♪ this is "nightly business with tyler mathisen and stocks sell off. equities suffered a sharp and steep fall as oil prices dropped and uncertainty surrounding interest rates rose. making changes. wells fargo drops the sales goals that led to the fraudulent opening of millions of accou can bad behavior be stopped? and in focus. why a unit of warren buffett's berkshire hathaway is being accused of running a reverse ponzi scheme. tonight on "nightly business f 13th. good evening, everyone. i'm sue herrera. tyler mathisen is on assignment tonight. but we will hear from him in just a few moments. bewe begin tonight with the market's big slide. stocks tumbled hard, reversing

yesterday's gains. the selloff was broad. oil prices took a dive, energy stocks tanked, financials floundered. but what did rise was uncertainty about oil, which some view as a proximate fee for the global economy. and uncertainty about interest fed officials are now in a quiet period ahead of next week's meeting, so there will be no more comments to dissect for clues. but investors don't like uncertainty, and the dow jones industrial average dropped 258 points to 18,066. the nasdaq declined 256. and the s&p 500 fell 32. bob pisani was in the middle of today's selloff at the new york stock exchange. >> another tough day for stocks, the market did improve towards the close. all the major sectors down one-and-a-half to 2% or more, including energy, materials, financial and health care. it's mostly about the debate over whether the feds should or should not race interest rates. the odds are small, the risk is

high. many traders are long both stocks and bonds. both of which might get hit if the fed raises rates. traders have been lightning up on stocks exposure. but selling accelerated after paul singer said at cnbc's delivering alpha conference, the treasuries were not safe and worth the investment. the yield on this ten-year treasury shot up to the highest level since june, and even banks, which would benefit from higher rates, moved down. it was that kind of day. oil stocks got hit by a double whammy. on top of the general risk off atmosphere, also a roughly 2% decline in oil. so exxonmobil settled at the lowest level since april. bottom line, the market roller coaster continues, and likely will continue until we get a clear sign from the fed next week on whether they will or will not raise rates. for "nightly business repor" m bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. as we mentioned, one of the primary reasons for today's market selloff was the drop in the price of oil.

domestic crude fell 3% to settle just below $45 a barrel. and that's because there were some very high-profile forecasts that flashed oil demand, something you don't want to hear in a market that's already oversupplied. jackie deangelis has the details. >> crude oil gravitating towards $45 a barrel ahead of the opec conversation later this month in algeria. the fundamentals point to downward pressure. in the international energy agency's latest monthly report, a sharp cut in demand forecast for this year and next. citing wabling asian demand. the iea says it sees demand growing 1.3 million barrels a day this year. that's a cut of 100,000 barrels. for next year, it looks for growth of 1.2 million barrels a day, down 200,000 barrels. in opec's latest monthly report, released yesterday, the cartel conceded that nonopec production in 2016 was stronger than it ex opec's august output was down

slightly, but still over 33 million barrels a day, and near record highs. the take away from these reports, production still too high. especially in light of a weakening demand picture. >> we know the supply. we know it's tremendously high. and now the iea is talking about global demand going down. they have never been the greatest at predicting global demand, but it's good enough for me. i do think that's going to take over. the one wild card could be saudi's. it doesn't seem to me they will start doing that until it hovers around 40 and perhaps has a 30. independent of that, i think we probably go lower. >> one other factor consider, the fed. fierce of a hawkish move later in year rattled equities and the dollar is seeing strengthening. it's difficult to discount what opec might do later in september. and so the market is seeing a little support from here until it knows for sure. for "nightly business report," i'm jackie deangelis. the biggest and most influential names in business investing in policy had some

warnings for investors today as they discussed the health of the economy, interest rates and the direction of stocks. they gathered at the delivering alpha conference, presented by cnbc and institutional investors. an tyl w >> today at the delivering alpha conference in new york city, policy makers and the portland's top investors came together to share ideas. the day began with treasury secretary jack lew commenting that while he thinks there is ample time to get the tpp, the transpacific partnership, through congress, before the end of the president's term, he sees a less bright prospect for any progress on tax reform. >> the political environment is not one where it has been ripe to take up something like this. but the ideas that we have been promoting will be the foundation for action in the future. it takes a desire on the part of congress to do something hard. hard things don't happen unless there's a real, real desire to do it. >> on the investment front, the

head of one of the largest and most interesting hedge funds of all, ray dalio, of bridge water, said you should set your economic expectations very low. >> closer to 1.5 to 2%. but i think that the answer to the question is really, why we are -- there is only so much you can squeeze out of a debt cycle. and we're there globally. i think that japan is one step ahead of europe. and europe is one step or two steps ahead of the united states. and the united states is probably two steps ahead of china. in terms of a limited ability to produce stimulation, to produce that kind of growth. so everybody will have a lower growth rate than we're used to. >> dalio also had some pungent remarks for the fed. he thinks, for example, that the fed may have its eye on the wrong ball, and he really disagrees with ceo jamie dimon of chase about raising interest

ra >> do you think that's wrong? >> that's right. i think that that's right. at this stage, the risks are so asymmetric -- like, there is no doubt that you can slow the economy. the world economy, the u.s. economy. tightening w. okay. and when you look at the inflation pressures, you know, there's a global thing. and you look at the demographics. all of those things means that the risks are so much more on the down side. >> investment manager paul sing also critical of the fed and harshly so and he said to sell one type of investment in particular. >> in 5,000-ish years of history, there have never been interest rates remotely close to where we are now. it hasn't worked. owning medium to long-term g-7 fixed income is a really bad idea. and by removing from your

portfolio things that are really bad ideas, that's a helpful thing. so it's not just, hey, go buy this, go buy that. >> and finally politics, was a subtext year at delivering alpha today and while most panelists didn't really want to put a stake in the ground and say who they favor or who they think will win the election, they do say the election and uncertainty surrounding it has made it a much tougher environment for investing, in part because it's tougher for business executives to know what the policies will be g sue, back to you. >> ty, thanks so much. so what should you do as an investor in this market? michael farr joins us, president of farr, miller and washington. let's start with comments he we just heard. ray dalio was very negative, looking for slower growth, 1.5 to 2%. doesn't think the fed is on the right track in terms of raising interest rates. what's your reaction to some of what you heard?

>> i think that he is saying we're going to see more of what we have been seeing and i think that's logical and rational. it's not a horrible thing, though. if we ca continue to grow 1.5, 2%, 2.5%, that doesn't seem horrible. but i wish that the fed would get out of the way. i mean, just go to the sidelines and leave things alone, and give organic demand a chance to return. you know, we didn't let markets really clear. and therefore, you know, buyers haven't had a chance to really feel real pain. they just kind of stalled everything where it was. so i really think that we have to see organic demand. buyers need to go out and buy things. our economy is two-thirds driven by the consumer. the assumer on the sidelines, the fed ought to stay there too. >> a lot of the volatility we have seen between friday and today was linked to the fed. but i think you think it's also linked to politics. >> absolutely. i mean, i think there was a

little fed tantrum on friday, because we had governor lundgren come out and say maybe they ought to tighten sooner and trulio came out after that and said maybe not yet. but over the weekend, expectations were changed when secretary clinton became ill. that kind of shifted the math to mr. trump, and perhaps a trump presidency now is a possibility. markets are not pricing that in. they're looking at the electoral college vote. i'm not making a political comment, sue. but the expectations have been for mrs. clinton victory. that may have changed. and that came at a time when mr. trump was criticizing fed chairman yellen rather loudly on the airwaves. wall street is not used to that. wall street is used to a president or presidential candidate who is going to have a back-channel conven wh the fed chairman. not out in the open. that means that wall street has to adjust. so when we saw asset classes all across the board -- i mean, it was stocks, it was bonds, it was

currency, it was oil, it was everything kind of went lower today. it looked like a big readjust. >> okay. so do you readjust then your portfolio? what do you do if you're a longer-term investor and participating, perhaps, if the electro owe if the election is having a bigger influence, perhaps, than the fed or vice versa. what do you do? >> well, first, i think you have to say there will be short-term noise, and there could be short-term volatility, no matter what happens between the fed and the presidential race. we are near an all-time high and have been there for a while. you have to remember that markets will go down. we have gone kind of straight up since 2009 with a couple of corrections. we're due for a correction. corrections are normal. but it's really important to know what you own, own good balance sheets with solid management. and make sure that when the frenetic music stops, you've got a chair, because this isn't a game you can afford to lose. >> on that note, michael farr, we really appreciate it.

>> thanks, sue. president of farr, miller and washington. incomes are on the rise for the first time in eight years. the median household income rose more than 5% last year from the prior year. and according to the census bureau, that's the largest one-year rise since at least 1967. the median point is now more than $56,000, but that is still below levels recorded before the great recession. experts say this report does show, however, that the recovery is finally being felt by middle class amer still ahead, can bad behavior at banks and other companies be changed? some surprising findings by someone who has studied that issue. ♪

apple was the only dow component to end higher today. this after sprint and t-mobile said preorders for the latest iphone were strong. the wireless carriers described being up nearly four times previous orders, but didn't disclose specific sales numbers. apple also launch ios-10. shares finished higher by about 2.5%. a $3 billion deal in the semiconductor business. renaissance electronics signs a deal to take over interfill, and that tops tonight's market focus. japanese chip maker, ren instance electronics will by inner sill in an all-cash deal for more than $3 billion. that merger is expected to provide renaissance with a larger presence in the automotive semiconductor space. shares jumped nearly 10%. to 2170.

pandora has inked licensing deals with sony and universal music group, as well as other labels. the deals are expected to provide pandora new advertising opportunities. in addition, pandora said it will unveil two new streaming services by the end of this year. the shares were off 19 cents to 1410. jetblue's passenger traffic growth in august outpaced capacity. and also expects unit revenue, a key metric, to fall less than expected in the third quarter. so shares of jetblue rose more than 2% to 1719. macquarie capital cut its rating on netflix to underperform from neutral. underperform, which is the equivalent of a sell rating, is rare for a cult stock like netflix. but macquarie expects slow international growth, be increased domestic competition and high content costs in the short term. but they remain optimistic about the video streaming service over the long-term.

shares, nonetheless, fell. weight watchers shares fell after replacing james chambers. chambers wl step down this month after failing to turn the diet company around as consumers chose alternative weight loss plans. oprah winfrey, who brought a 10% stake in weight watchers last year will help choose the next ceo. shares fell to $9.68. warren buffett's berkshire hathaway is being sued over an alleged scheme dealing with workers' compensation. morgan brennen has more. >> warren buffett coming under fire after being accused of running a reverse ponzi scheme. the break-away courier system suing the conglomerate in state supreme court in manhattan. the bicycle courier alleging the company is using an illegal scheme that targeted new york consumers to steal workers' compensa premiums.

in a court filing, break-away accusing it of siphoning premiums and diverting them to unlicensed out of state insurers. the move it argues mounts to a reverse ponzi scheme. with employers looking to buy affordable policies but instead purchasing expensive reinsurance. reinsurance that requires those employers ultimately cover each other's losses. the lawsuit seems $18 million in damages, plus a declaration that the reinsurance agreements are void and against public policy. the suit coming just days after applied underwriters california coed to stop selling policies in the golden state. neither berkshire hathaway has responded to requests for comment. but for berkshire, which also owns geico, insurance is at the core of its operations. providing upfront capital from premiums that the conglomerate can invest for its own benefit. that so-called insurance float

was $90 billion last quarter. for "nightly business repor" i'm wore beg morgan brennan. wells fargo working to stamp out the bad behavior that resulted in the creation of fake customer accounts. john stump said wells fargo will end product sales goals at the end of the year in order to help rebuild consumer confidence, and he also issued this apology on cnbc today. >> if i could just -- before we start, or as i start, i want to tell you, your audience and our customers that we are sorry. we deeply regret any situation where a customer got a product they did not request. that has -- there is nothing in our culture, nothing in our vision of values that would support that. >> but the pressure on wells fargo is far from over. the senate banking committee is scheduled to host a hearing next week on that issue. mr. stump will be invited to

testify. and today jpmorgan topped wells fargo as the biggest u.s. bank by market cap. shares of wells fargo fell today more than 3%. and today treasury secretary jack lew said the behavior that we saw at wells fargo has to stop. and that the financial system is dangerous, if there aren't protections in p. >> what i've seen from what they have done is, it's bad behavior. they were correct to take action against. and how that flows through in terms of next consequences is going to depend on the facts of the case. what i can tell you is, there is a lot of talk in washington these days about rolling back dodd/frank, about rolling back the law, changing the law that created the agency that uncovered and took action against this. this ought to be a moment when people stop and remember how dangerous the system is when you don't have the proper protections in pla this is something that our watchdogs found. if they weren't there, they would still be going on. >> here to talk more about corporate fraud in general and how government officials address

it is robert land. he's the professor of law at the university of baltimors. professor, welcome. nice to have you her >> thank you so much for having me. >> i'd like to address wells fargo in just a second, but maybe broaden out the discussion. first all, to talk about corporate america i and not only the consequences of fraud, but how frequent do you k we see fraud on a wide scale level in corporate america? >> it's impossible to say. in so many areas, sanctions are simply not large enough, and we need whistleblower statutes to give people incentive to turn in corporate criminals. otherwise they face retaliation at the company at which they work. if you really want to root out corporate crimes, you have to give people an incentive to turn them in. >> they also sometimes people who do break the law in organizations are glorified sometimes for basically taking

one for the company, if you will, for lack of a better phrase. do you agree with that? or not? >> absolutely. and in fact, in the antitrust area, my colleague and i searched to see what happened to every corporate official that was imprisoned for price fixing during a 15-year period. and we found that after they were released from prison, about 25% went back to the same company at which they were caught fixing prices. and another 25% went to another company in the same cartel. sometimes they even got a promotion. so the mentality was, you took one for the team, the company made a profit, paid a small fine, and now we're rewarding you by giving you your old job back or sometimes maybe even a promotion. >> certainly not reassuring for consumers to hear that kind of message. in wells fargo's case, a watchdog caught this type of behavior. do we need watchdogs for other

types of industries, as well? do we have enough of them? >> no, we don't. of the things we have done over the last decade or more is to slash the watchdog's budget, the antitrust commission, the federal trade commission, the securities and exchange commission. all had their budget slashed to the bone. some of these agencies, i don't want to denigrate the people. they're wonderful people, working as hard as possible. but there ought to be twice as many of them. you can't expect them to find that much corporate fraud unless they have adequate resources and most of them just don't, thanks to budget cuts that have been going on for well over a decade. >> to companies need to reassess their corporate culture? and perhaps communicate the tenets of their corporate culture to employees more often or in a more exacting way? >> well, look. in theory, yes. but in so many areas of the law, and i can talk more detail about antitrust, if you like. the penalties are far too light.

so the corporate culture overwhelmingly is to make a profit. i mean, that's what they're supposed to be. and if the fines for breaking the law is a parking ticket, then the incentive of the corporation is, go ahead, break the law, if you get caught, you might have to go to prison for a year or so. but don't worry, we'll give you a job after you come out. but the corporation, as a whole, is going to make a profit. so when you're asking the corporation to change corporate culture, why should they change corporate culture? they're making a profit when people violate the law. >> stronger laws are needed. thank you, professor. apprecia >> thank you. >> robert land at the university . im coming up next, why the upcoming election is giving small business owners a bit of heartburn.

mylan has the second-highest executive compensation among all u.s. drug and biotech firms. and that's been the case for the past five years. according to analysis by the "wall street journ mylan's big pay packages are unusual because of its comparatively mall size in the drug industry. mylan paid more than $290 million to its top five executives over five years. outpacing bigger rivals, j & j, pfizer, bristol-myers squib. they have come under fire for hiking the price of its anti allergy epipen. with the presidential election less than two months away, small business remains optimistic about the but it's the political uncertainty that has main street

growing increasingly wary. kate rogers joins us with a look at that. kate, you have another report from the national federation that follows small businesses and main street businesses. what did it say? >> so, it actually found political uncertainty among small business owners hit an all-time high for this report. 40 years, we've been studying this. they have been studying this. this is their all-time high of 38% right now. it continues to be the number two reason that small companies are citing for their lack of expansion right now. to put that in context, at this time last year, it was at just 20%. you might wonder why political uncertainty is on the rise. we know who the candidates are. we know what their platforms are, right? >> we know what their platforms are, but some of the specifics have been missing on key issues. >> specifics are missing and you know what else, bill bunkel berg pointed out they're closer than ever in the polls. small business owners quite literally don't know who is going to win. so that is causing uncertainty to spike. >> ms. clinton fell ill, obviously, ask that's been

certainly in t press and headlines over the is that something that you think is going to play out on main street? to you think it will increase the uncertainty? because the poll numbers are changing. because of that particular incident. >> absolutely. i asked that exact question, because it's all we've been talking about. not disclosing the pneumonia diagnosis earlier. he said he thinks it will be a nonissue. people who are for secretary clinton. that won't sway their vote. he believes the debates will have more of an impact on independents. we'll have to wait and see. >> and they really are interested in health care, correct? >> yeah. >> and wage. issues? >> absolutely. health care, wages. their top three concerns in this report, as usual. taxes coming in number one. regulations and red tape and number two. and is then the third top issue, quality of labor. small companies say they are not able to find skilled workers. so that's going to be something that continues to -- >> and wages have been rising a little bit to attract those more qualified workers. but there is still a shortage.

>> yeah, absolutely. wage issue is something that hits main street across the board when we see big companies hike their wages, puts pressure on smaller companies. every business, whether they pay high wages or not, they all say they want to do it, it's just a matter of pressure and findinget right workers. >> thank you so much, kate. >> thank you. before we go right now, let's take a look at the final numbers on wall street. wasn't that pretty today. the dow dropped to 1866. nasdaq declined 56. s&p 500 down 32. that is it tonight for us. i'm sue herrera. than for watching. have a great evening. we'll see you tomor is brought to you by...

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