>> announcer: this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. rocky nth. the dow closes this historic february with a nearly 400-point drop, snapping its longest win streak since 1959. taking a stand. a pminent national gun seller will immediately stop selling assault styles. weap and the ceo is calling on elected officials to do more on gun reform. filling up. pr oes arethe rise and expected to go even higher. and that chrld t the economy a curveball. those stories and more tonight on "nightly business report" for wednesday, february 28th. good evening, everyone, and welcome. well, february is i books, and what a month it was. the dow fell 1,000points, not

once, but twice. the fear of inflation and the prospect of rising interest rates spread quickly through the market. but as quickly as stocks fell, they rose again. e major indexes recouping a large part of those losses. if anythi, the month marked the return of volatility, something that hasn't been seen in quite som time. the dow jones industrial average was off 380 points to 25,029, led lower by a drop in energy ocks and also oil prices. the nasdaq was down 57. the s&p 500 fell 30. for the all of the major indexes suffered losses. bob pisani takes a look at the montnd that was, what march may bring. >> reporter: february has pven to be nothing short of tumultuous for the market ocks recovered 70% of their losses since the correction, the dow isown for the month, the first february month in five the dow and s&p also snapped a ten-month winning streak. we haven't seen that since 1959.

will march be a mess too? not necessarily. data shows the s&p was positive in march% of the time. not bad. rtmarch brings no se of other market moving events for investors to focus on. federal reserve chairman jay powell returns to the hot seat tomorrow when he testifies before the senate. we'll see if he walks back any of his previous comments about the economy strengthening that spooked investors on tuesday. it's looking more likely there will be fourikes this year instead of three. and that's got people buconcern. there's plenty of other data for the fed to factor into the equation. the jobs report is next friday. it means anothere update on w growth along with a handful of other inflation reports and a first look at fir quarter gdp. finally, lawmakers in washington will have their hands full dealing with another debt ceiling deadline, set to expire

in the first half of the new month. i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange for "nightly business reporo" here talk about where the market stands is christina hooper, chief global market strategist at invesco. ristina, christina, christina. it was a rough month. what's next?el >>me to a new era, tyler. this is the beginning of what is likely to be market conditions at will continue for most of this year if not longer. wee seeing monetary policy normize. as monetary policy normalizes, so wrkl . and this is actually more normal than what we've seen in the pase de >> it seems to me the market's uncertainty also is focused on the n fed chief. he is not like fed chief yellen was in terms of his attitude towards the market. his didn't get a sense in testimony the other day of exactly what his position on

monetary pol is. >> well, let's put it this way. i don't think he's the monetary policy ideology twin of janet . yell and we actually got some insight into that in january, when the transcripts from the 2012 fomc meetings were released. and what it showed was janet yellen being very, verypp tive of qe3 while jerome powell was much more concerned about the bloating of the fed's balanceheet a really reluctantly agreed to embark on qe3. what we see is very significant differences already, and marke didn't necessarily expect that. that's why i think it's no surprise that we saw all this volatility this month just as the baton was being passed from janet yellen to jerome powell. >> when you used the word rlier, the normalization of monetary policy, i take that as code or economist-speak for

rising interest rates as the economy regains its footing and its health. but that doesn't mean that you can't continu to make money in stocks, does it? >> no, absolutely not. and in fact let me qualify by saying, normalization in this case isn't just about rate hikes. >> right. >> it's about taking down t balance sheet. and that actually was the great experiment we've been in for past decade. but having said all that, while we expect to see more volatility, volatility creates opportunity. so wexpouldt to see an upward bias to stocks this year but with aot mor volatility attached. >> are there areas of the market that you think still hold value? we've come down from the lofty levels of last year, but d we still find ample opportunity at home or are you looking overseas for your clients? >> both. so atme technology looks very attractive.

and we should be pleasantly surprised with earnings growth this year as well as revenue growth. but we also want to look oside the united states because there are an awful lot of opportunity in emerging market stocks as well as developed stocks particularly in europe where olnetaryy is far behind where we are in the united states. and of course within the u.s., i can't sayth enough googs about dividends. many companies are increasing diviofnds as parow they're spending the windfall they've gotten from the tax cut. >> christina, great to see u. meantime, economic growth was revised lower for the fourth quarter. gross domestic product, the measure of domestic goods and services, rose 2.5% as companies drew more from their inventory than previously estimated meaning they had to produce less. lois report with other recent data points led some economists to lower their f forecast first quarter

growth. pending home sales fl to a three-year low, primarily because of a lack of supply, which the nationa association of realtors says is at crisis levels. the report sent shares of some popular hold builder etfs muc lower today, and it comes on the cusp of the important spring lling season. ire is diana olick. >> reporter: whethwas a newly built home or an existing home, buyers purchased fewer of them in january. a clear sign that while demand is still high, more and more people ain unable to f a home they can afford. sales of existing homes fell sharply in january, and index measuring signs contracts, meaning buyers out shopping and making deals ding the month, dropped close to 5% compared to december and about 4% compared to a year ago. realtors blame a critical supply shortage, especially on the d eaper end of the market where so much of the dem. there is pnty of supply in the new home market.

but builders today are focused on the move-up and luxury sectors, not on the entry level. new homes in neral come at a price premium, and that may be why those sales fell in january as well. january wase when mortg rates began to rise. historicallyy are still on the low side, they have been even lower for so long that any increase is s ack to the system. >> you add the mortgage paymenth goinher on top of the fact that home prices continue to escalate at an unusually high rate, and affordability does come an issue at least psychologically, if not fundamentally, for a lot of buyers. >> reporter: home prices are rising far faster than wage growth and inflation. and th biggest pri gains, again, are on the lower end of the market where demand is strongest. re new listings will come on the spring market. but they're unlikely to come ose to meeting demand. yiding to the issue, homeowners are actually s in their homes longer than ever before, an average ten years.'t

they either c afford to move or are afraid they won't be able to find anything to move to. for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. one of the nation's largest orting goods retailers is immediately ending the sale of all assault style rifles. the announcement by dick's is one of the strongest stances yby orporate america in the tional discussion over guns. shares of the retailer rose in today's trading session and the decision by dick'sng is b attributed to the decline today in shares of gunrs ma vista outdoor fell 4%. near a five-year low.bras is brian sullivan has more. >> reporter: the backlash against assault style weapons took another turn todays dick's sporting goods, a national chain, said it will immediately stop selling ar-15 style guns as well as high capacity bullet edgazines.

tack is the ceo and the son of the founder. he went on "nbc nightly news" to exain that he's not antigun but his emotional reactio to the parkland, florida shooting urred his decision. >> when we saw the grief the kids and the parent are gois ar through and how the kids organized to make their voices heard,ke we t amongst ourselves and saidf these kids can be brave enough to do this, we should be brave enough to make a stand ourselves. >> reporter: after the sandy hook killings inon ccticut in 2012, dick's stopped sales but then r tumedm through its field and stream subsidiary. this time the ceo said the change ispermanent. he didn't make it only about the industry. he also called on congress to take action. >> this is a complex iss and we hope that congress on both sides will sit down with the intent of inding asolution.

>> reporter: dick's will continue toell other types of guns, but is raising the age to buy them to 21. this move leaves fewer national retailers selling assault style weapons. walmart stopped selling ar-style guns three years ago.on now atten will likely turn to the other major retailers still shocking their shelves with ar-style levels including bass pro shops and camping world. cnbc reached out to those retailers for comment but has yet tck hear for "nightly business reprit," i'm ban sullivan. some of today's upgrades and downgrades. verizon saw its rating raised from buy to neutral at moffett nathanson. that firm says the rewards of tax reform outweigh the risks of a challenging environment and sites a wireless market that's e shaping up t better than previously expected. but shares fell fractionally along with the broader market. they closed at $47.74.

vr c saw its rating raised from buy to neutral at bank of ncamerica/merrill the analyst says the company is in a better position than its international peers. that could lead to share buybacks. price target still at $138. stock fell today to $111.92. comcast's rating was cut to neral after the company made a $31 billio 3wibid for sky. while adding sky would diversify comcast's portfolio, it would expose to to pressure. shares of comcast fell 1% to $36.21. comcast is the parent company of cnbc which produces this program. drug developer tesoro saw s expectation cut due to disappointinles. a number of firms expect tesoro to face increasing competition. stillahead, why lowe's just

can't seem to catch up to rival home depot. lowe's quarterly results fell well short of analysts' expectations. e company's number two home improvement has been spending a lot ofto money tryin convert shopper visits into sales. that bet did not pay off, thou, widening the gap between what it and industry leader home depot have beeble to put up. shares of lowe's fell 6% in tradin today. courtney reagan digs deeper into lowe's quarter. >> reporter: a strong housing

market sets up home improvement retailers well. t then it's up to the retailer to execute. lowe's stumbled in theecent quarter, not as strong as rival me depot. sales to professionals grewt a ster rate than to do it yours yourselfers. lowe's profitability fell last year. on the earnings call, executives pointed out the homeme impro retailer is entering the year with a new plan to improve its business, which includes getting a better understanding of its ro shoppers,ssing orders more quickly andoosting its supply chain. it also has to make sure the k, so inventory is in st when shoppers come in, they buy. while lowe's management iski an active role in the strategy to turn around execution missteps, itay be from the influence of activvet or d.e. shaw, which took a

stake in the retailer last year. >> it seems as if activist investors are already having an impact on the company and it may reflect le's taking a stronger tack. activist l intervention g overdue. if we can get somebody in to help run the company beer, that will be a positive. >> reporter: the real holiday is the spring for home improvement companies. we'll see if their new strategy will lead to growth. i'm courtney reagan. sales take off at tjx companies. e off-price retailer said more shoppers came into its stores during the holiday period. that helped revenue beat expectations. the company expects to increase its sales and foot traffic in the year ahead. tjxse r its quarterly dividend to 39 cents a chair and

said iwouldepurchase $3 billion of its shares this year. as a result the stock rose nearly 7% to $82.68. women's clothing company chico's reported pndfits revenue that beat street estimates. the owner of the brand whi house bla market did see same-store sales decline but it was an improvement fprm the r quarter and it was better than what analysts were expembing. shares c 15% to $10.04. fewer customers made purchases at office depot, causing the o company to report a quarterly loss and weaker sales. the company, which issued disappointing guidance for the year, said working to gw profits -- said it is working to grow profits. the shares fell 9% on the day to $2.63. and the footwear maker crocs is calling for revenue fofto be this year. the company is reducing its

store count. that's not what investorsto wand hear. they sent the shares down to $12.24. the fda turned down ca celgene's appon for an experimental ms drug. d thg is considered a key one in celgene's pipeline and thi latest announcement creates an unclear timeline of when the medication will be available to patients. and that t caused shares plummet 9% to bill ackman's activist hedge nd pershing square capital is reportedly building a stake in united technologies, reported by cnbc. they said they're exploring a breakup of their business eslin. sh are up a fraction to $134.74. mr. ackman has reportedly exited his long position in herbalife five years after he made a $1 billion bet against the supplement company he called

a fraud. he shorted the company. ackman, according to cnbc, expected shares of herbalife to drop to zero. but instead shares rose. now up more than 60% over the past year. shares of herbalife up 6% today to and after the bell, salesforce rorted earnings and sales that edged past expectations. the cloud computing com gave stronger than expected guidance for the year and hiked its forecast for fiscal 2019. shares volatile in the extended session. they ended the regular day down 22 cent at $116.24. il priceell today but they are up 14% over a one-year period and they'rexpected to keep climbing. since gas pricesw closely fol oil prices, that could cause ilin at the pump. how high they go and what does that mean for households and the economy? patrick dehan is senior petroleum analyst at gas buddy,

welcome, patrick, nice to have here. >> thanks for having me. >> why are prices moving higher at the pump? is it seasonal? i know we see it in the spring but isre more to it than that? >> there is. unfortunately this isn't just as simple baseball season coming. lot of this ahas to do with seasonal maintenance at refineries over the country. more expensive summer gasoline adds to the cost. those two pressures, combined with oil prices that you m mentioned areh higher than they were last year is kind of creating this foundation for gas prices that will likelye at their highest seasonal level since 2014 and some places certainly could get close to that key $3lo a g threshold. >> but i thought production was higher, patrick. is demand higher too? >> exactly. so many people have been hearing about u.s. oil prodtion, which yes, is at its highest level since but the takeaway is while oil

production here in the united states is ver high, about 10 million barrels per day, you'll remember back to 2017 when opec enacted production cuts which have more than offset any rise in u.s. production. we're at a net loss. u.s. oil inventories have been draining at a fairly expeditious rate, setting the ground for higher oil pricear moving fo >> what do you think, net/net, the enomic impact might be? obviously it's going to cost consumers more to fill upt the pump. and certain states like california tend to have very high gas pricesanyway. what do you think the economic impact might be? >> it's going to sting. gas prices couldo upnother 25 to 35 cents a gallon by yomorial day. and of course i talk about the possible likelihood of an incralse in fedas tax, that could add another 25 cents. you're talking about a massive increase in price. every penny that gas prices go

up, it generally takes 1 to $2 billion out of other areas of the economy. so you really could see a slowdown in economic growth if gas prices continue to go up. >> and it takes moreyo iget those kinds of price increases, it takes more than 1 to $2 a of out of the prices american consumers. are yo bankedg on the possibility of a gas tax increase? the gop congress isrtot ularly friendly toward any kind of tax increase. >> yeah, this is certainly not the time, now that there is a great time forny gas increase, but with gas prices already, without this tax, beingmong the highest they've been in several years, to pass a gas tax increase that's sosignificant, especially if it were to happen all at once, really could be politicalsuicide, especially when it could push the national average above that key $3 a gallon threshold. >> patrick, we'll leave it there. thanks so much, appreciate of this. >> my pleasure.

>> patrick dehan with gas buddy> coming up, thieves have a new target. it's your gift card. washington has becom first state to pass rules governing the internet. th bill reinstates protections recently repealed by the fioeral communic commission. the measure forbids broadbandro companies blocking or slowing lawful internet traffic or selling so-cled fast lanes at a premium. lawmakers in more than 25 states have introduced similarat legin. spotify has filed to go public. the world's largest music streaming service plans to list

on the new york stock exchange under the symbol s.p.o.t. the filing shows c thepany has more than 70 million paying customers and nearly 160 million monthly active listeners. that's as of the end of last year. it's also bning through some cash. i bet you have used gift cards. hey're convenient, growing in popularity. americans spend nearly, get this, $30 billion a year on them. according to the national retail federation, that number is growing.re but the cards also a prime target for hackers.e theyooking to cash in on all that spending. criminals have figured out how to use gift card balances before you or your gift card recipient get the chce. andrea day has more. >> last year a billion dollars was stolen out of giftcards. that's definitely going to be an increase in the risk this year. reporter: a worrisome trend for the ceo at cybersecurity

company perimeter x, where they've been watching criminals drain billions in gift cards in seconds flat. >> you'veev n scratched the numbers, it's brand-new, and the balance is alreadyou t. >> reporter: he says they don't need to steal r from storeks or the card in your wallet. >> they've taken online gift cards and manufacture a physical gift card from thin air. reporter: here's how it works. he says hackers unleash an army of bots or a botnet. they can attack the retailer's website or mobile app where y register the gift card and start guessing nuheers. >> operate very quickly. we've seen attacks as large as doin 10 million guesses an hour. the moment you are able to gss gift card number, extracting the value out of its very easy. >> reporter: and he says criminals simply add the balance to fake cards and put them up for sale on th dark web, before

your real gift card is even unwrapped. >> this is what makes this attack so much more dangerous. as a consum n, there is a lot you can do to actually stop these attackers. >> reporter: what can you do?s >> alw make sure to know how much money is on your gift card. most stores will give you your money back if you tl them that the balance disappeared. when you check the balance, always do it only on the real authentic merchant website. >> reporter: he says even that won't keepour money safe. according to him, it's up to retailers t stop virtual thieves. >> we urge merchants to use more complex text lines for the gift cards. combine numbers and digits. include a p.i.n. number. reporter: according to the national retail federation, some security measures are already in place. >> some of the retailers are actually eliminating the opportunity for individuals to go online and check their balance and instead are putting

in 800 tollree numbers to call. >> reporter: he says there are solutions retailers can use to have almt complete protection not just for websites but for mobile apps too which are critical to safeguard. for "nightly business report," i'm andrea >>day. volatile day and a volatile month to close out. the dow was down 380points. the nasdaq was off 57. the s&p 500 was down0 for the month. all the major indexes suffered losses. that does it for u tonight. i'm sue herera. thanks for joining us. >> thanks from me as well, i'm tyler mathisen. haveen great g, everybody. march 1st is brtomorrow. uary is behind us. we'll see you then.

>> this is "bbc world news enerica." funding of this prtion is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxi, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the , sunny days,a cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea.