♪ this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> biggest drug merger ever. pfizer and allergan are combining in a $160 billion deal handing pfizer a new address and a lot of controversy. deals and buybacks. is financial engineering taking the place of real growth at some of america's biggest companies? and deep freeze. will higher mortgage rates and less supply send a chill through the housing market this winter? all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for monday november 23rd. good evening, everyone, and welcome. pfizer and allergan have made it official. the two drug companies are merging in the largest pharmaceutical deal ever. the price tag is $160 billion. the second largest tie-up of all

time according to deal logic. it is also the biggest to involve a controversial tax strategy called an inversion. in this case the deal would move pfizer to ireland, allowing it to slash its federal corporate tax bill. the news today sent shares of both companies lower. meg tirrell reports on the biggest takeover in the health care industry. >> the pfizer allergan deal combines the makers of the popular drugs lipitor, lyrica, and viagra with the maker of botox. the new company is expected to have more than $70 billion in annual sales in 2017 and more than 100 programs in the mid to late stages of development. >> i'm excited about it. it takes our two businesses, our established business and our innovative pharmaceutical. it gives it greater growth. it gives it broader portfolio. it's a really strategic deal from that point of view. >> the deal will also see the world's largest drug maker moving out of the united states as pfizer inc. becomes pfizer plc. incorporating in allergan's home base of ireland and acquiring a lower torpt tax rate.

>> the move is bound to draw political scrutiny. pfizer ceo ian reed said the move is driven by more than tax reasons. >> there are benefits from tax. if there were benefits and tax weren't there i would still try and do the deal but i suspect the price would be different. >> reporter: the deal's price of about $363 per allergan share based on friday's pfizer closing price may have fallen short of shareholders' expectations. analysts say they may have been expecting up to $390 a share. allergan ceo brett saunders who will join the new company as president and chief operating officer disagreed the price was insufficient. >> what you get is a roh forma ownership of 44% of the fourth largest company by market company in the world. you get access to 100 new markets. you get access to a deeper pipeline. you get access to $25 billion in free cash flow. and you get access into a dividend for shareholders. so when you put that all together the value creation for allergan shirlds is immense. >> with allergan pfizer gets a

slate of products spanning es at the time sxikz dermatology, neuroscience and eye care. allergan's flagship product botox brought in more than $600 million in the third quarter alone and treats not just wrinkles but multiple maladies from chronic migraines to overactive bladder. and the deal may be just the beginning of more transactions to come. analysts say further sets pfizer up for a potential split of its businesses into a newer, faster-growing product unit and one composed of older drugs that have lost patent protection. but they also warn of political risks to the deal. pfizer ceo ian reed is already addressing the expected onslaught of political attention. >> we've been engaged for the last year and a half with leaders in the congress. we see this deal as being very positive for the united states. >> already democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders has spoken out about the deal. the two companies said they expect it to close in the second half of 2016 with a break-up fee if it doesn't work out of up to

$3.5 billion. outside pfizer's headquarters in new york city for "nightly business report" i'm meg tirrell. and democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders isn't the only one to comment on the deal. the white house has as well, just days after the treasury department tightened rules on these inversion deals. eamon javers takes a look at the reaction from washington. >> reporter: democrats were quick to criticize the massive pharmaceutical deal on monday, blasting pfizer for renouncing its corporate citizenship and calling on congress to take action to stop so-called inversion deals. >> the president said it's not fair for companies to essentially renounce their citizenship, seek to at least on paper locate themselves somewhere else just so they can pay a lower tax rate. that certainly is not the kind of benefit that's available to middle-class families. >> reporter: on the campaign trail hillary clinton weighed in saying "i urge congress to act immediately to make sure the biggest corporations pay their fair share and regulators also should look hard at strongerr actions they can take to stop

companies from shifting earnings overseas." but republicans see this as a very different discussion about onerous business taxes forcing businesses to do what they can to protect themselves. house ways and means committee chairman said the time has come to lower tax rates so companies won't be forced into inversions. he said let's stop the political hand wringing and get to work, creating a u.s. tax code that's built for growth. that means lower competitive business rates that allow overseas profits to easily flow back into america. despite the red hot rhetoric on monday, though, the chances for any kind of tax reform on capitol hill are slim as washington is increasingly gridlocked by election year politics. republicans who control capitol hill want to wait to see if they can take control of the white house before making policy changes and that means it may be 2017 before anything at all is done about inversions. for "nightly business report" i'm eamon javers in washington. >> the fieszer-allergan deal

sent worldwide m&a avt to an all-time high of $4.2 trillion. according to thompson reuters that breaks the previous record set in 2007. buybacks are also soaring. companies are currently on track to purchase the highest number of their own shares since the financial crisis. but are deals and buybacks and other maneuvers taking the place of real growth? let's turn to brian jacobson to talk about that. he is chief portfolio strategist at wells fargo advantage funds. good to see you again, brian. welcome back. >> thank you. >> i guess that is the question. are they basically using these different types of deals and buybacks in the place of organic growth because it's become more difficult. >> i don't think it's so much a substitute for organic growth as it is a complement to organ ig growth. you are seeing activity in share buyback deals and these inversion deals but there still is organic growth, not necessarily this year looking

very short term like for example the fourth quarter of this year we'll probably see earnings per share, relatively flat compared to last year. however, if you're looking out over more of the long term, businesses are still investing in research and development, also property plants and equipment. it might not be as much as what i would personally like to see but there still is some organic growth there. this is an additional tailwind, if you will, to some of that growth. >> but there are some companies that have lots of cash on their balance sheets that are using that money to buy back shares, and the second they're helpful to the shareholders but the secondary effect for the ceo is when you take shares out of circulation all other things being equal you have higher earnings per share. so they like it on that level as well. that's kind of a little hocus-pocus, right? >> most analysts are able to look through that as far as the immediate effect on the earnings per share. you're absolutely right. the mathematical relationship is if you buy the shares, fewer

shares, higher earnings per share, but then analysts also look at what's the long-term growth prospect? if you are effectively buying back shares at the expense of not investing for growth, chances are your stock price is going to get punished as a result of that. >> you gave us the example of amazon and apple and how those two differ in what they are doing. and they also both have a lot of cash. tell me more about that. >> it's an interesting dichotomy if you compare amazon, say, to apple. apple back in 2012 initiated a very large share buyback program. reason is is because they were generating an incredible amount of cash from successfully selling the iphone and the ipad and their other devices but they're still investing for growth whereas amazon hasn't had to do a dividend or share buyback and they're also investing for growth. very different approach to how it is that they're managing their balance sheet and their cash flow. but yet they're still fierce competitors and i would say most people would categorize those as healthy and growing companies. >> brian, thank you so much.

brian jacobson, wells fargo advantage funds. >> that record pharma deal was not enough to lift stocks to start this holiday-shortened trading week. instead investors looked ahead to the barrage of economic reports due out over the next two days, but for today the dow jones industrial average was off by 31 points to 17,792. pfizer, by the way, the index's worst performer today. nasdaq and the s&p 500 both dropped two points. part of france's economy slowed following the attacks on paris. a new survey shows the services sector was negatively impacted in the days after november 13th. but manufacturing activity picked up, which helped the private sector expand overall. france is the second largest economy in the european union. and now to brussels, the heart of the euro zone, which remains on lockdown tonight and where raids are being carried out in an attempt to stop what authorities call an imminent threat of an attack. julia chatterly reports tonight from belgium's capital.

>> reporter: the big news from bustles tonig brussels tonight is the city will remain at the highest security alert level and will remain so for at least a week. clearly the threat of an quill nent terrorist attack, even a copycat attack like we saw in paris just over a week and a half ago, is a significant concern for the authorities here, but what does that mean for the lockdown we've seen? we've seen the subway closed today. we've seen schools, colleges also closed. they'll remain so. tomorrow they'll begin a staggered process of reopening tomorrow. but what we've also seen is an impact on the businesses, on shops, on restaurants. this would normally be a pretty buzzing street at this time of night for a monday, and as you can see, it's relatively deserted. i think one of the crucial questions here people are asking is what impact are these security measures going to have on the consumer environment here, on spending as we approach christmas? but also on the overconfidence

level. it's not something necessarily we can judge at this stage. we're just going to have to see how this plays out. and of course the story at this very moment really does focus on the security. the latest we've also heard tonight is that the 27 individuals that were arrested overnight to this morning, 17 have now been released. one man in particular has been charged in association with the terrorist attacks in paris. clearly the other big story here is the manhunt for the man known as salah abdeslam. he is also still at large, and there are questions here about whether he even remains in brussels. but for now the bottom line is that brussels will go into a fourth day of lockdown. the security alert remains at the highest level. and of course the manhunt continues. for "nightly business report" i'm julia chatterly in brussels. here at home, still ahead, hitting the gas. why drivers might be in for a pleasant surprise very, very soon.

♪ to the economy and the housing market now. existing home sales fell nearly 3 1/2% in october. that was more than expected. and that reading follows a strong showing in september. with less homes available for sale and mortgage rates already rising, housing could be in for a deep freeze this winter. diana olick explains. >> reporter: heather bryce got married last spring, but she didn't commit to buying a house until this month. >> honestly, the percentage rates are going to go up. the rate is going to go up. and that's a gut feeling, and so i wanted to move while the rates were still as low as they possibly could be. >> reporter: the federal reserve is hinting strongly that it will

raise interest rates in december, but markets are already reacting now. that's pushing mortgage rates higher and pushing potential buyers off the fence for fear of losing out on the home of their dreams. >> because they're talking about interest rates going up, that's why people are out there. it pushed people to move and take action a little quicker. >> reporter: while interest rates are only slightly higher now, home prices are much higher due to a lack of homes for sale. the median price of a home sold in october was the highest in a month for a decade. add the two and first-time buyers like bryce need to move fast. >> half a point percentage makes such a difference that now is the time. >> the number of listings should be rising now, as is normally the case during the slower fall season. but supplies fell over 4% in october according to the realtors. competition is fierce, which means extra work for consumers using a mortgage. they need to know not only what they can afford but if they can

qualify for a large enough loan. >> folks should really be prepared, have themselves buttoned up, make sure they know where their fico score is. >> reporter: and be ready to move quickly when the right opportunity knocks. for "nightly business report" i'm diana olick in washington. cheap gas is helping the economy in theory. the more people save at the pump, the more in theory they'll spend elsewhere. and some are predicting gas prices will fall even further in the quite near future. with us now is chief oil analyst with the oil price information service. good to have you with us, denton. >> thank you. >> i'm going to call you denton. cinquagrana is a little tougher for me. so forgive me for that. where do you see oil prices? they're coming down toward $2 on average nationally for regular but there are pockets where it's much higher. where are they going to head? >> i think we're still going lower. i know there are some predictions of $2, $1.99 by thanksgiving. don't think we quite get there by then, but between say the

week next week to november 30th and the end of the year i think we to get below that $2 mark. >> and will it stay there through the winter? >> i think so. i think at least it will fluctuate around there. we'll start to rise again in february like we normally do. this market's very cyclical. it's almost like saying to your friends, joseph a. bank's having a sale this weekend. it's almost predictable. we start to see prices rise in february and then we get into the spring season and things start to go up from there. >> why is there such a disparity between different states? for instance, growing up in california like i did, we always had some of the highest gas prices around yet there are big refineries in california too. so how does that work? why are different states at different price points? >> for retail price points in gasoline in california they have some of the highest taxes on gasoline in the country. but also the formulation of california gasoline is probably the cleanest in the world. it's very difficult to make. and without being an island california's essentially a fuel island.

there's no pipelines that can bring gasoline or diesel or any other refined product from west to -- or east to west rather. you're kind of stuck with your -- not necessarily stuck is not the right word to use -- >> i think some motorists would say that. >> but you have your own refining capacity. there are some imports that will come in when the market dictates that they can work in there. but that's one of the big reasons why california -- >> is the fundamental reason why oil prices have -- excuse me, gas prices have come down, that there is an oversupply of oil and demand is down? >> that's a big part of it. obviously oil prices being in the low 40s like they are now, spending some time in the 30s back in august, and i do think we'll get back into the 30s before the year is out, maybe just for a little minute there. but it's not necessarily a one to one correlation but obviously it really helps when lower oil prices are in there but also you've got to remember the fleet of vehicles on the road are getting much better fuel mileage than they had five, six, seven years ago. >> mr. cinquagrana, thanks for

coming out. >> thank you very much. carl icahn turns up the pressure on aig, and that is where we begin tonight's market focus. the activist investor has been calling for the insurance giant to separate into three public companies and now he says he plans to take his fight directly to shareholders saying it's too big to succeed as it is. the firm has responded saying the plan doesn't make financial sense. shares rose a fraction to 62.76. carl icahn also disclosed a more than 7% stake in xerox. the activist investor says the firm's shares are undervalued and he plans to talk with the company's management. shares surged in initial after-hours trading. during the regular session the stock was up nearly 3% to 1075. and there's more activist news tonight. the hedge fund elliott management has disclosed a 6 1/2% stake in alcoa according to a filing. it comes as the aluminum producer plans to separate its metal-making business from its manufacturing. shares were up more than 4% to

$9.07. game stop reported results that missed estimates. the video game retailer blamed low sales of new gaming software and hardware for the disappointing quarter. shares tumbled more than 4% to 37.61. tyson foods had mixed results in its most recent quarter but the meat processor's revenue came in above forecast. strong demand for its chicken products helped the firm. the company is also forecasting better than expected full-year profit shares up 10% on the today to 48.09. and deibold is buying germany's windcore nixdorf in a deal worth nearly a billion dollars. the atm company will launch a tender offer next year. deibold fell almost 7% to $35. wincore trades overseas. and in the hard to announce company name department the drug maker malin kroft reported earnings and revenues that topped forecasts. the company's specialty drug segment has helped its quarterlies this as the stock has been hurt by a report from the short seller citron

research. but today shares popped more than 8% to 66.10. well, the final movie in the hunger games franchise may have dominated the box office this weekend but its performance fell far short of expectations and that disappointment -- disappointing opening coincides with a new series launched on amazon and netflix. julia boorstin has more on the increasing competition between the big screen and the small ones. >> the hunger games is coming to its end. >> reporter: hunger games mocking jaye part 2 may have grossed $101 million at the u.s. box office this past weekend but that's 20% lower than projected. the rowest grossing opening among the four-film franchise. and it's not just competition with other films in theaters. >> it's been an incredibly crowded marketplacema in movie theaters since really the end of summer. and that continues today. also the small screen presents a ton of choices and audiences are pulled in a lot of different

directions. never before have we seen so much choice on so many platforms available to so many people ever. >> he's coming for me. >> reporter: this weekend fans had more options than ever. netflix launching its second exclusive marvel series, "jessica jones." while amazon debuted its most expensive original series yet, "the man in the high castle." though there's no measure of whether people are staying home and binge watching instead of going to theaters, prosera networks, an internet traffic measuring company, said they did see streaming of amazon prime jump as much as 28% in some markets. the new content is certainly impacting consumer behavior. and the bar for leaving the house and driving to a theater to buy movie tickets is going to only be raised higher as streaming video services continue to invest in original content. >> you have to look at amazon, netflix, and hulu as giving consumers exactly what they want, which is lotshi of conten at a click of a button on any platform, anywhere they go in and out of the home, without

advertising if they don't like advertising, and they can binge that content back to back to back. >> reporter: with "star wars:spt force awakens" selling 50 million worth of tickets four weeks ahead of when it hits theaters there's no question people are still interested in going to the biggest films but now it's just harder for films to break through all the entertainment clutter. for "nightly business report" i'm julia boorstin in los angele and a milestone for the music industry. according to nielsen music, british singer adele's new album "25" sold a record 2.3 million copies in the u.s. in the first three days of its release. that breaks the record held by 'n sync since the year 2000. and coming up, how female entrepreneurs are overcoming the challenges they face. ♪

♪ here's what to watch tomorrow. a read on third quarter gross domestic product, which is considered the broadest measure of economic activity. also on the data front a report on international trade. the consumer confidence index will be released, and that is what to watch tuesday. a recall to tell you about. ford is recalling more than 450,000 cars in north america because of a potential fuel leak issue. the vehicles involved include some of ford's fusions and mercury milans. ford says no fires or injuries have been reported. fiat chrysler announcing it will offer free tuition at a for-profit college for the spouses and children of workers at all of its dealerships. employees and their families can enroll at strayer university at no cost once the employee's

dealership opts into the program. the dealerships will have to pay a flat fee to give workers access to this new benefit. a personal announcement from facebook ceo mark zumerberg. the social media's chief says he will be taking two months of parental leave when his daughter is born. facebook offers up to four months of paid leave to both male and female employees, who are expecting. more women are becoming business owners, launching firms not just in this country but around the globe, and some of them recently attended the second annual united nations women's entrepreneurship conference. our kate rogers was there. >> reporter: hundreds of women gathered to hear stories of growth from successful female entrepreneurs and the challenges that skood in their way. >> we need to stop telling women before they get into an entrepreneurial path that p the have so many road blocks ahead of them because men are not faced with that reality. they're not told that you're not going to make it. you're not told these statistics. >> reporter: anna store co-founded luminaid labs while

in graduate school in columbia. the inflatable solar light that packs flat was an assignment that grew out of an assignment in the wake of the 2010 earthquake in haiti. the company got its investment this year on "shark tank" from mark cuban. today it's being widely used around the world including in syria amid the ongoing refugee crisis. >> the more we have events like this and the more we tell our story as women entrepreneurs the more women are going to be inspired to, you know, be in that engineering class and like think about their idea in the back of their head about the invention and actually start a business out of it. >> the event was founded by wendy diamond after an inspiring trip to honduras. >> why are we not investing in women? i came back, created a day in the world. i understand we have donut day, we have bubble bath day, we have toilet day, which everyone does deserve a toilet, but we really needed to celebrate women. >> this year women's entrepreneurship day is being recognized in 144 different countries and it's also bcong

celebrated at more than 100 colleges and universities around the globe. >> the event attracts not only aspiring and successful entrepreneurs alike but also celebrities. singer leona lewis was among this year's honorees. >> women have had so many issues and things holding them back throughout the years, and it's just kind of in today's society that we have to concentrate on the positive rather than the negatives of what's holding us back. focus on what's pushing us forward and what's breaking barriers. and i a lot of the women here are doing that. >> reporter: and there's no doubt that with more awareness, opportunity, and funding women will continue to break down those barriers. for "nightly business report" in new york city i'm kate rogers. and finally tonight, billionaires at every age. wealthex has compiled a list of the richest people by decade from their 20s to the 90s. in the 20s category, snapchat ceo evan spiegel. 30s is mark zuckerberg. 40s is google's larry page.

in the 50s category, amazon's jeff bezos. 60s, bill gates. 70s, armancio ortega, the ceo of the fashion group indiktex. and buffett is the richest in the 80s category. and in the 90s lillian betancourt, heiress to the l'oreal cosmetics fortune. we didn't make the list again. >> and last year i didn't make the sexiest man alive for the 36th consecutive year. >> you are to us, ty. that's it for "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm sue herera. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. have a great evening, everybody. we'll see you tomorrow. ♪

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