this is "nightl. the clock is ticking. the house passes a spending bill to avert a government shutdown. but it's not a done deal yet. and the deadline is tomorrow. heightened tensions. a rare look inside the canadian company that finds itself at the center of a brewing trade war with the u.s. too old? why facebook is raising eyebrows when it comes to job ads and age. those stories and more tonight on "nightly business r for this thursday, december the 21st. good evening, everyone, and welcome. i'm bill griffeth in for tyler mathisen. >> nice to have you here. welcome, everybody, i'm sue herera. the race is on to get a spending bill through congress before

tomorrow at midnight in order to avert a government shutdown just ahead of the holidays. the house took a first step by passing its spending bill. but there's still more that has to get done. kayla tausche is following the story for us from washington. kayla, what happens now? >> reporter: now the senate needs to pass the bill, sue. they're considering it as we speak. we'll let you know when that vote comes in. republican rand paul has voiced opposition over one of the t it's unlikely that that will sway enough lawmakers to vote against it. it's expected to pass. >> one of the sticking points left, what are they fighting about? >> repor senator paul is really not a fan of one of the provisions that lifts spending caps in order to provide the funding for the deal. he thinks the country should be more fiscally responsible. this bill, because it's streamlined, it doesn't contain many of the add-on goodies you normally see to win lawmakers over. in fact leadership wasn't able

to offer democrats anything except the ability to avert a shutdown. most of their policy priorities were punted to january. >> and what does that mean in january, when that short term bill expires? >> reporter: this sets up another showdown on january 19th. lawmakers hope to have longer term deals worked out by then. but the white house also wants to do entitlement reform, immigration, health care, and get a massive infrastructure pack under way. it's proving to be a daunting to-do list. and it's still a few weeks away. >> what happens if the senate doesn't pass this bill tonight? the house has already adjourned and i happen to know that some of the members of the house are leaving washington right now. >> reporter: yes, they are not only leaving washington, they are done for the year. so they say. that is why the expectation is that the senate is going to pass this. you would imagine that leaders from both chambers would have had conversations about the most likely outcomes and that they wouldn't have let the house go out if there were a chance that

the senate wouldn't pass this. if the senate chose to send something back to the house, then they would have to consider it, and make any changes and repass that again. >> keep us posted, kayla. thanks so much, kayla tausc elsewhere today, dow component nike reported better than expected earnings. it was a crucial quarter for the company, which has been facing heightened competition from tha. the good news is revenue rose by 5% on stronger sales growth in key markets. reaction was mixed and the stock was volatile in initial late-day trading. eric chemi breaks down nike's fourth quarter tonight. >> reporter: despite the fact that nike beat estimates, what analyses will look for is the north americ business, which is down 5%. people were expecting it to be down 1 to 3%. 5% is a lot worse than people

were expecting. that will be the key. is there too much supply in that business? are price being discounted too much? the company is still targeting a $50 billion revenue target five years from now. they're at about $36 billion right now. they've got a long way to go. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few quarters. can they stay on track for that $50 billion number? the big takeaway, that down 5% number in their north american business. for "nightly business r" i'm eric chemi. the american economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in the third quarter. the final reading of gross domestic product came in at 3.2% annual rate. slightly lower than the last reading. an increase in business spending offset a slight decline in consumer pending. the report marks the first time since 2014 that the economy experienced growt of 3% or more for two a former top economic adviser to president george w. bush is reportedly being considered for the job of vice chair at the federal reserve.

it's larry lindsey. he also served as a governor of the central bank from 1991 to '97. as first reported by cnbc, mr. lindsey has expressed interest in that position. the vice chair seat was vacated in october by stanley fisher for personal reasons. on wall street, stocks traded higher after a growing list of companies said they would spend their tax savings on higher wages and investment. that helped lift the mood of the market and bank and energy shares helped lift the major averages. the dow jones industria added 55 points to 24,782. the nasdaq was up four. and the s&p 500 rose five. while no one really knows what the impax will on stocks, som whether it might spark a rush into the market. mike santoli takes a look. >> reporter: the backers of the corporate tax cut bill about to become law are promising a boost to u.s. economic growth in part by encouraging companies to engage in a bit of rational recklessness.

that's not a phrase republicans in congress are using. but the idea of slashing tax rates and allowing companies to deduct the cost of new equipment right away creates strong incentives for companies to ramp up investments in their business, more than eight years into an economic expansion, when otherwise we might be bracing for an eventually slowdown. more money is no doubt a net positive for corporate growth and profits. still, encouraging heavy new rounds of spending by companies that have not found new projects is a bit of a novel experience. some economists are saying the tax cuts, coming with unemployment already low, could be a recipe for inflation and higher interest rates which could offset some of the antid boost to growth and corporate profits. and it remains unclear how muc tax cut will be used toward future investment, how much will show as profit, and how much will be handed back to investors as stock buybacks and dividends. stock investors could be counting the same windfall cash that workers have been promised

and vice-versa. fo believers in the tax package, the goal is to let the economy run a good deal hotter by getting ceo's to set aside their caution and do more building and hiring in the u.s. whether this is called rational recklessness or the more familiar animal spirits, it's an economic mode we've scarcely seen in nearly two decades. for "nightly business r i'm mike santoli. and as mike just said, it remains unclear how much of the corporate tax cut will be handed back to investors in the form of dividends. but some are betting that dividends will continu to go up. and investors of course need to be ready. eric ones joins us tonight to talk about this. already we've heard from -- there have b a number of share buybacks announced in the month of december, leading up to the tax bill being passed. do you expect that to continue? and the dividend increases as well. >> so, bill, great question. one of the this i do want to touch on is the rest of america,

the majority of america will benefit from this tax cut. some of the states, california, new jersey, new york, obviously will be a little strai when you look at buying a cottage for $750,000 and having a $10,000 property tax cap, and not being able to write off your state income tax. but by and large, as a whole, we feel like there's room to run and for basically companies to get money back to shareholders is indeed -- if indeed that does come true that companies bring money back from overseas, paying that out to shareholders and continuing that dividend increase seems like a logical progression. >> any sectors you think might excel at increasing those dividends? >> great question, sue. if you look at large growth in the technology companies, they've soared this year. and the bar just keeps getting set higher and higher. we look at the s&p paying a dividend of around sub-2% and high dividend basket of stocks baying over 3%, if we see it creep up to 4%, that could be a good thing. your question on inflation is well put. if inflation takes off will that

adversely affect some dividend-paying stocks? the answer is probably. but that basket, remember, is full of financials. >> today was an interesting microcosm. as we were talking about the passage bill, on wall street today, energy stocks and financial stocks were the leading groups. utilities and real estate, very sensitive, were the big laggars. going into 2018, do you think that's how the market will play out? is that where you would put money to work right now, in those leading groups? >> it seems like we're seeing a bit of a reversion to sectors that haven't really taken off as much, for example those sectors half as much as the market overall. we see a rotation potentially, if the large growth names and technology names do not continue to grow exponentially, we may see some drift back into these names. the big caution is if we do have inflation and we certainly don't want to see another 1994, we had huge interest rates, six of them

in a short amount of te and it did have an adverse effect on the market. so slow and steady on the interest rate increase would be a sign for these stocks to do well. >> what else is on your radar as something that might possibly hold back the continued rally in stocks or even derail it? >> it's pretty simple. geopolitical. rit now, not knowing what's going to happen in north korea, in the middle east. we don't k exact what could creep up. remember, we haven't seen a pullback of any magnitude since january of 2016. i'm not saying we don't have a continued upward slope. but we may take a small breather on that stair step upwards. >> traditional dividend-paying sectors, i often think when i'm i know many of our iness viewers are still in utility stocks. utility stocks have performed well until the last eight years or so. in fact the dow utilities hit an all-time high last month. but they've be lately.

as i mentioned, they're among the laggards today. would you be putting money still to work in the good old fashioned dividend paying utility stocks? >> just because of the interest rate sensitivity, i'm a little more cautious. i like financials a lot more, financial, consume staples, names that will pay good dividends, even some of the mobile carriers that will continue to have subscribers, whether the iphone x sells or not. we want to make sure that we're looking at names that are going to be somewhat safe, secure, and have a growing dividend. >> eric hones with titus wealth management in san francisco, thanks for joius. >> thanks. we all know about the concerns some residents of those high tax states are having following the passage of the tax bill. many, as we've mentioned, will lose a lot of key deductions. now it appears some of those states may be starting to think more creatively. robert frank explains. >> reporter: rather th cutting taxes, governors and legislators of high tax states are focused

on a different response to the new tax bill. avoiding it. governors of california, new york, and new jersey have deployed armies of tax experts and lawyers to find ways of preserving part or all of the deductions that residents get for their state and local taxes. the republican tax bill would eliminate deduction for state and local taxes over $10,000. there are two main ideas taking shape. the first is aimed at income taxes. states could replace the income tax with a payroll tax where they tax companies the equivalent of the income tax for each worker. the companies then can deduct their payroll taxes so they would pay it out, then take the refund and pass that on to the employee at the end of the tax season. this a long shot. companies have to agree, you ha issues with the progressive tax rates in every state, and it could run afoul of longer term employment contracts. now, the second idea, it relates to property taxes. new jersey and california both their public school ility of systems into 501(c)(3)

charitable organizations. taxpayers could then deduct the taxes that go to the schools. so new jersey, about half of your property taxes would go to the school system. you could then deduct that as a charitable gift. 18 states already do something similar where they offer tax credits to scholarship granting organizations, i.e. private and religious schools. if all else fails, the states are also considering suing the federal governmen to end the policy, saying that taking away the s.a.l.t. deductions is unconstitution. for "nightly bpo and still ahead, a u.s./canadian trade spat. >> reporter: these planes are at the heart of a trade war between the u.s. and canada. and the person who runs this company calls it ridiculous. i'm phil lebeau outside of montreal, canada, with the story of the bombardier c series, gh

boeing and brazilian aircraft maker are in merger talks. the two companies confirmed they are engaged in discussions but there's no guarantee a deal will get done. such a get-together would strengthen boeing's position in the regional jet market at a time when rival airbus is trying to do the same. but any tie-up would be subject to approval by the brazilian government. boeing also finds itself at the center of a brewing trade war between the u.s. and canada. united states wan to slap a nearly 300% tax on canadian rival bombardier's commer befor

to delta and other american airlines. bombardier says the allegations it's facing are ridiculous. phil lebeau ise bombardier as. >> reporter: as deliveries of bombardier's new c series plane take off, there's a push in the u.s. to slap a heavy tax on the plane. boeing says the price of the c series is so low it's being dumped in the u.s. and could hurt boeing. an accusation bombardier's ceo >> we're doing exactly what everybody in the industry do, which means that when you launch a new program, you have aggressive p s with. boeing does the same thing. they did the same thing on the 787. that's no different than what we did at delta. >> reporter: the c series has a list price of $80 million. boeing claims it's being sold to

delta at just $19 million. so low, it helped bombardier land a key u.s. customer. boei >> we have to have fair competition. love competition. competition makes us better. i'm glad to compete any day and i'm very confident that when we play on a level playing field, we're going to win. but it's important that everybody plays by the same rules. >> reporter: is bombardier breaking the rules with its new plane? anal say the company is simply doing what every other plane maker does. >> did the subsidies exist? absolutely. boeing certainly h point. the commerce department has a point. this wouldn't exist if it weren't for an almost unprecedented level of public expenditure. bu having said that, it's very difficult to see how boeing was harmed by it. >> reporter: bombardier says the real harm in taxing the c series could be limiting the $30 billion of economic impact the plane would have in the u.s., because so many of the plane's

components and parts come from suppliers in the u.s. while bombardier is planning to also build the c series at a new plant in alabama, it is not backing down in its fight with boei. the final decision on whether these planes would be taxed by the u.s. should come by early february. if the proposed tariffs stick, it would further hamper an increasingly tense trade relationship with companies here north of the border. phil lebeau, "nightly business . tonight's market focus, an athletic shoe retailer beat expectations despi a lot of discounts on footwear. the company saw same-store sales rise. shares jumped nearly 13% to $13.20. sales of used cars slowed, hurting the bottom line of carmax. earnings came in below

expectations as foot traffic was down. the company did benefit from a rise in the average sale price of its used cars. shares slipped more than 3% to $66 even. electric utility pg&e is suspending its dividend because of the potential legal liability the california wildfires. while no cause for the fires has been determined yet, the company said it could be liable for property damages in its equipment is found to have played a role. shares got pummeled. food maker conagra doubled its profit in the latest quarter and said the hurricanes actually caused customers to fill up their shopping carts more. the results topped expectations as a result. and the company is also forecasting organic net sales and earnings for 2018 to be at the high end of its earlier guidance. conagra shares fell fractionally to $37.85 today. biogen said one of its drugs

to treat alzheimer's failed to meet one of its main goals during a study. the company plans to finish the trial to gather additional data. investors sent shares of biogen down 3% to $322.52. metal and glass maker apogee enterprises says it's seeing solid performance in the majorif its segments of the business. the company's results, however, did not impress invests. sales and profits climbed higher but failed to beat estimates. shares fell 16% to $42.32. some iphone owners had suspicions that apple was slowing the operation of older phones. now apple is pretty much confirming it. but the company says it is doing so on purpose as a way to help older batteries perform better after a new version of ios is downloaded. >> sure they are. a new report on facebook is raising concerns about age discrimination rel job ads that appear on its site. but as our julia boorstin

repo now, the company is refuting those claims. >> reporter: pro publica reported that dozens of companies use facebook to exclude older workers from job ads, saying that verizon, amazon, goldman sachs, and facebook itself are among the employers that place recruitment ads limited to particular age groups, questioning whether this ad targeting violates the federal age discrimination in employment act which bans bias against people age 40 and older in hiring. a class action complaint alleging age discrimination was filed in san francisco federal court yesterday. fa with a post from its vp of ads titled, "this time, pro publica, we disagree. we may use pictures of women or older people depending on the context. these individual aids are part of broader based recruitment efforts designed to reach all ages and all backgrounds. allegation that these advertisemen are discriminatory what facebook is doing with

these job ads is exactly what they do in product ads and other types of ads, which is, you know, really segment the audience effectively and doing so in realtime. >> reporter: facebook shows different job ads to different age groups and compares it with ads in magazines or tv shows that target older or younger viewers or readers. targeting facebook's 1.4 billion active users has helped drive the social giant's stock up 50% over the past year. this past february, facebook expanded into jobs, introducing the ability for companies to post jobs and applications. facebook knows that pro publica has uncovered a number of problems, including racist targeting terms and estimator to housing acts, for which facebook has apologized and made changes. >> this is part of the larger story which is that facebook, google, a few other companies in sun valley, have created the most powerful media and communicatio plat norms in

world history. they are now being forced to take responsibil for that. and all of the different ramifications. >> while facebook has taken responsibility for problems in the past, this time facebook waivering, saying it helps educate advertisers about legal requirements and is committed to transparency for its users. i'm julia boorstin in san francisco for "nightly business coming up, while some small business owners don't fear here's a look at what to watch for tomorrow. the economic calendar is jam-packed ahead of the christmas holiday.

first there's the release of new home sales. then we'll find out how many big ticket durable goods were ordered last month, followed by a report on consumer sentiment which has been rising as of late. that's what to watch for on friday. meantime, enrollment for health plans turned out under the affordable care a to be very strong, despite the shortened sign-up window. officials today said nearly 9 million customers selected a plan by the deadline. and that was more than expected. enrollment overall, however, was down by about 400,000 compared to a year ago. walmart wants to lure luxury shoppers. the world's largest retailer, known for its discount prices, is reportedly developing a personal shopping service. according to recode, couriers o shoppers' household products doorsteps. the goal is to attract urban consumers. >> it may be tough for small businesses to compete with amazon, especiall thi time of year. but when they team up, it can sometimes be a win for both

parties. kate rogers reports fo >> reporter: amazon says more than half of the items it sells online are from small businesses like jr william, which ships its luxury goods out of this new jersey warehouse to be fulfilled by amazon. fulfillment by amazon lets small businesses offer prime two-day shipping by preshipping their products to fulfillment centers and letting them handle packaging, shipping, and customer service. amazon says 2 billion items were sold that way last year, and that number is expected to grow. one of those sellers is the owner of jr williams, who says the exposure and time saved make pairing with the web giant a worthy business move. >> the positive attributes of using amazon cannot be underestimated there are some incredible aspects, not having to deal with day to day shipments, not having to deal with specific issues

with fulfillment and picking and packing. these are things a small business owner like myself, it takes us all day. >> reporter: it also costs small businesses a degree of control. he has little contact with his customers and he faces lower rankings with amazon if he opts to fulfill on his own. >> if you're listing as fulfilled by merchant, your chances of becoming a hot seller are little to none. >> reporter: amazon can take a big cut. but the ow victorystore.c say it could be up to 30%, but the payoff is exposure and winning new customers. >> people trust it. they know that amazon's going to take care of them. and so they use prime all the time now. >> reporter: what do small business owners think of amazon? cnbc and surveymonkey polled them. one-third said amazon is good for business. half say amazon is bad for

business. less than 10% say they actually compete with the web giant for customers. i'm kate rogers in newark, new jersey. finishe with your shopping? >> mostly. i haven't seen started the wrapping, though. >> me either. >> that makes me feel so much better. >> i'm rushing home to wrap tonight. >> i'll be thinking of you, i'll be doing the same thing. i'm sue herera. thanks for joi us. >> i'm bill griffeth. wrap well. we'll see you tomorrow. >>

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