usiness report" with mathisen and sue herera. time to break up? you united technologies considers dividing the big conglomerate iero sma parts, and the stock price rises. major challenges. silicon valley's biggest internet company scrambledev to t the spread of miss information and keep their platforms from being manipulated. and hitting the road. the newt top-rated auto brand is one you may never have heard of. tonight ries and more on "nightly business report" for thursday, february 22nd. good evening, everyone, and welcome. sue herera has this evening off. who said breaking up is hard to do first general electric raised the idea of splitting it self into smaller parts.

and now united technologies is apparently considering it. the manufactured a three-way split is possible, a thought to beonce very unlikely. investors cheered the ideall init sending shares of ut up more than 3%, making it the best performing stock on blue chip dowin decks today. morgan brennan takes look at what could be next for united tech. >> reporter: all it the urge to demerge. just a month after general electric said it's considering a potential breakup of its core businesses, another industrial heavyweight, united technologies, saying it, too, is reviewing options. >> the real question is do you get a significant multiple expansion by having separate companies versus the congmerate or the fou businesses of utc? tough, tough questions. would tell you that we are looking at all of those possibilities as well as even within the portfolio that we have today, does everything fit? >> united tech operates in three main industries, aerospace,

elevators, and h vac systems via carrier. the company, which is in the midst of a $30 billion purchase of airplane parts maker rockwell collins, plans to finish its view by year's end. united tech joins a growing list, one that doesn't just include ge. >> this is a trend we saw starting about three years ago. whether you want to call it the urge todemerge, portfolio rationalization, addition by subtraction, all of these multiindustry companies are doing this focus on am stning. and this is a natural we think of united technologies jumping on the band wagon. >> reporter: they want to stand along pure play interests rather than multiconglomerates. analysts f called others like johnson controls, eaton, and

ingersoll-rand to also consider their options. it's a trend likely to continue. >> tax reform has we think lit a fire towardhis trend towar rationalization portfolio separations. one of the key changes that happened is because the tax rate has been lowered, there is a drive for companies who might consider to be selling assets -w it's easier to do because the taxn bur of the -- on the capital gain is much lower. we thi that shakes out a lot of assets. >> rbc says so far in 2018 there is already 20% more merger a acquisition activity than the first two months of last year. for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. >> you united technologies did help lift the dow today as we suggestedearlier. it snapped a two day losing streak. the be chip, dow closed well off of its kay high there we lingering concerns about rising interest rates.

the dow up164 to 22962. the nasq down eight, closing for four straight days, the longest losing streak since late 206. the s&p 500 added a modest two. ankersors and central are watching the bond market and the rise in treasury yields. today a federal reserve official saido fficials need careful not to increase rates too quickly this year because thatould slow theeconomy. the president of the st. louis fed says the fed needs to follo the economy, which is still showing little inflation. inflation t core pc at 175%. market base core is at 1.2% year year. so you know, we've got a ways to go on this inflation story. inflation has been below target for long time here. i don't think we have to be in any hurry. >> meantime, wall street expects the to raise interest rates

at next month's meeting. the job market is heating up. a number of americansin f for unemployment benefits fell to a near 45-year low lastweek. jabless claims dropped 7,000 to 222,000 pointing to continued momentum in the labor rket. many consider the job market to be near full employment rig no that could push up wage growth which would help lift inflation toward the fed's meantime, the head of the world's largest hedge fund doesn't think he america economy will continue to roar. bridgewater says there is a 70% chance of a recession by 2020, prior to the next presidential election. s hes the trump administration's massive tax cuts and spending at a time wthn economy is strengthening could backfire. so are there signs that a recession i in sight? joining us, jason ware from

aflion financial group. jason, welcome. tyler.nks for being me, >> do you see any signs right now, any tell tales that a recession is on the horizon somewhere, or way over the horizon? >> you know, with all due respect tr. dahlio, who is a much followed voice in the market, 70% odds of a recession are a bit high given the preponderance ofmi eco evidence we are seeing. we have had a long and protracted economic growing with little excess. typically it's the excess that results in the fed of having to overtighten, and then we get an economic downturn fromthere. we are not seeing that in the evidence. what we are seeing is a pretty wellalanced economy. we are seeing a little over 2% economic growth in g terms. as you mentioned, the labor market is doing quite well. probably getting close to full

employment, but not quite there. again, a balanced and protracted economic expansion with little excess. >> implicit in what mr. ballia was taying was fear that big tax cuts plus a big juice of >> right. >> coupled with the fact that consumer dent is quite high, wages may be raising, may turn the economy a little hotter. that could current the fed a little more aggressive about raising interest rates. and it's quite often a monetary misstep like that that can tip the economy into trouble. do you see where he's coming from at least, even if you don't happen to agree with him? >> certainly. and i think the way you characterized his view is spot . i think there is a lot to unpack there. looking at consumer credit, for example, we ha seen growth in this cycle in consumer credit. but when you adjust that for inflation and population growth, you kn we had higher consumer credit levels and debt levels in 2009 than we do today. american balance sheets,et

household worth is at record highs. again, we are in a tight labor market, wages are rising. the ability to is that debt is not something we are terribly concerned about. but looking at other areas of the economy that perhaps are high quality economic indicators when looking l forward,e leading economic indicators, the treasury yield curve, in order for him to betorrect t we are going to be seeing a recession by 20d. we n to see things like you mentioned the jobless claims. we are going to need to see those starting to turn up in the next six to 12months. typically they lead economic recessions by at least aar we don't see that happening in the data. >> we will be watching along with you. jason, thank you. >> thank you. >> jason wear with aflion financial group. >> still ahead, a new twist on rental income that can help you refinance your mortgage.

the first national bank of omaha will not renew a contract ional rifle association to issue its nra branded visa credit cath. bank was one of many companies used by the nra to promotets membership through discounts and bonus deals. the first national bank of oha cited customer feedback as the reason for its >>decision. meantime, black rock plans to speak with weapons manufacturers and distributors to get their response to last week's mass school shooting in florida. the world's largest aset manager

with about $6 trillion in investments says it cannot sell shares of aompany in an index even if it disagrees with management or the products the company produces. instead, it iscu d, says black rock, on engaging with companies and understanding their responses to society's expectations of them. black rock now working with excludewho want to weapons manufacturers from their holdings pension funds managed for public school teachers in at least a doztas, including florida, new york, and california, own stock in g manufacturers. the holdings include a stake in americ outdoor brands. the company previously known as smith awe on. it makes the semiautomatic ar-15. according to blooerg, the financial stakes held by teacher funds in gun companies make just a sliver of state retirement systems' assets. the florida education associatio has urged its fund

managers to sell those holdings. russian bots, conspiracy theories, hate speech -- silicon valley companies like you tube, twitter, and facebook, google as well have been facing content challenges. the issue is front and center again in the wake of last week's shooting in parkland, florida. >> reporter: conspiracy theories surfacing across you tube, twitter, and facebook, drawing uidespread criticism. >> when you this media distribution platforms that are this powerful, you have aty responsibili to use them responsibly. otherwise you are helping forces in the world that they don't want to be associated with. >> y tube feature d a video pulled a video down saying quote this video should never have appeared in trending. because it contained footage from an authoritative news

source our system misclassified it. it was enabled to slip through safeguards. it's not just you tube. twitter drawing criticism after a conspiracy theory started to circulate on twitterut a the student survivors who have become activists. they started to profile accounts of the parkland students the company sayingt's taking steps to stop hoaxes and harassment. we are using your anti-spam and anti-abuse tools around these individuals. twitter doesn't ban conspiracy theories or hoaxes or block accounts spreading them if they violate other rules such as anti-harassment rules. ay facebookg quote, images that attack the victims of last week's tragedy in

florida are ab hornet. we are removing this content from facebook. >> the response from yesterday is importantno to . and so i believe over the next 12 to 18 months we will start oo see som this. and if not, you know, the government is going to step in, adves are going to pull out. and potentially competitors could come in and disrupt. i think the spotlight is shriningbrightly. >> timing wouldn't be worse for these companies as they deal with the fallout fromheir role in the russia attempts to manipulate the 2016 election. julia boorstin from los angeles. the school shooting ina flor last week resurfaced controversial discussion asks conversations in americ one of them is the power that industries and their lobbyists have over the tion's political process. joining us to talk about that and more is bill george, former met reason toics ceo and now a senior fellow at harvard's business school. bill, always good to see u. don't know whether you happened to see the cnn town hall last night. but at one point during the

discussion one of the questioners asked one of the , senato i believe it was mr. rubio this basic if the nra has such power over hee political process in united states, three being an arm of an industry, the gun ,nufacturing indust is democracy broken? and i suppose you could ask a similar questionhe about pharmaceutical business, which has tremendous power over drug policy in this country and drug pricing in this country. or you c ald a similar question about the. >> abouting business and its power over regulators and congress talk me through thi e. do companies and their lobbying arms control our democracy to too great a degree today? >> well, i certainly think they do in the case of the school shootings. the has enormous power, tyler. and it's very discouraging to me when ove 0% of the american public is urgingesictions on assault weapons and yet you see that

congress seems hamstrung to act. i'm not optimistic they will. d frankly, i'm urging ceos to get out there and organize in their local communities their mayors, their city councils, get the state legislatures and governorsinvolved, and take action locally. i'm much more optimistic of that. after all, these are our children. these are our employees ami their es. and these are our communities. and the obligation we allave as ceos to protect our local communities and to make oure th students are safe. i do feel like this time it's different. we are at a tipping point perhaps in the thinking of the american public. but i think we are going to get more action locally to make schools safe and to take action locallynd to restrict what can be done in terms of the kinds of guns coming in school. i think it's horrible. >> let me come back to my earlier thesis if i might just a little bit. >> okay. >> and that is the idea that i think a lot of voters,

individuals, feel as though the system works for large corporate interests, but doesn't work for the general population, and that because there is so much corporate money or pac money flowing in to the pockets, the coffers, the campaign committees of many people who run for the house or senate or state legislation that people have lost control of their goveratent he expense of corporate interests. >> there is truth in that. it isn't just corporatere ins, tyler. individual wealthy donors are giving hundreds o millions of dollars or more to political campaigns because we took those restns off. yes, i think it's having too much influence. and i do think our congressmen and women and senators need to be listening to the people. i'm delighted to see the students stepping up and

lobbying. i think the parents have to go with them to do th's. th the wrong pull. we have come a long way to give too much power to monied interests. i think we have got to change that as a country and get back to a democracy and stop listening to all of our lobbyists. there is no much lobbying in our country. nowhate is it g than in the nra. >> enjoyed your conversation, i appreciate itu, >> thank yo tyler. >> bill george with harvard business school. chessea energy reports an energized quart quarter. the natur gas producer benefitted from higher commodity price asks cost cuts. the company expects production to keep rising this year. that's what invesrs wanted to hear. the stock climbed 21% to $3.21. home goods retailer wayfair reported a wider than expected quarterly loss and lower gross margins. they posted a decline in free

cash flow as it burns through cash tryin to increase user growth. off 22% on the day to $73.95. >> brook dale senior living rejected a buyout offer. it said it received a $9 a share value from an undisclosed company. brook dale also appointed a new ceo. trouble was, the stock fell, 19%, to $7.18. not a very nice welcome for the new ceo. after the bell, hewlett packard enterprise reportedha earnings easily topped analysts expectations and issued an upbeat outlook. the company said its bottom line helped by higher sales of storage products also launching a $5 billion share repurchase program. shares rose in the after hour trades and ended the regular day up 1% at $16.41. airbnb wants to shared accommodations. the company is launching a new service that will more directly

compete with big chain hotels and online travel companies. airbnb will make it easier for hotels to list on a its site is using four new rental categories. it will vet higher enlistings and plans to launch a loyalty program later this year. airbnb may also affect the mortgage market in a strange kind of twist. it could be t start of something very lucrative for homeowners. diana olick has our shoer. >> reporter: do you represent your pmary home on airbnb? now you can use that income to help refinance int a cheap mortgage. >> home sharing or renting a room in your own home through a service like airbnb is a growing end from. we are seeing consumers coming to the table qualifying for a mortgage using that kind of income. we want them to be able to refinance and lower their housing costs. >> reporter: fannie mae is pa qnering withcken loans,

better mortgage, and citizen's bank allowing borrowers to use income verifie by airbnb as a way to increase their income. sparethey have got a bedroom they now sometimes want to rent it out, to enterta a host, generate some additional income. and now finally the mortgage industry has caught up. >> reporter: he says the program cannot only help borrowers lower their monthly payments oca take out of their homes but could actually help increase home ownership. >> by creating a delegatal onboarding ramp foreo thesee to be able to access home finance backed by fannie mae and the government's enterprises programs for affordable home ownership what we think we can do is empower more consumers to be able to access home ownership and to be able to do so at ler price point. >> reporter: home sharing is graeing exponentially butt's not without risk.

some communities are fighting airbnb. with so many people n doing it the competition for renters is rising. rental rates today may not be the same as a year from today. and borrowers may nothe have same funds to make their monthly mortgage yments. >> they have potential risks in the future. we don't see it as different from any type of job or commission that you would have. >> reporter: he is already tseing strong demand from borrowers and exp to add more lenders as ll. for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. >> you can read more about diana's sto and the housing market in general on our website nbr.com. oming up, a car is the new top auto pick. but it is probably not the brand you might think.

walmart plans to launch home goods websits the n comes just days after walmart reported a slowdown in on line sales. now the site would go up directly against rival target. separately, together's ceo said today the future of retail isn't only about on line sales. it's also about great stores. we are really combining a number of different services to really make target theie e place in america to shop. so ship is the latest investment we've made. and we are seeing a great response as we roll that into new markets. and we will combine that wh order on line, pick up in store. obviously, two day delivery. the ability to come in and pick up that order. anyay you want to shop our

stores, including shopping in one of our 1800 stores,e want to make that a great experience for the target shopper. >> shares of target and walmart both higher in today's trade. ford motor has replaced its north american president with a 29 year veteran of the company. ther was forced out over allegations of inappropriate behavior. the new president of ford north america was most recently the head of the lincoln brand. meantime, takata agreed to settle an investigation by 44 state attorneysra ge it claims it concealed a defect in its air bag inflaters. thegreementist includes a payment of $650 million linked to at least 22 deaths. because the company is in bankruptcy, the states have agreed not to llect the civil penalty in order to maximize the recovery money available to the victims. a relatively new auto brand is ranked as this year's tops by

consumer reports. it's not tesla. it's genesi hyundai's luxury line just started two and a half ago. phil lebeau tells us why genesis gets m higherarks while others strugglenuing to >> reporter: it is not a well-known luxury brand. especially among those looking for a newigh end car. but genesis, which was started by hyundai i late 2015 is the p auto brand right now according to consumer reports, coming in right ahead of established audi and bmw. >> these are luxury vehicles that are reliable. they have features and electrons, electronics that work. it is a not that complicated or distracting like other models wind up doing with their complicated electcs and features. >> reporter: consumer report's annual reportn card oe auto industry is based on the organization's own testing of vehicles it buys and the evaluations of more than a half millio consumer reports

subscribers who say what doesn't work on their cars and trucks. after analyzing the data, consumereports designated ten vehicles as top picks, including the toyota high lander, ford f-150 and the all electric chevy volt. consumer reports top pics a exact green car. >> it is a vehicle that's more affordable, has a larger appeal and gets in our testing 250 mil range. that makes it usable and it appeals to a lot of people. ter: while consumer reports says the overall quality of carand trucks is improving some brands continue to struggle with reliable. jeep may be the most prominent level. it's rated second lowest, ahead of fiat, i which dead last for the second straight year. >> they don't. if very well,'t they d satisfy satisfy their owners and the reliability is not impressive. >> fiat chrysler, the parent of jeep a fiat says consumer reports' ratings don't alwaysit align customer preferences.

at the same time, it says it encoures customers to come in and drive these vehicles for themselves. phil lebeau, "nightly business report," chicago. >> head to our website nbr.com to read more about the top ranked auto brands. before we go let's look at how the stocks finished the day. the dow snapping awo day losing streak. nasdaq on the downside by 5ght. the s added two. that is "nightly business report" for tonight. i'mth tyler en. thanks very much for watching. here.ou could be have a great evening. we'll see you tomorrow.

>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler fouation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting exciting is a lot easier than you think.can find it here in a. families, couples, and friends nnn all find their escape on the island with warm, days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports.