes a look. >> the experiences from productivity to gaming how spartan and browser comes together how xbox live comes together -- >> reporter: microsoft's ceo is passionate about cloud services and mobile technology. but he's also very excited about video games. that commitment is easy to understand given the size of this industry. which is now worth some $100 billion, according to analysts at gardner. so nodela is working hard to win over fans from microsoft.

they slashed the price of the video game console from $500 to $350 which had a big impact for both november and december. microsoft says that the xbox 1 was the best-selling console in the u.s. the question for microsoft investors, though is how exactly a video game console fits into the broader strategy of what's called a cloud and mobile first world. nodela is still trying to figure that out. >> what i think is going on right now is a reassessment of exactly where xbox fits strategically. they just can't pull a plug on it tomorrow because they've got a huge some identification base of people. and also, most of the xbox folks have windows pcs as well. >> reporter: but while the xbox might be under strategic review the product continues to offer the company a lot of benefits. importantlily, it's a big hit

among young consumers. analysts researched from idc say microsoft is closing the gap with its rival sony which says it sold nearly 19 million of its consoles through early january. that means microsoft has a chance to cross-sell that many more of its products and services to millions of new fans. still, the xbox business also faces real challenges. analysts estimate that after accounting for sales and marketing, microsoft is actually losing money on xbox. microsoft declined to comment about that analysis. it's up to nodela to prove to his investors that gaming isn't just an important source of entertainment, but makes strategic and financial sense for microsoft's future. josh lipton in silicon valley. investors were not impressed. we begin with the market focus.

the industrial conglomerate's earnings were in line. but missed estimates. it gave a down beat profit and sales outlook citing the negative effect of the stronger dollar and pension discount rate headwinds. shares initially dropped after the bell. before the close stock fell 1%. texas instruments also failed to wow investors with its after-hours report. fourth-quarter results matched estimates and its guidance for the current quarter, also in line. shares were volatile after the release, before the close shares were off by just a penny to close at $55.05. d.r. horton saw the revenues jump as it delivered more homes in the first quarter. the home builders beat on both the top and bottom lines. the big railroad norfolk southern fell on lower coal shipment. rail operators' profits did manage to top estimates and expects solid u.s. economic growth in 2015.

but it still doesn't know what the overall impact of lower energy prices will be on its business. shares were up 1% today at $106.11. and a deal will create a company worth about $16 billion in annual sales. the shareholders will get stock in the new company, and rock ten will have a choice of either cash or stock. shares up 14% today to $51.35. rock ten 6% higher it finished at $66.85. how about mattel? shares tumbling there after the ceo stepped down and the company warned sales during the holiday season won't measure up. barbie ain't what she used to be. the longtime board member is going to step up. shares of mattel down 5% to $26.64. there's a new kind of space race heating up. this one is to be the first corporation to build a manned capsule to take nasa astronauts

to the space station. but this competition has a bit of a twist. jane wells has more. >> reporter: the latest space race does not pit america against the world, it pits company against company. both space x and boeing are competing to build a capsule capable of carrying american astronauts to the space station, so nasa can stop paying the russians $70 million a seat and instead pay $58 million. >> you heard me say it over and over i don't want to have another write another check to cosmos. >> reporter: joining nasa to unveil details of the progress on building this first human space taxi since the shuttle retired. >> you've heard both of them say they think they'll be flying by 2017. if we make that date i'm a happy camper. >> reporter: boeing has gotten its share of the money so far, over $4 billion. for the capsule developed by space x, the company has received $2.6 billion. having two options may serve

nasa well providing backup in case one company has problems. that's exactly what's happened with the cargo contract to the space station, split between space x and orbital sciences until orbital sciences' rocket blew up last fall. nasa has farmed out space station trips to the private sector so it can focus more of its money on getting to mars with the program like orion. space x also wants to go to mars. >> i think it will take a village, frankly, to get to mars. >> reporter: after apollo spending on space both public and private has gone into a higher orbit. >> never before in the history of human space flight has there been so much going on all at once. >> reporter: as much as these two companies are rivals they're also partners. a new docking unit will be sent to the space station, built by boeing delivered by space x. i'm jane wells. coming up the technology being developed that will help

keep your eyes on the ropes. good news for drivers. gas prices now have fallen to the lowest price since april of 2009. the lundberg survey said regular gas is averaging just $2.07 a gallon nationwide. finally tonight, what if your car watched you drive and warned you when an accident was about to happen? the technology has been developed and will soon be found in many vehicl. phil lebeau has an exclusive

look at the company watching your eyes to make sure they're watching what they ought to. >> reporter: despite repeated warnings about the dangers of texting and driving, or being distracted behind the wheel, a lot of us are not paying attention. data from 2012 shows more than 3,300 people were killed in distracted driving accidents. tech firms are looking to warn drivers as soon as they look away >> if your eyes are looking away from the road the vehicle understands you're paying attention somewhere else apart from the road ahead. >> reporter: nick took us through a ride to show us how seeing machines.com uses a camera in the dashboard to watch what drivers are watching. and when they're not for even a few seconds, or if they start to doze off, the car will immediately warn the driver. >> the vehicle then has an understanding of whether you're paying attention or not, have i seen the stop light, have i seen the vehicles in front of me.

and that's something that the vehicle can then adjust itself to to make better decisions on my behalf, safer decisions. >> reporter: eye monitoring is the next phase of driver assist technology. systems that will soon allow vehicles to steer themselves on the highway, or even in city traffic. almost every automaker is developing this technology. but most expect regulators to approve autopilot systems if drivers agree to pay attention behind the wheel, even if they're not holding the wheel. >> we still need the driver along this evolution of technology to really be in the loop and to be paying attention to what's happening on the road. >> reporter: watching drivers and recording their attention or intention could change accident investigations in the future. seeing machines.com is already working with several automakers. and we could see cameras in dashboards within the next couple of years, making sure you are truly keeping your eyes on the road.

phil lebeau, "nightly business report," chicago. >> phil lebeau not keeping his eyes on the road right there. the machine should make his eyes turn green. >> that does it for us for "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm su herera. thank you for joining us. >> i'm tyler mathisen. have a great and warm evening tonight. we hope to see you tomorrow night, if we can get here. >> we will. we will.

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