>> announcer: this is "nightly business report" with bill griffeth and sue herera. ready, set, hike. the federal reserve raises interest rates at chairll po first policy meeting, and thest ock market rally fizz also. lawmakers t make progress on the spending bill. what's in it and what it can't mean for >you. pring storm. will the fourth -- yes, the fourth nor'easter in three weeks send chill through parts of the economy. those stories and more on tonight's "nightlrtbusiness refor wednesday, march 21st. and weid you good evening, everybody. welcome. it was the first meeting of the federal reserve policy makers led by new chair jerome powell. as expected, officials raised interest tes.

as a matter of fact it was the sixth increase since the end of 2015. the central bank also said the pace of economic growth would likely pick up. that all sent the yield on treasuries higher, and it sent the stocks on a very choppy afternoon ride. the dow was up 200 points after the announcement, but finished down 45 or there did being. the nasdaq lost about 19, the s&p was down about five points. steve liesman is covering this story from the federal washington,ght in d.c. steve? >> bill, goodng eve in chairman powell's first conference, the federal reserve hiked rates an expected. no they're going to try to maintain a new range of 1.5% to 1.75%, and theye signaled m gradual rate hikes ahead. the fed increased the outlook for economic growth and lowered the forecast for unemployment, down to 3.6% for next year from

the current 4.1%. it raised the outlook for interest rates. not this year. it was one forecast short of going to the four hikes that the market was concerned about. it upped the outlook for next year and for 2020, in fact, t a strong 3.4%. ow it doesn't see a lot of inflation. i asked chairman powell in the press conference, how do you forecast better growth, lower unemployment, but you don't have inflation to go along with it? here's what he said. >> after the crisis, unemployment was 10%, now 4.1%. you've only seen veryraal upward pressures despite the very larging in. that suggests that the relationship between changes in slac and inflation is not so tight. but it has diminished, but it is still there. i think when you see the small changes in unemployment, that simply reflects, y know the flatness of the phillips curve. >> a couple otherpoints. he surprised at the lack of stronger wage growth given how

low unemployment is already, and when asked about the high level of the stock market, he says he ly sees a moderate stability risk to the banks system. he doeee more growth from the fiscal stimulus and tax cuts, but wouldn't sa by the way, whether or not that comes from the supply side or the demand side. w in theds of john lennen, did powell pass the auditionee hed to get out of the press conference without making too much news, and with little ange in yields a little change in stocks ishlgs i think he would probably call that a win in his books. >> the john lennon quote aside you are a veteran and wise follower. what do you thin three rate increases beyond this? or not? >> i think three is robably a good bet. the risk is for four, but again, i don't think we're going to get to that area of risk of more rate hikes unless we get thewt economic g to go along with it. i'm not worrieabout this now, but if we had high inflation

without the economic growth. ination is a puzzle. inflation is the thing that central banks andcomists should understand, bill, but they don't. it could be because of massi globalforces. it could be the amazon effect with cheap pricesth ughout the internet. they don't quite understand why inflation is so low, but that's a big, big wild f card fed policy right now. >> steve liesman, at the federav re thanks as always, steve. >> a pleasure. let's turn to jeff sout for more. he is the chief iestment strategist over at raymond james. jeff, always good to have you here. thanks for joining us. >> a pleasure, sue. thank you. >> so a slightly more hawkish fed chief in his first conference. what did you make of it? >> i think you hut it right on the head. the economic strength had moderated from a previous fed

meeting, but increase expectation, and talked about the tight labor market, i think it's a bit more hawkish, and i meeting,ome the june they're going to put back in four rate hikes for this year. >> what do you do with this for investment pumps? initially after the fed made their announcement, the financial stocksent . they need higher interest rates. is that a safe bet right now? or are you looking elsewhere for growth? >> no, i think the fed willea in rates, but i think they'll do it very gradually, a steepening of the yield curve certainly helps the financial stocks. a as1% inc for raymond james i think drops $180 million to the bottom line for raymond james. i would note that i told your producer, that the dow was up 200 points, usually the first move o an announcement like that is usually a wrong-way ve. that's looks like what happened

today. >> what about the inflation component? are you worried we're going to be inflation pick up past that t 2% tar that the fed has put in place or not? nk i t it will pick up. i don't know about this year above 2%, but inflation is coming back. you cannot find an economic system in the history of the world that' had this much cash thrown into it and not had inflation come out of the back side. i think it will a gradual pick up, but i think it will pick up above . >> what do you think, jeff? do you stay here in the u.s. and investmer do you look overseas right now? >> i think you do both. i think that europe is statistically cheaper than the u.s. valuations, but the growth here is probably better, certainly the earnings growth here,s bett but europe is no ronner in a recovery. europe isn in expansion, very similar to what the u.s. is in. >> jeff, we'll leave it atthat. thanks so much for joining us. >> a pleasure. >> as you know, the fed also

weeping a watch over the housing sector. learned that existing home sales rose, even as prices also climbed, and tre were fewer properties listed on the market form the nationassociation of realtors reported an increase of sales of 3%, ttollows a decline in the prior two months, and could be an indication that competition is going to be very intense during the spring selling season this year.>> sue? bill, the current account deficit widened 26% in the fourth quart amid an increase in goods imported. that was more than expected. the current account measured the flow of goods, services, appeared investments in and out of the country. it has become a focus of washington and wall street. meanwhile, the white house could impose tariffs on china for intellectual property violations as soon as tomorrow. as first reported by cnbc, visa and investment restrictions will not be part of that first package, though.

both the timing and the o announceme that scope remain in flux. in wasngton a preliminary agreement has been reached on a spenng bill which would keep the government up and running past friday's decline. ylan mui is with us tonight. good to see you, as always. >> good to see you. >> what is the final agreement here? >> republican and democratible leadership met this morning in order to hammer out some of the final details. both senator chuck schumer and nancy pelosi came out of the that meeting sounding very in optimistic, s they felt like they were making good progress toward a biha, and they do expect to see movement toward a vote in the housen this bill tomorrow. now, what is in it including $1.6 billion for border security. that includes 33 miles oforder fencing -- not necessarily a big beautiful border wall, but

fencing, as wellte as border nology form there's also a provision that would make requirements for background checks more strict as well as allow the cdc to study gun violence as a public health issue. those have been some of the final sticking points that were lding up this deal. >> where does the white house stand on this, ylan? has the administration weighed in t on any ofs yet? >> i spoke to paul ryan, who brought theackage to t president, to brief him on it and get his responsible. ry t's office says president does support it. the white house says that republican leadership and the white house have shared priorities, iilluding reng the military, including funding for the opioid crisis. ooso it like president trump is willing to sign off on this as soon as congress pass it is. all right. ylan, we'll leave it er thank you so much. ylan mui on a snowy capitol hill for us tonight.

a time to look at some of the upgrades and downgrades. fedex saw its rating raised to a buy eollowing thenings report that came out yesterday. the firm says that the stock will benefit from the continued growth. the price target was rsed t $295, shares finished today during the down side during the late sell-off. match group saw the rating cut to neutral at guggenheim, applicantsing an ngupco low in match's business. the analyst is also concerned about match's valuationin foll a recent run-up, and shares fell today, down 2%. the health insurer wellcare health was upgraded to outperform. the firm cites the company's progress in executing the multiyear plan to improve its performance. the price target is now s220. thck closed at about 3% higher. jeffries is reaffirming the

positive vie on act vision blizzard. it says concerns about competition from the popular fortnight game are overblown. the analyst recommends buying it on the recent pullback. the shares rose a fraction. speaking of which, still ahead, the new and very lucrative frontier in gaming. the european union is proposing a new and aggressive

tax on tech companies. one rule would propose revenue from digital activities and the sale of user data. that measure alone could raise about billion annually for member countries. aond measure would tax digital profits wherene ted. ceo mark zuckerberg is addressing the data scandal engulfs his company. in his first commentsth he said foib made mistakes. he also said, haquote, w a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't, then he we don't deserve to serve u. c.o.o. sheryl sandberg said she deeply regrets the company did not do more investors are not happy about that leak. >> a lawsuit was filed on behalf of an undisclosed number of investors, who said the compa made misleading and falseen

stat about the policies. the suit also claims thatok faceid not disclose that it allowed third parties to access data onilons of people. the video game industry is experiences a new leg of growth thanks to the rise of mpetitive gaming. josh lipton has the details. crazy, butht sound people really do love watching other people play video games. it's known as e-sports, teams of video game players competing before pac stadiums of fans, froman sose to seoul, where top players can earn millions a it's a big topic of conversation at this year annual game developers conference in san francisco, and for good reason. more than 140 million pple all around the world now regularly watch theseti compes online.

that's expected to jump to 250 million b2021. here's another way to think about it. in the u.s., e-sport viewers already outnumber those of the national hockey league and are expected to surpass major league baseball in just two years, becoming the second-most watch sport. e-sports generated an estimated $65 million in revenue last year. that'sust a fraction of the $100 billion gaming to really break into the mainstream and prove succesul. game analysts say e-sports has a lot to learn from traditional sports leagues like the nfl. >> it needs something like a commissioner roles, but i do think it's important to be able to have an objective person who's viewed as the main person who is the arbiter of looking out forrt what the s is going to do and look out for the best

interest overall. >> there are publicly traded companies with exposure. for example, amazon wit its plats form twitch and activision with its overwatch league. earlier they partnered up. piper jahvries estimates that the premiere of that competition back in january attracted 500,000 viewers at its peak. forgh "y business report" i'm josh lipton in san francisc sales rise in winnebago. the rv maker sid the strengthenings of the to youable revenue passed expectations. profits rose, bus it was notgh eno top street expectations. shares were down toda general mills delivered a profit-and-sales beat despitet noting that faced higher food and shipping costs last

quarries. the food joint says it expects those pressureso continue a as a result it did cut the full-year profit aismt. as you might imagine, shares were down. r atime, the company was the worst performer in the s&p today. southwest airlines said a competitive fare environment and fewer bookings would cause unit revenue to be floor this quarter. they expecteo the share rise as much as 2 percent. shares were off nearly5% 0575%. sears at the it modified thn terms borrowing, and exchanged older bonds for new debt. the shareholders were pleased,s ing the shares up. starbucks says it's achieved pay equality for allf the

employees in the u.s. the the coffee chain says it's been working towards that goal for years. >> this next step around pay equity for all genders and races that do similar work in the united states is another one of those things that we do to make sure w taking care of our partners. by taking care of our nepa, they in turn take care of our partners. if we can attract and retain th, tale that creates the magical starbucks experience in our stores. the company says it's working to make the same changes in its global workforce. shares fell a fraction to 58.47. t calenda says it may be the first day of spring, butte winter wy weather is slamming the east closest. businesses are closed, commerce is at a virtual ndstandstill thousands of flights have been delayed, if not canceled. morgan brennan blamed the elements to explain how the the economy.aster could impact

morgan? >> yes, it's been quite the weather situation here for us as we come into the spring season. wsis is, as is mentioned the fourth major srm to bear down here on the eastern united states, and that is beginning to have an economic and financial impact. case in point here,s in la guardia ampt. have you ever seen it so empty?f all the flight here from all of the carriers have been canceled from here since at least midday today. flightaware says we've seen more than 4,000 canceled. that brings the total for the montch of mell above 10,000. it's also a big deal for the airlines, because the analysts say the months of march typically the busiest month of the first quarter thanks to spring break, and upcomingea er and passover holidays.

that's just one examplen one sector. >> it's not just flights, and it's been shut down basically. there's been a -- >> absolutely. so it's not just passengers that are stranded by these weather ut events, freight as well. the new york/new jerse port complex, which is actually the third largest shipping port for containers in the u.s., so very big, very notable, has been closed today. it's been the second time in recent weeks, and we' seen transportation carriers like fedex and u.p.s. put contingency plans in placend warn there will be service disruptions in many part of the region. you are beginning to see what expert call weather fatigue.

they estimate with all these storms you'll see a negative impact of 3 to $3.5 billion inr il sales. that's money that consumers would have likely spent, month likely bend recouped, you're talking everything from restaurants to apparel retailers, to actually even home impr ement companies, becaus as you mentioned, it is the beginning 6 spring the shelves are stocked with spring merchandise and not some of those winter items that folksoo areng for. >> i think we can all identify th that fatigue. morgan brennan, thanks very much. >> yeah. most people only dream about being ability to buy a private islae . this one cth a big surprise.

a major state pension fund will oppose the reelection of all directors at companies with all-male boards. it's an unusual move being made by the new york states common retirement fund. leie pick ar joi us tonight. it's certainly sending a message, but will it actually make a difference in the composition? >> that's the big question. it's certainly sending a message to companies who don't have any women representatives ohe board, but the question is, does their $200 billion in assetse really hhe kind of firepower needed to change the composition of boardrooms nation wide. that's the key question. when you look at the trillion in assets that u.s. equity markets have in market caphese days, it represents a very small f proportion those. they mentioned 400 companies

they're invested in have no women o representativesthe board. even if they invested a large post of of their assets, it still likelyon't represent a majority, which is what is actually needed to actually get someoneff the board. that's one of the key what will the actual impact be? if anything it's certainly m sending asage which can't be discounted. >> quickly the biggest question so hy have boardrooms been slow in bringing in women directors? >> that's the key question. a lot of boards blame it on the pipeline problem. a lot of times board members are the sentatives that have words chief executive officer on their resume. there's been a movement where there's trying to ge women on boards that don't have that title, but may still be good board members for the companies. >> leslie, that i can you so much.

meanwhile, dropbox plans to price its initial offering between $18 and $20 a share, two more tha initially had been stated. the company will now by valued at more than 7.a billion and will list on the nasdaq under the tickerbo s dbx. trading expected to start on friday. it's not every day you meet one who brought his own island. robert frank did, and that island wasull of surprises. >> i bought the island on the spot. after, i said, what did i do? what am i going to do wit an island. >> when sheet metal joe magnate bought this island -- >> i approached him, and maybe you would be interested in trading a house or cash -- >> he had no ideahe deal valued at around 700 grands hitectural i a treasure you are. >> movie into the cottage and

noticed how unique the building was. >> eventually he researched the history and made startling discovery. the quirky cottage was designed by the one and only fnk loy right in 1949. on top of that, right also designed a much larger residence for the island's owner at the iltime, but it was never >> we ball pictures of the original drawg. >> and he spent eight years and millions to bring his drawings to life. >> this house is so unique than any other wright house. the ceilings are 18, 12, and 14 feet high. frank lloyd wright budgetedt for 50,000, so i'm going to tell you straight out, i went over his budget. >> he followed the drawings to a tee, from the stone details in the kitchen, showers and bedrms all the way down to the dec hocor. >> the furnitured exactly what he wanted.

everything that he put on the awingings, i put in this house. i would walter cronkite to look at it. he was fringes with frank lloyd wright, and when he walked through t door, he said i feel like frank is here. >> in, fact joe only strayed from wright's plan in one major e y. >> whenre building the house, i want i said one more inch of concrete, and 14e7d wide? i said, i want angel copper pad. >> ironicallies it was on a chopper ride when he learned another secret. it's a perfect heartsh ape. >> but now he's ready to give his heart amp to someone else. he's selling the island for about $15 million. >> i'm in no rush, but want to make sure the person i buys it takes care of the master masterpiece. >> who would that be? >> s cebody aszy as me. for "nightly business report,"

i'm robert frank. a modest cabin on an aisle somewhere. before we go, another look at th volatile date on wall street. the dow was0p points, but fell by the close down to 24,682. the nasdaq was down about 19. the s&p lost about five that's does it for us tonight. i'm sue herera. thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a gat evening, everybody. we will see you tomorrow.

>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, a'vler foundation, pursuing solutions for ame's iaglected needs, and purepoint fina or>> how do we shape our tw? it starts with a vision. we seets ideal form in our mind, and en we begin to chisel. we strip away everything that stands in the way to reveal new possibilities. at purepoint financial, we have designed our modern approach to