this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathise sue herera. rally. stocks take off capping a strong week for equities but it's the nasdaq. glimmer of hope. the experimental drug that's showing promise in the fight against alzheimer's. our market monitor no matter what. all that and more for "nightly business report," friday march 20th. going in spring fever came to wall street today. dow jones industrial average

capped a strong week within striking distance of all-time record closing high. blue chip index up to 18,127. the nasdaq gained 34 points rising for 5 straight days to get third highest close ever at 5026. and s&p 500 up nearly 19 to 2108. in a week of big triple digit swings don't fight the fed. stocks got lot of help after the fed wednesday dropped the word patient from its interest rate prognosis but basically said it will be patient about raising them. the dow rose 2% for the week. the nasdaq outpacing the others with a 3% rise and the s&p. so its steepest weekly advance. but focus squarely this week on nasdaq that closed above 5,000 for the second time this year and on a few occasions this week the index was up when the dow and the s&p were down. so why the recent strength in

the index? bertha coombs has our repo. >> reporter: the nasdaq is now within reach of new all-time high. and this time around says j.p. morgan's kate moore, the tech heavy index is driven by profits more than hype. >> we actually think that tech earnings are much more stable than they've ever been before. and in fact in 2000 and kind of like a 15 years ago, it was a completely different sector without earnings and i think a lot of hope and optimism behind it. this is a real fundamental story and actually, tes one of our biggest in portportfolios. >> reporter: the nasdaq trade more than 20 times earnings. not much higher than the s&p 50018 price earnings ratio. in part because of diversification. like walgreens and anthem now live here alongside tech juggernaut apple. though there's one sector some worry might be frothy biotech. the nasdaq biotech etf up more

than 20% this year, its outsize offed gains matched by triple digit valuations. >> we've seen an incredible amount of money flowing into biotech. it's going to continue to flow into the biotech sector and i think will continue to be the driver of the nasdaq. >> reporter: overall, small cap stocks have also seen strong gains helping to drive the nasdaq higher. >> smaller caps are attractive for a couple of reasons. one is the run-up in the dollar and small cap have more domestic exposure but secondly this was an area that way underperformed last year and i think you'll see a rotation. >> reporter: one of the biggest changes from 15 years ago was that investors have more ways to gain exposure to the sectors through the surge in exchange traded funds. they no long verer have to make a bet mitigate downside risk. bertha coombs, show"nightly business

biotech has been higher for 8 straight days and up 42% in the past year. biogen was one of the best performers in the s&p 500 after the experimental alzheimer's drug we told you about last night showed in a study it significantly slowed mental decline. shares jumped nearly 10% on the news. meg tirrell has more on this possible breakthrough. >> reporter: the expectations were sky high and today, biogen exceeded them giving hope for a disease with no good treatment options. in a small study reported today, biogen's experimental alzheimer's drug known as bib 37 reduced plaque build-ups in the brain associated with t disease and also shows significant benefits on two measures of cognition. slowing the declines in memory loss and thinking clearly compared with the placebo. >> did better than expected overall and what's really interesting is this class of

anti-bodies for alzheimer's disease in the past has had very mixed results and most of the drugs actually failed. but today's result is great for patience. >> reporter: the positive efficacy results were a surprise because the study was in the early phases primarily for safety. show side effects including clearing the amyloid plaque from the brain. thought removal of the plaques can weaken blood vessels causing them to leak. >> one of the things they try to do from now on whether lower dose offers same activity with the better safety profile or whether they could change the dosing. at the current dose the side effect looks a little too high so they'll have to figure a way around it. >> reporter: biogen plans to move into a phase three trial skipping over the mid stages of testing. if all goes well analysts say the drug could hit the market as early as 2018 but it's got a lot to prove before then. >> in alzheimer's disease, the chance of success historically

has been low. we characterized that the way to think about it we conservatively think about a 30% chance of success, but again, yesterday was fairly encouraging so maybe too conservative. historically, a loy between the early stage testing and then the final phase three results. the issue is the drugs have not been that effective and on top of it conducting studies in this disease has been difficult historically. >> one foot right in front of the other. >> reporter: biogen did a few things differently in this trial. tested only on patients early stages of the disease suggested to be the population that could benefit the most. and screen patients to make sure they have the build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain that the drug targets. so while there's a long road ahead, both wall street and the medical community are cautiously optimistic. a successful drug for alzheimer's could draw as much as $10 billion in annual sales according to analysts. and provide hope for the millions of people worldwide

living with the disease. for "nightly business report," and now to the currency markets which along with central banks around the globe seem to be driving much of the market action lately. the euro rose against the dollar today after the leaders of greece and germany struck a con sill sillatory tone. talks are tense and there's a lot of work to be done. >> reporter: talks between germany's angela merkel and alexa, the prime minister of greece wrapped up in the small hours of this morning. didn't really need to read the lines at the statement. angela said the onus remains on greece to come up with a full set of reforms and only then they get access to the crucial the country needs. the one positive i can pull out of this though it does seem like greece is going to try to come up with those over the next

few days and then assessed by the european finance minister. that seems to be a greater sense of urgency about this but the message from brussels is the pressure on greece is going to remain very firm. in terms of the next step alexa will head over to berlin on monday. if we see some kind of breakthrough perhaps it takes place next week on monday in berlin but you know i have to say, i hope goes there holding a great reforms because ultimately that's what's needed. for "nightly business report," i'm ulia boors julia chatterley in brussels. >> sent the oil higher. west texas crude up $45.72. commodity higher for the week snapping four weeks of losses. in the meantime the oil recount continues to fall. according to baker hugz the number of rigs drilling for cut cut to $8,025. the lowest number in four years.

may be more insulated from the moves in the dollars we explained a moment ago is small company shares since those companies do most of their business within the united states and today, the russell 2000 small cap index hit a record there. that's where our market monitor looks for investment opportunities. sandy sandy villery. good to have you with us. do you agree with the guest who in the earlier piece said there are a couple of reasons why she likes small caps now. one of them is the dollar thing. one is they underperformed dramatically far while. at some point, this is probably going to swing back the other way. >> i'm a long-term nvrs for f. you go back to 1926 longer than any of us have but small caps outperformed 2% annually versus larger cap. i think the u.s. is the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry when

you look at the global economy. i do believe that plus playing catch-up from last year when the s&p did 13% in the russell 2000 only did 3%, we do need to play a little bit of catch-up and certainly the stronger dollar will definitely lead to a stronger smaller cap year. so i think this year if you can stay american and stay small, you'll outperform in 2015. >> it's really all about growth. is it not? the bigger more established companies probably won't grow as fast in theory anyway as the smaller company. >> yeah. and i think that's true in any environment that small should outperform or outgrow large and just looking at a simple example of sowzoe's kitchen, i would expect zoe's to be riskier and the long run. we focus on smaller cap stocks in our billary bonds fund.

>> went through a fractious acquisition with joseph a. bank. how is it doing? >> anytime you can buy a great franchise for the long-term and i'm a three to five year investor and it has a short-term cloud over it. that short-term cloud would be getting rid of george zimmer the founder, the acquisition of jo banks and $6 in earning power in 2016. synergies between the two. i think it will work out well for shareholders. >> you can buy one suit and get three free, sandy. >> that's right. >> i knew that was coming. i knew it was coming from him. all right. dst is next on your list sandy, why? >> they do data processing an software automation for communications health care as well as the financial services industry. i'm very familiar with the 60% of the revenue in the financial services industry because it's mutual fund administration.

they're basically doing the back office for my mutual fund. so their top five customers very sticky. been with them an average of 35 years and i like the valuation. 8 to 12 times because of the non-core assets they're liquidating. got $125 million a quarter they're liquidating and over the next two years, liquidate another billion dollars they can use to buy back stock and pay down debt. it's going to work out well i think. >> your third choice is financial engines trading. i'm not familiar with it but i am famil nobel price economist bill sharp one of the founders. >> he starleted this company in 1996 and basically, it's a way for all the 401(k) corporate participants they get all these mutual fund choices. it's very confusing. he's got software you can put in your age, income level, retirement even social security application too that tells you when to take it when not to. it's been very successful. got a third of the fortune 500

companies, microsoft, at&t just signed up with them. $40 billion in their plan. i think this is going to work out well. and again, domestically based. when you talk about a dollar and all this stuff, i think you're going to do well in this environment. >> sandy, have a great weekend. thank ifss for your ideas tonight. data from bank of america, meryl merril lynch. biggest weekly inflow this year. attracted all of that new cash $23 billion, while stock mutual funds posted $3 million in outflows. paid record $97 billion to the u.s. treasury according to awe kited financial statements. much of the gain due on the central bank's big bond purchases. in 2013 the fed handed about $8 billion. by law, the central bank has to hand over the bulk of its profits to the u.s. treasury. with the most recent federal

reserve meeting in the rearview the word patience gone from policy statement and the door open to raising rates, what might it take for the central bank to start hiking? steve liesman takes a lo. >> reporter: now that the federal reserve said rate hikes could come any meeting after april, wall street looking closely at clues to see what conditions will be right. charlie evans, one of the more dovish members of the fed, stuck to the forecast saying the right won't be until next year because he doesn't see inflation turning around. >> i'm hoping the discussion being persuaded that maybe this is the right time to start that. at the moment, i still think 2016 is more likely given the forecast configuration i see. >> reporter: evan said because inflation is below the 2% target so long it makes sense to let it run above the target for some time but dennis lockhart neither hawk nor dove suggested a rate hike is more likely this year. lockhart said serious consideration is being given to

a rate hike at any of the three meetings between june and september. in the statement wednesday, fed gave two tests for a rate hike. first, further approval of the labor market and second confidence inflation moving back to target. economists believe that the strong dollar and lower oil prices could keep inflation falling through at least the early summer. assuming they don't decline much more from here. the fed's own forecast don't show much movement upward until 2016. >> you want to get through a period where you can see what inflation looks like after the transitory effect. >> reporter: the policy could come next week with a speech by vice chairman, stanley fisher and janet yellin friday. tuesday, maybe most important the government will release the federal consumer price index. economists look for a 0.2% rise that will only partially reverse the 0.7 decline in january. so year over year and further complicating the outlook for fed policy prices will still be

falling in the u.s. raising the question, why exactly are they going to raise rates? for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. still ahead, strong as steel? not so much. why some companies in the sector federal trade commission made the decision in 2012 not to sue google for alleged anti-trust violations. as reported by "the wall street journal" and based on a

confidential report google's search algorithm would place its own services above those of its competitors in search for results. fdc experts wanted to sue the company but instead settled the the investigation in 2013 when google agreed to change business practices. av steel the latest to warn about profit outlook. reason? the imports of the metal flooding the market increasing supply and lowering prices. shares of ak steel fell 3.5%. the company isn't alone. morgan brennan takes a look at why the sector is coming under. >> reporter: american steel companies have been on the front line of the so-called currency wars. starting with ak steel. shares of the ohio based steel manufacturer tumble today after the company warned of a first quarter loss as shipments fell 14%. why? a flood of steel imports. in january, imports were 33% higher than a year ago according

to the american iron and steel institute and finished steel products from south korea, turkey japan, and brazil grew the most. analysts say imports soar to record levels adding to a supply glut in the domestic market. >> if we look at finished steel imports as a percentage of supply last year, that number was about 28%. that number in 2013 was about 23% which is normal. we look at a range of 20% to 25% as something we typically would see because we are still short in this country but what's alarming year-to-date that percentage has gone to 30% to 35%. a thousand basis stronger gain. >> reporter: made imports look cheaper in turn pushing u.s. prices lower with the midwestern hot coal oil index jumped since the start of 2015. that means ak steel isn't alone. two other u.s. steel makers knew corn and steel dynamics lowered their earnings guidance this week as well.

blaming imports. fact in falling demands used by the oil and gas industry and analysts are bracing for another tough year. >> now the fundamentals at this point are still very challenged as we discussed. imports peaking. steel price at their lows to the extent that energy markets leave stabilize in the 16 i think you could see a pretty big pickup in growth. not 16 then 17. >> reporter: this issue will remain in the spotlight because many companies are expected to testify next week at a congressional hearing in d.c. for "nightly business repo. shares of one home builder hit the roof and that is where we begin tonight's market focus. kb home posted better than expected earnings as strong demand helped drive revenue by 29% on the upside. company said the strong performance due to more houses being sold at higher prices.

now that is what you call insight. shares of kb up sharply. it always works with home builders. sell more for a higher price. tiffany had a sales drop and earnings relatively in line with estimates and warned a strong dollar will hurt results for the rest of the year and stronger dollar cut in by tourists here in the u.s. while at the same time weakening the value of the company's overseas sale. tiffany shares off just 4% to $82.93. >> dar den restaurants posting that meet expectations and beat targets. the company that operates restaurant chains like olive garden and long horn steak house raised full year outlook. up 3% to $66.75. the seemingly never ending mall saga between simon property group and rival mesa rich may be nearing an end. simon saying it's make k what it

calls the best and final offer for mesa rich raising to more than 23 billion. earlier this week the bid was rejected. simon's original offer $16 billion. simon property shares were up nearly 3% close at $197.34. mesa rich trades on the exchange. and era, the supplier of industrial gas and welding t cited a weak economy, sharp drop in oil prices and strong dollar for weak guidance. shares closed down 5% to $107.28. >> a number of cyber security firms plan to go public this year rapid seven logarithm and mine cast are all set to sell shares to the public and seek valuations in excess of a billion dollars. the firm is looking to capitalize on investor interest following a number those high profile hack attacks. coming up what the canadian medical marijuana industry has that the u.s. doesn't and why

big money is flowing north of the border. economical cal der. consumer price index, steve liesman reported that the number federal reserve watching closely and friday the final read on fourth quarter gdp. the government has unveiled the first set of fracking rules on federal and indian lands.

the plan includes provisions to protect ground water, increase transparency on the part of companies to disclose the chemicals they use and higher standards for storing waste. pumping sand, water, and chemicals into well to extract oil or gas despite being legal in some states the medical marijuana industry in the u.s. faces some big hurdles like access to banks, credit financing, not to mention navigating state and federal regulations but our neighbor to the north, canada made the sale of medical marijuana easier and the money is following. jane wells has the story from nanimo, british columbia. >> reporter: >> no one's ever done this before. >> reporter: this is a 60,000 square foot medical marijuana facility the largest in the world. workers wear clean suits,

security akin to fort knox and no piles of cash around. >> all transactions online or over the we accept credit cards. >> reporter: where do you bank? >> with rwbc. world bank of canada. >> reporter: like this one called hill ray, so the country's 40,000 medical marijuana patients can order pot online and get it in the mail. >> we like tight, tough regulation and like clarity. there just isn't the type of clarity that we see in canada. there isn't the type of clarity like that in the u.s. >> reporter: but canada is the only nation giving marijuana the green light, at least on a medical level. other nations considering it right inside u.s. borders. >> people are saying that this is going to be bigger than bingo. now, i don't know what that means, exactly. >> rn summit in las vegas, leaders discuss the possibility of

growing pot on tribal land. >> they're telling us we could possibly create 3 million a year for our tribe alone as economic development. ♪ >> reporter: the u.s. justice department told tribes it may look the other way as it has with washington and colorado. tribes growing pot follows certain rules. >> 556 tribe in the country with their own history, their own leadership and they're going to make their own decisions. >> reporter: in the meantime up north, the green wave rolls across canada till ray expects $20 million in revenues this year. $50 million next and since medical pot is legal on a federal level, it is free to do the sort of research on the plant unheard of down south. nor for "nightly business report," jane wells, nanimo british columbia. what would you rather save for, vacation or retirement? it's a question many probably asked themselves and according to a new survey by tiaa crest,

rather set aside for some time on the beach. only 8% of savers listed contributing to ira as first priority about the same percentage of people who had no idea what their top savings go that's not very encouraging for long-term retirement savings. >> mine for sure. >> mine as well. >> right now. we'll see. that's "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm sue herera. have a great weekend and thanks for watching. >> for me as well. thanks i'm tyler mathisen. have a great weekend and we will see you back here on monda

gwen: making deals in politics and diplomacy. stories from israel, iran, and the back rooms on capitol hill and at the 2016 campaigns. tonight on "washington week." >> against all odds, we achieved this huge victory. gwen: benjamin netanyahu foils his critics. and vindicates his supporters, at home and in washington. >> lastly let me congratulate my friend, benjamin netanyahu, on his party's victory this week. gwen: but can the u.s.-israel relationship recover? and might his victory scuttle negotiations to scale back iran's nuclear ambitions? >> our negotiations have made progress, but gaps remain. gwen: at home, congress gears up