this is "nightly business report" with bill griffeth a sue herera. >> earnings lift stocks rally for second day thanks to better than expected earnings from some of the world's eyeing es and companies. e >> taxing issue. do you shop online? well, the supreme court is deciding whether youle soon have to pay salesax on every purchase. als irs unexpected messagee for thst minute filers. those stories and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, april 17. >> and we do bid you good evening, everybody. they are some of the blue the blue chips. goldman sachs, johnson & johnson, united health care, all

three strengthening ecomy is lifting corporate corporates. it's a narrative wall street has come to expect and put investo in buying mod again today. the dow advanced 226 points to 2,000026. the nasdaq driven higher bytr netflix andg results we told you about last night. s&p was up by 28. dominic chew breaks down the results from today for us. >> yes, this earning season is on the young side. but we'll start with the big bank report. goldman sachs those shares were lower on the day what was generally perceived as positive report. the investment giant posted better than average profit and revenue thanks i part to the big money they made in tradi stocks. goldman raised nearly 7% to 80 cents per share. similar story with johnson & johnson, also reported better than prots and sales boosted

by betteer itional business as well as more demand for cancer related treatments. tradesers were somewhat disappointed tt the company did not boost itsar full ye profit forecast. and then there is united health group. of thes three componeefore the open, health insurer only one posted stock gain on the day. again profits and sales were better than pekted thanks to strength acrs the board and less money paid out for medical benefits. unlike john john and johnson they did boost full year forecast. it may not be beating expectations. traders may be looking optimistic before tomorrow before upwardtocks today. for "nightly business report" i'm dominic chu. >> late today i reported better than pektsed but investors expecting more. three centsetter than

estimate. revenue sorepot grew 5% to more than $19 3w8. but it appears as i the company's guidance was disappointing sent the shock lowern after hou trading. josh has the one key takeaway from ibm results. >> reporter: b blue suffering a black eye. down in the afters. ho loo ma show that analyst says gross margins were aroem. 43.7% pectation of 45.5% with wt 5% revenue groh in the quarter. sayse expected ibm to deliver greater operating leverage in the quarter. he was heart end he said by the company's so-called sategic imperatives which jumped 15%. for "nightly business report" i'm josh lipton in san francisco. >> now as strong as stocks have been, c smodities evenonger this year, with geopolitical

tensions causing investors to put money into raw materials. is that momentum expected to continue? point could geopolitical head winsds become a problem? joining us is our friend chief market strategist. always good to see you, author. >> nice to see you, bill. >> those are the head winds. we also have the tail winds which appear to be the earnings, fundamentals that are still meeting theh expectations for the most part. what to you make what's going on lately? >> well, it's interesting. so commodity side bring up interesting point. think about the first quarter seeing the dollar weaken by about 10%, obviously ay beneficis going to be commodities, agree owe political concerns very much like we saw in syria, 8% in oil last week. there is a fewer disruption of supply, those commodity places move higher, than harbor of safety when you go into the

precious metals. so seeing the bid over thlast couple of weeks. i think the dollar equation probably remains the same throughout 2018. i this i the geopolitical tensions come and go. so in terms of consistent pattern i think you need t be careful. but the strong global growth that we are seeing is going to be a driver.s we so commodities probably have a runway, but the fundamentals here are even better than we thought coming in.rt one of those qs for thes first time in seven years earnings estimates went up instead of going down. and beat rate so far with the 50 companies is about 5%. we usually 3.5%. so-so far, response has been good in the market. >> and economy seems to ben firing pretty much all cylinders, that's the good news t a lot of people wondering, does it change the opinion of the fed? with the commodity component add nude that equation with the higher oil price sns. >> interesting, sue, because we

always hear from the fed at least in the energy complex, that that is something trans threcy. look a ups and downs and say those prices tend to be trans torey. they look at the basket. biggest component they like to see pushing inflation higher is wages. so i think t fed is on pretty clear path. language is consistent. they want to raise rates three mes. at the same time trying to normalize balance sheet which is ongoin process so we'll see if that becomes ahead wined for them to gethi two more done year. inthink the more we see the difference tight difference between 2 and 10 will probably slow them down. any tighter than now, i think they'll leave off rai until the fall. >> along the same line, as feds raise rates dollars should gogh which is not good for commodities. >> that's true.an the conundrum we know what's

going on with the fed. they've bn transparent. we also know great deal of issuance. between tax cuts and newudget we realize how much of a debtor nation we'll be. how much we have to issue in debt. i think that's what's been weighing down on the dollar. if we just had the one component you brought up, which is monetary policy, which isti ter than any other central bank, i think the dollar would be firmer. but ifth you look a country ou had this much on tax cuts, deficits is blowing out. i think that's keeping the lid on the dollar in the shoterm. >> all right. always good to see you. thank you. >> thank you. >> and to china now where the world second largest economy saw growth hold dyst amid trade des put with u.s. china grew 6.8% in the first quarterhich was better than government. in beijing and telling us what's fueling that growth. >> reporter: cosmetics,

clothing, furniture, chinese consumer were buyingore of almost everything. and that helped to lift the economy in theirst quarter. q 1 gdp came in at 6.8%. retail sales were solid maintained strength in march. but other data like investment industrial out puts, tap period off. the stronger report card is stirring debate. barkleys believed strong first quarter givese authorities wig room to clean up debt and the environment. jp morgan say they expect slower second half of the year.ca pitalconomics describe stable numbers and believe the economy is cooling down much more quickly than the government is letting on. but they all agree that the biggesthallenge for china is trade war. even china's statistic officials say global uncertainty is the biggest risk to the economy here. though he said that china is confident thatrade frictions won't change the country's stable economic delopment.

and there are signs that trade disruption is looming. in a preen anti-dumping ruling china concludoday u.s. is damaging the domestic industry. american companies will not have to put down a steep deposit for shipment tohina as high after r- of08.6 value of imports. u.s. banned sales of components to chinese makers zte and reports of a administration is weighing retaliation against chinese restrictions on hig tech like cloud computing. all developments that add up to greater risk for china economic outlook. for business report i'm in beijg. >> now,n a tweet yesterday, president trump accused china a devaluing treasury. just days after treasury deorrtment issued a r that currency bel china a lateor.ip

secretary treasury steve mnuchin tried to say that the president's tweet was a warning. >> it was a warningbout devaluation. china has devalued their currency in the past. as a matter of fact, up to through 26 think devalued it significantly starting in 2017 right after the president was elected, they used a lot of their reserves to actually support the currency. so, you know, the president wants to mic sure they don't change these plans and he's watching it. >> on the topic of trade,se etary mnuchin said the president's reconsideration of the transpacific trade partnership has nothing to do with china. instead, effort to partner with other countes to further the white house's trade strategy. >> despite rise i trade tensions, international monetary fund says the global economy ist on tra grow nearly 4% this year. that would be the fastest pace since 2011. upswing is supported by an increase in investment spending,

and acceleration in trade across the globe. but the imf also warned that increase in tariffs cou reduce dploe ball investment and ultimately hurt that growth. >> here in the u.s., the closely watched housing market got some good news and some not so good news today. housing starts did edge higher last month thanks to increase im apt construction. but construction of single-family homes was not aro . and the housing industry definitely wants to see more building in thatrea t alleviate the lack of supply which is driving up prices for buyers. two popular exchange funds those did both rise on that reported to. >> well, it's time to take a look at some of today's unrades and d grades. disney rating was raised to to hold. and pivotal research best positioned. the firm does however see weak fundamentalle over all for the

enti industry. price is $93. shares were down nearly 2% to $102.17. coke's rating was raised to neutral at goldman sachs. organic. price target is $46 shares of coke rows to $44.88. bill. and while upgrading coke, the same goldman analyst downgraded pepsi to sell for neutral. analyst cited limited strategic options in the near term for pepsico. the price target $110. pepsi stock fell 1% to 108 opinion 87. meanwhile, america saw it raise from morgan stanley.g cancer d which we told you yesterday showed great promise. price target is $68. shares of merck rows from $59.27. >> still ahead the supremeou

case could mean more for what you pay online. >> investors paid particularly attention to two stories, one involved a southwest airlines flight from new york to dallas, which had to make an emergency landing in philadelphia after an engine failed at aut 30,000 feet. shrapnel from that engine smashed window, damaged the fuselage, killed a passenger, an injured others. it was the first passenger fatality in a u.s.irline cident since 2009. the other story is starbucks. the coffee chain's management will close all u.s. stores corporate offices on may 29th to train employees against racial bias. this, after the an arrest last

week of two black men waiting in a starbucks inel philadia. the training will close more than 8,000 company ownedtores. supreme court justices today heard arguments in a multi billion declare case effects everyone shops online. the issue is sales tax and whether you'll soon be required to pay it on every single purchase. in washington for us tonight. >> reporter: the site over online sales tax went all the way to the supreme court. the case pits south carolina against retailer way fai at issue is whether states can get sales tax from you will, customers. equired to re only do it if they have a physicel presen in a state. but south carolina passed a law in 2016 mandating almost all online stores collect sales tax. and now the question is before the highest court in the land. the hearing wasombative from the start.

justice sotomarnr was con about retailers and over turning a supreme court decision on this very issue. justice ruth bad teeder ginsbers on the other side. one retail trade group says cautiously optimistic. >> in order to make sure a playing field, everyon playing by the same set of tax collection rules, it's very important that this court act. >> reporter: both sides providing very different numts for collecting salesax could impact businesses. estimates of what it would cost a company to mply rangerom $12 to $25,00,000. lost revenue is up to34 billion. way fairer says no matter what happens at the supreme court, is will for consistent rules and legislative solution. >> several bills proposed trying to solve this issue but none of them have turned into law. l eyes are onhe supreme court. final decision is expected in

june. for knile i'm elan murry in washington. >> as elan laid out the supreme court ruling i couldact consumers and change the landscape of the retail industry. joining us ttalk about that is naging director at retail consulting firm. welcome back. >> nice to be here. >> we hea that the court is a little conflicted. a lot of back and forth between the justices and the attorneys today. but let's go through the two scenarios. one that this ruling is overturned. what would that mean for businesses both big and small? >> over turning, sue, would really help businesses overall because you've had accelerating with the bank seeing liquidation sale this month ofr toyus. so if you have a level playing field, then you have railers investing in growth, hiring, and

you actually have more price competition. sot's more competiti and better pricing foron csumers overall. >> but we did hearhat some of the justices were expressing burden this the would put on smaller retailers who would have to keep track of all theal various tax laws in each state. now i know you believe that there is a softwe package that dhey can use. but the cost involnd the logistics and everything? >> in terms of the costs and logistics, in the980s, a lot of retailers were complaining and vendors in terms of us bringing oine debit cards and credit cards to businesses, that was very easy and pfitably increased sales. the software is so cost effectene and effi whether it's the apps developed at cornell university where i teach, or anywhere across the u.s. or the world, that it's very easy for the reilers. an also it will systemize things so that ultimately

retailers can build sales. >> and if it's not overf turned? >> it's not overturned, sue there will be economic consequences of epic proportions not thiea but in 2019, 2020, you'll see a retail collapse like the 1930s and the great depression. you and bill reported well on i theen shall crisis of ten years ago. we'll already have 12,000 stores close this year, so it will hollow out retail and hurt jobs and actually the shoppers and taxpayers will pay more because you'll use the commercial property taxes and lose the les tax which is a third of all local and state revenue. >> quickly, before i let you go here. a couple of justices mentioned as wel they wonder whether this is even in their jurisdiction. annie lan mentioned that congress has brought up a few bills to change that law. doesn't it belong in congress? it's where they make law about taxes. >> it does belong in congress,

bill, but at the same time judge kennedy deserves constructive credit for bringing this to the court because it was a court decision, as you and sue reported 25 years ago on ta cat lag business r that'sl retail regression when all this was less than $200billion. now it's over $5 trillion and ry important for the economic future viability of retail in the u.s. >> well, we'll knowunn one way or another. burt, thank you so much. >> keep our fingers crossed for the best. >> with strategic resource group. bill. >> sue, csx tops pectations. that's where we begin our focus. after the bell, they said decline inperating costs helped profits rise. companies revue initche higher as well. shares initially popped in the after hours. trading they ended regular session up 56.57. after united couldn't reported results improved from a year

ago. company also gave earnings guidance 2018234 line with expectations. shares of united continental initially soared, they ended up a tick. and surgical which makesca robo medical devices reported arise in profits. strong demand for da vinci system helped the company top expectations. ended thear reg session up 4% at $435.45. >> tesla saidra temly halting production as they face cmanufacturingllenges. wants to address those assembly line issuest so can ramp up pro democrats. down $287.69. fda is optimistic about epilepsh medication ws derived from marijuana. fda said the treatment in combinatio d with anotherg was effective at reducing the

number of see sures, jumped $134.13. arboard value said it was seeking four board seats.to y starboard ceo said the maker of sharpiearkers under valued. going with jar dan was a mistake. >> it was great company. great employees. unfortunately lost its way with merger and didn't go as it should have. and $10 billion of value has been destroyed since the merger. the company deserves better. shareholders deserve better. and frankly the shareholders have askeds to continue in order to try and put some better people op the board and improve the case for change and the case for operational change and improvement of the company.

>> shares of brands rose 4%o $27.37. >> coming up, cyberthreats are multiplying fast, and thert ment of homeland security is outlining its plan of attack. a new european union proposal would force technsogy compano hand over user data to law enforcement officials, ored on servers outside the block. now, fshofficials say proposed isecsary to obtain this takes month between. countri >> focused on cyber attacks,

number is growing and increasingly sophisticated targeting governments, private companies and evenindividuals. reports from san francisco on the secretary's plan to strike r:ck. >> repor the eqfax, wanna cry ran some wear, and facebook cambridge analytica, last year nearly half of all americans had sensitive personal information exposed online. as a result of these major attacks. and the threat now spans from government to private companies to our hes and offices. against this back drop the security conference here in san francisco this year kicked off with a key note from department ofan hom security secretary nelson laid out these talks. >> and i see as many as you do,

digital threats are multiplying faster than we can keen up many many cases. >> she said her department is adopting aore pro-active approa in response to the evolving threa and offensive cyber attacks are on the tle with talks with other governmental agencies. moree same time a group of than 30 tech companies led by microsoft and facebook signed accord that pledged to help people in attacks.mi and ced to come to the aide of any nation on the receiving end of an attack. microsoft president brad smith has played aajor role in the effort and for years has argued the wld needs a digital geneva convention. >> it pledg uso strengthen defense to protect customers every where. also says we won't help governnts launch cyberattacks as you said against innocent citizens and enterprise. this is a world where we are

seeing some governments do that. and we taking a principle approach saying that's not something we want to support. >> secretary kneel son welcomed the initiativerom the private ctor but cautioned against a digital bill of rights for citizens saying it dependedas 0 whatn it. but that a digital norm of responsibility is needed. for "nightly business report" here in san francisco. >> finally tonight an irs nightmare on tax day. wouldn't you know for the mt paf the day, parts of the irs website were down. those who tried to pay their tax bill due today directly with their bank account got an error message instead. tt agency is acting commissioner just hapned to be on capitol hill today and told lawmakers the wra also problems if you were firing software from hr block and turbo tax. but one of the many procrastinators there is some relief. secretary thruster mun chest said those affected will get an

extension and agency is working to get the site back up and perunning, we >> we certainly hope. before we go, here's another look at the rally on wl street today. the dow advanced 213 points. nasdaq added 124. s&p 500 was up yo28. >> hav filed? >> i certainly have. >> i have too, thank you odness. that does it for us tonight. i'm sue re. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a great evening. get those taxes in. see you tomorrow.

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