this is "nightly business " with tyler mathisen and . we want to give you, the american people, a giant tax cut for christmas. >> republican leaders reach an agreement on a final tax bill. now the pressure is on to tie up all the loose ends. we continue to expect that the economy will expand at a moderate pace. >> the fed raises interest rates as janet yellen's term nears an end and the economy powers on. and paying up. why it's costing drivers a lot more to fill up than in years past. those stories and more tonight "nightly business repor for wednesday, december 13th. good evening, everyone, and welcome.

on wall street, the dow closed at a record. investors' focus was on washington and reports that republican cd a tentative agreen a tax bill. at the federal reserve, policymakers felt confident enough in the economy to raise interest rates again and sharply lift their outlook for growth. the dow jones industrial av rose 80 points to 24,585, an all-time high. it had been up triple digits for most of the day. the nasdaq gained 13 and the s&p 500 lost some steam into the close, falling one point. let's start tonight with that big tax bill which does appear to be nearing the finish line. republican leaders have made some changes, reaching a basic agreement on a final proposal that sets up a possible final vote next week. ylan mui has our r >> reporter: republican lawmakers presented their tax plan to president trump at the white house during lunch today. and the centerpiece of that proposal is a 21% corporate

rate. that's a little bi highe than the red line of 20% that the president had previously drawn. but today, trump said he would be thrilled to sign that bill into law. >> the bill is going to cut taxes for american businesses, both big ones and small ones. so that they can grow higher and compete all around the world. right now they're paying 35%. and that's the highest in the industrialized world. in many cases by far. and we'll be bringing that down to a number that will be extremely impressive. >> reporter: republicans are under pressure to get this done after last night's special election in alabama in which democrat doug jones beat republican roy moore in an upset victory for alabama's senate asset. democrats today called on republicans to delay on vote on the tax bill until doug jones can take his seat. they also blasted republicans' plan to lower the top individual rate to just 37%, saying that's just a giveaway to the wealthy.

>> i'm just really flabbergasted at the idea, particularly when they promised a bill that would really help the middle class. most of what's there for the middle class is written in disappearing ink. >> reporter: some republicans were unhappy with that idea as well. senator marco rubio of florida said he feels any increased revenue from raising the proposed corporate rate should go toward paying for a bigger child tax credit. also susan collins of maine says she's no fan of lowering the rate for the rich. and several other republican senators still remain on the fence. now, lawmakers have been holding a conference committee meeting today to discuss the final version of the tax bill. they want to have some final text out by friday so they can schedule a vote early next week. for "nightly business repor" i'm ylan mui in washington. the prospect for tax reform is one of the reasons why the stock market has rallied this year. now that the bill appears to be nearing the finish line, what

does that mean for the stock market and investors? we're joined by mike holland, the chairman of holland and company. mike, it's been a while, welcome back. >> sue, great to be here. >> it's been so long, i called you mark, but you're mike. let's start with the market at this point. we do have tax reform seemingly on the way. how much more do you think the market has in it? >> well, it's a really interesting point in the market cycle, sue, because the market has been anticipating the earnings coming from the tax cuts, how they view price earnings, multiples, what you're willing to pay for earnings. if jamie dimon is right, he spoke today, if janet yellen is right, she spoke today, companies will be making more money than they otherwise would have made in addition to the current valuation concern. or applause, i should say. you end up with a situation where you get a bump and then a

further bump. jamie dimon referred to the fact that companies now can pay out more in wages, they can buy other companies, they can do lots of things, raise dividends, do stock buybacks. if those things happen, you could get the virtuous cycle of things getting better and feeding on themselves. we've seen the other side, which goes in the other direction. so you actually could get a phillip from this that lasts for a few years, that's possible. >> that sounds very good for companies and shareholders. do you think this bill, i know this isn't really what you do, but is this good for the economy? >> if you end up, tyler, with people getting higher wages, the answer, in a simplistic way of looking at it, the answer is yes. people will have more money to buy more things and the economy could end up with a higher gdp number a year from now than we have right now, because we both know, the three of us know, we've got two-thirds of the economy, three-quarters of the economy, is the consumer. if that's the case, and the

consumer feels better and has a little bit more money, actually we're going to get a pretty good test this christmas season, numbers are beginning to look pretty good, particularly online numbers. i think people feel better and may have a few more bucks to spend and the economy will benefit. >> so if you want to put money to work in this market, given how far it has moved, where are you looking for value perhaps, or something that you think has more upside, mike? >> value is -- the cliche is, in the eye of the beholder. janet yellen of all people said she thought and the fed thought stocks were not overvalued. i don't want to overstate what she said, but she said it's a high end valuation, but she said -- she basically said she and the fed were not worried about the level of where prices are today. presuming that they're reasonably valued at the high end, i think technology continues, because that is leading the charge for the global economy right now. companies like microsoft are still selling -- i'm not talking about alibaba and tencent and

chinese companies or any of the faang stocks, but a company like microsoft, which is a leader, is still -- apple, they're still trading at reasonable valuations. >> got it. mike, nice to see you again. >> sue, great to see you, tyler. >> now to the fed. the central bank raised short term interest rates as expected. it's ready to hike a few more times in the new year, maybe three more. it was janet yellen's last news conference as chair of the federal reserve. as hampton pearson reports, she started by giving an >> reporter: at its last meeting of the year, federal reserve monetary policymakers raised key short term interest rates for the th in 2017. updated forecasts see the economy growing at a 2.5% rate next year with unemployment dropping below 4%. monetary policymakers feel the economy is strong enough to possibly stand three rate hikes

next year. >> when you look at the projections, that there are many factors that affect those projections and changes in tax policy that's only one of a number of factors. >> reporter: with president trump and republican leaders on the verge of finalizing tax reform, the fed chair's last news conference was dominated by questions about the possible impact on the fed. monetary policymakers expect a modest lift to ec growth, business investment, and increased consumer spending. but they also voice concerns about estimates it could add a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next decade. >> i am personally concerned about the u.s. debt situation. it's not that the debt to gdp ratio at the moment is extraordinarily or worrisomely high. >> reporter: and lots of questions about the digital currency bitcoin, which the fed

chair characterized as a highly speculative asset. >> i really don't see any significant exposure of our core financial institutions to threats from bitcoin if its value were to fluctuate. i don't see a threat to our core financial institutions. >> reporter: this was fed chair janet yellen's last news conference. she'll preside over one more meeting early next year. between now and then, she says her goal is to provide a smooth transition to her designated successor, jerome powell. .or "nightly business repor so what is in store for the economy next year, and are there new risks that investors need to be aware of? patrick chavonick is with silver crest asset management group. good to have you with us. the economy seems by most measures to be doing quite well. the labor market is very strong. the fed says unemployment next

year may come down below 4%, 3.9 i think was their forecast. but ther tax bill that is stimulative on a hot economy. are you worried that some of the precursors of inflation or of economic overheating may be in the pipeline somewhere and that the fed will as a result start raising rates faster, perhaps triggering a recession in a year or two? >> the economy is doing very well. and the forward indicators like new orders suggest there's a lot of growth momentum coming into the new year. there is some talk now, increasingly, about the prospect for inflation. inflation remains low. it's below 2%. it's a point that janet yellen stressed today. but we're at a point in a business cycle where normally you would be looking for the signs of inflation picking up. and then when you add the stimulus from a tax cut, that

could pour more fuel on the flames. but it's important to keep it in perspective. inflation right now is low. >> what about the impact of the tax bill? they still have to work out some of the differences. but it looks like we may have a deal and a vote by next week. do you agree with the fed chief when she says it will be mildly stimulative to gdp asxand econo growth? >> so it's interesting. a year ago, when the prospect of both new spending increases and also tax cuts were raised after the election, janet yellen gave some testimony, and she said that to the extent that it's simply fiscal stimulus, pour more demand into the economy, that would not be a good thing. but to the degree that changes to the tax code or other sorts of things could actually generate productive gains, she would look on that much more positively.

an i think, you know, if we are talking about stimulus, adding demand, it's an unusual point in the business cycle where the economy reaches full capacity. we want to be careful doing that. >> as soon as she leaves office, we know she's going to load up on bitcoin, we can agree on that. [ laughter ] what do you think she will be remembered for? what do you think the final >> so it's always tricky to give a fed chair their grade just as they're leaving, because if you re greenspan left to accolades to his genius. and a few years later, it didn't look quite the same way. i think one of the big challenges going forward is this huge balance sheet with the fed that under janet yellen's wasp accumulated. all the money lying in the

banking system, not circulating, but e saw a pickup in lending, a pickup in inflation, these could be problems. the fed unwinding its balance sheet, which she's begun to do, is the task ahead, before we can say they've stuck the landing. >> thanks very much, pat. still ahead, apple is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in an american company in an effort to create an update now on the fires in southern california. the winds returned, hampering

efforts to contain the thomas fire, which has burned through more than 360 square miles in ventura and santa a counties. these fires could push the amount of insured losses this year from natural disasters to a record of more than $130 billion. insurers and reinsurers of course saw hurricanes harvey, irma, and maria, two mexican earthquakes and fires in northern california just this fall. oil prices fell for a second straight session. domestic crude settled at $56.60, the lowest level in a week. the slump in stockpiles was offset by a larger than forecast rise in gasoline inventories. prices have been up steadily over the past few months, and drivers are taking notice every time they go to fill up. jackie deangelis >> reporter: gas prices are the gift that won't be giving to consumers this year. the national for a gallon of regular is $2.45 according to aaa, that's 23

cents higher than a year ago. while prices could drop a little over the next few weeks from 5 to 20 cents, aaa still thinks they'll be higher than the past few years. why are pump prices bucking the seasonal trend? crude prices are closer to 60. this time last year they were closer to 50. evidence of a little stronger demand. we also have two major hurricanes, making september prices the peak for the year when they should have been falling at that time. add to that continued growth in gasoline exports, and you have the perfect mix for elevated gas prices. >> when you see increased export numbers, i think it's indicative of a global recovery that we suspect has happened. i think that's supportive of gas prices. we've seen increased export numbers. we've seen pipeline problems. we've even seen the saudis try to jawbone the price of gas and oil up, and it hasn't really worked over the last few days. to me that means an oil, the 60

level is very important, and i don't think we'll get over it that easily. >> reporter: early next year gas prices may fall a bit. perhaps the national average of 225 to 235 by february. longer term, it will all depend crude prices. supply and demand in the states and overseas. and how opec members decide to play their guard. for "nightly business repor i'm jackie deangelis. >> aaa also says premium gas may in some cases not be worth the money. the organization tca where manufacturers recommended but did not require premium gasoline. they found the fuel economy did improve by about 3%. but premium fuel costs about 25% more than regular. apple makes a big investment in a chip maker. that's where we begin tonight's market focus. apple awarded the chip maker nearly $400 million from its advanced manufacturing fund. the chip maker makes the laser chips used in the iphone x. the purpose of the fund is to

support manufacturing processes in >> we're thinking about where are the opportunities across the u.s. to help nurture companies that are making advanced technology with that, that quite frankly is essentially to our innovation. and so we want to nurture those companies. often those operations are very capital intensive. we want to help them. >> the company's stocks surged 23% to $23.70. apple up about 60 cents to $172.27. worldwide sales of caterpillar machines for the three months ending in november were up 26%. biggest push coming from sales in latin america and asia. shares of cat rose more than 3.5% to $148.57, making at it top performing dow stock today. and honeywell forecast higher profit next year and says that a tax bill could lead it to invest more cash in this

country. and that could include acquisitions. the industrial company says new products will help drive its growth. shares of honeywell up $2 to $155.80. eli lilly is lifting its earning and revenue forecasts for the next year. the company said that outlook is due in part to strong demand for its recently launched diabetes drug and its psoriasis drug. lily is also optimistic about its experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug. shares rose to $87.89. delta is set to place a huge order with airbus. according to reports, the airline could place orders for 100 jet liners. that deal would be a blow to airbus rival boeing. shares of delta rose slightly to $53.63. boeing shares blew off that report. that dow component rose to $291.84. the holiday shopping season is not shaping up to be a very good one for pier 1. the furniture and decorations

retailer says sa softened at the start of september after a relatively strong black friday. the company says it's using discounts to get customers into the stores. shares of pier one were very volatile today, she dropped sharply in extended after hours trading but finished the regular session up 6%, about, to $5.84. it looks like t-mobile plans to launch a pay tv service. t-mobile is acquiring layer 3 tv, a company that integrates tv streaming and social networking and uses your internet connection to deliver tv channels. no specifics were announced. shares of t-mobile rose on the news. the yet to be announced service will compete against traditional providers, which fell in trading today. comcast, one of those providers, is the parent company of cnbc which produces this program. meantime, at&t has started testing high speed internet delivered over power lines.

the second largest u.s. wireless carrier said the trial marks its latest push to offer faster broadband service. the testing is taking place in rural georgia. but the company said it could eventually be deployed in cities and suburbs. and a deal between disney and 21st century fox could be announced as soon as tomorrow. according to cnbc, the acquisition of some of fox's assets will be valued at about $60 billion. disney became the sole suitor after comcast dropped out of the bidding earlier this week. an announcement tomorrow on the management of the new company is not expected. and coming up, retail battleground. did target hit the bullseye when it ces

here's a look at what to watch tomorrow. the fcc is scheduled to vote on changing the rules that govern the internet. as we reported, disney is widely expected to announce i say purchase of certain fox assets. it's also one of the busiest package delivery days for fedex. that's what to watch for on thursday. the labor department is giving the public more time to comment on its proposed tipping rule. under the proposal, restaurants could require waiters and bartenders to split their tips with co-workers. even with managers. the move would reverse a rule enacted during the obama administration which declared tips the property of the workers who collected them. the rule could impact thousands if not millions of employees, and billions of dollars in tips. a major american mall owner

is being acquired by a european shopping center company. westfield is selling its 35 malls to a french company for nearly $16 billion. included in the deal is the mall at the world trade center. one analyst said this deal could trigger others in the sector as developers look to consolidate and better compete in a changing retail industry. amazon will expand its same day delivery and one day shipping to thousands more cities across the country. the services will now be available in about 8,000 municipalities, up from 5,000. the move could give amazon an advantage over other online retailers as last minute shoppers look to get their packages delivered before christmas. it's not just amazon that's focusing on faster delivery. target today said it's buying online delivery company shipped, a move that will enable customers to have groceries brought to their door soon after they place their order. that helped lift shares of target and ramped up the competition of speedy deliveries

>> reporter: as amazon delivery gets faster, traditional store-based retailers have to up their delivery game. today, target joined a growing list of retailers offering same day delivery options for time-pressed shoppers. but there are key differences between amazon and the rest of retail when it comes to how it works. amazon ships from its network of heavily automated distribution centers and uses more traditional couriers for delivery like ups and the postal service. for store-based retailers, the best way to deliver to shoppers same day is to fulfill the order from a local store. but that introduces some problems. first, retailers need inventory systems tracking what's available minute to minute on store shelves. so shoppers aren't disappointed if someone else buys it in the store. plus same day delivery is expensive. >> every time that you touch an individual item and move an individual item, you are adding

cost into the overall supply chain of that item. >> reporter: retai are increasingly partnering with start jump logistics company to make that last mile less expensive and faster. still, retailers aren't able to offer same day delivery completely for free. target will now be using shipped personal shoppers to deliver consumers' orders for same day delivery. but you have to pay $99 per year shipped membership for the unlimited service. best buy uses startup geodisk to deliver same day orders. macy's charges eight bucks foro thresholds, otherwise it's $18.95. amazon two-hour prime delivery isn't free either, it's only available with a prime membership. but amazon offers other services with that membership like streaming video and music. >> amazon has done a good job of

masking it and making it feel like it's not a cost where is it's a visible cost with the other retailers. >> reporter: walmart doesn't currently offer same day delivery, but does offer same day store pickup. target's deal to buy shipped outright does take the same day delivery wars a step further but with an estimated 40 cents of every order online going through amazon, it will take a lot more than buying a delivery startup to catch up. for "nightly bus and we end tonight with a tribute to one of the fathers of american business journalism. marsh loeb died after a long fight parkinson's. he was a writer and an editor, a columnist at "time." he went to struggling "money" magazine and made it a money machine, and did the same at "fortune." he interviewed presidents and ceos, edit the "columbia

journalism review" and popularized business and economics coverage on tv and radio. in 1982, he hired a green kid from virginia to write for him at "money." i owe my career to him. loeb was 88. >> and he was a very nice man. >> nice fellow. that does it for us t. i'm sue herera. thanks for joini us. >> i'm tyler mathisen. have a.

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