this is nightly business report with sue herera and bill griffeth. >> at a crossroads. stocks drop sharply to end the week as bond r yieldse and investors try to figure out what's next for this market. electriclt re ge surprises investors with much stronger than expected. ea is the worst finally behind the troubl? industri nothing to sneeze at. allergy season is in full bloom and that is big business for some major drugcompanies. ore tonight s and on "nightly business report" for friday, april 20th. good evening. welcome. i'm sue bill griffeth is off tonight. it was a rough way to end the week. stocks fell sharply as bond yields rose. the yield on the itten-year its highest level since 2014.

apple's drop dragged the tech sector lower after morgan stanley says it expects t company's i-phone sales to disappoint. the dow jones industrials fell. the nasdaq was off 91. despite today's clines, stocks were higher for the week. and now that we're a few months into unusual year on wall street, many are trying to figure out wnst happe next. so mike santoli went looking for some answers. >> the stock mar it findself once again at a crossroads. nearly three months after reaching a peak, the s&p 500 findex is aboutt for the year and roughly halfway between that record high andf the low early february. volatility readings have come down sharply asar thet has stabilized. yet the indexes remain far jumpier than they were last year. corporate earnings are quite strng. even bethan lofty

forecasts. yet investors are t rewarded good results for higher share prices across the board. the market's indecision reflects several factor c taxuts are enriching companies and helping consumers, yet those same factors are pushing hterest rates higher. the treasur climbed back to 2.5%. its high for the year and the level last seen two months ago. the&p has been caught near or below its current level each time bond yields have been thi close to 3%. a surge in oil and other commodity prices and reports of upward pressure on wages have revised inflation concerns and expectations that the federal reserve will look to raise short-term rates several more times in the nex couple of years. concerns about big tech stock valuation and the risk of hostile regulations for powerful silicon valley companies have slowed this sector, which acts for nearly a quarter of the s&p value. while it hassept sto in the neutral zone, the market has made progress on some front. abovedexes have held

those february lows throughout all the trade war and political noise of recent months. the valuation of the market has also come down nicely as stock prices have stagnated. investor sentiment is a good deal moret subdued thans in january which is usually a necessary condition for stocks forming aurable base. taken together it means the market is approaching the ne-third point of the year clinging to its long-term uptrend. but with plenty to prove before investor dance be sure this was just a routine correction or that it'sover. for nightly business report, i'm mike santol >> as bond yields head higher, the federal reserve governor today said the economy is strengthening and appears crpable of withstanding gradual interest rate inses. she's also pleased to see inflation moving towards the central bank's target. >> today actually inflation is moving more in line with what one would expect at this point. and, in fact, there i think, you

know, we are looking carefully at inflation and expecting to see it move t towardsget in line with our objectives. >> so with inflation andat interest taking higher, how can investors protect their money and maybe even profit? bob pasani did some digging. >> reporter: can you protect yourself against inflation and higher rates? in the last several year, the f business has expanded dramatically. which rates moving up anat inn issues prominent. is it possible to purchase products that benefit from inflation? you can, but it's tricky. one of the beneficiaries of inflation concerns has been commodities. so oil stocks and steel and a m aluminum producers. there are ways to play the trend. is a basket of companies that ex-plex oil and gas. in a broader way, the natural resources etf,l sym hhp,

invest in oil and gas protcers lso agri business stocks. it's up 4%. even more exotic. how about timber? the symbol is cut. invest inr tim companies. why? the theory is that -r timbated products have been seen as hedges against inflation in the past. commodities are not the only play on ome are buying variable rate loans which rise as interest rates rise. using etfs like the power shares senior loan portfolio. others are trying to short treasury bds usietfs. this is a further betia essey that interest rates will rise. a lot of choices out there. for nightly business report, at thek new yock exchange. the rise in bond yields means mortgage rates are going up. as we report,he timing couldn't be worse for a housing market that's already facing a number of head winds. >> reporter: buying a home just got a little more expensive. and this is a big weekend for

buyers as real estate agencies and home builders are running big spring promotions and sales. oosely e rates which follow the yield on the ten-year treasury hit their highest level yesterdaf since the end march, breaking out of a tight range where they've been sitting for a while. the move came as bond yieldsrg higher, while the increase won't mean a ton in terms of the average monthly paymt for a homebuyer, it could be signaling the start of another steady rise, which we saw at the start of this dar. hat can take an emotional toll not just on buyers but ons sells well. as rates rise, fewer homeowners will want to sell and buy another home because they would like g beiving up record low rates in the 3% range to move and pat on a closer to 5%. the entire nation is in the midst of a supply crisis and home builders are not ramping up as much as hopedecause of higher costs for materials and a labor shortage. that's just phing home prices ever higher. for nightly business report, in

washingt e. generctric was the best performing stock on the sue chip dow index and it's been a whilece we've been able to say that. this, after the company reported earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations. the ceo says the quarter represent ace step forward in that company's turnaround. investor s breathed a sigh of relief. sending shares up nearly 4%. morgan brennan has more on ge's results. >> reporter: the dow's oldest component reporting earnings that beat expectations and reaffirmed its outlook for a full-year profit and cash flow. on a conference call with analyst, the chairman and ceo calling the results his first report card. saying, quote, we see signs of progress. >> there's no change to our frame riwork of earnings per share. we expect earnings pressure and power will be offset by better aviation and better health care earnings and lower corporate costs. >> reporter: he took the helm last august and has been

aggressively cutting costs. he's moving forward with billions of dollars worth of divestitures. including ge's iconic lighting business. the updates were welcome by wall street. after negative revisions, no ws has become goodnews. >> i think what they're going to be able to do isook back on 2018 as the bottom, right, and 2019, even if m powerkets don't recover, they're finding a way to take costs out in an aggressive way, to still drive margin expansion, despite weak power markets. and that's really the tri well as looking at the portfolio little moreobjectively. >> when it comes to that portfolio, he isayg all options are on the table. for the bigger update of the ng-term future, expected in the coming months. next, the company will host its shareholder meeting next week to bring in new directors to icebo corporated. meantime, ge stock did finish the day higher. i'm morgarennan at the new

york stock exchange. >> it is time to take a look at some of today's upgrades and downgrades. itter was upgraded to buy from neutral at lkm partners. citing factors including user growth and twitter's mass market potential. the price target was increased to $40. twitter shares rose 1%o31.91. darden restaurants was upgraded to tperform from market perform at bernstein. the analyst expects darden's olive garden restaurants to perform well and cites long-term margin expansion. the price target is 05 per share. the shares were up more than 1% to $91.05. tractor supplies rating was raised to overweight f neutral at piper jaffray. the analyst there citing improving business trends in e agricultural industry. the firm's price target on the specialtyetailer is $72 a share. the stock rose jus fraction to $60.33. still ahead, tis the season for sneezing and sniffling.

>> spring is here and that means allergy season is un us. coming up, a look at why your allergies may be getting worse and at the big business of allergy medicine. as many as 5 million suntrust customers may have had their data comb pra miced after an employee stole client contract lists. the employee who has since left the company was working with a criminal third party when those lists were taken. separately the bank reported earning wise toppedex ctations. last it's now we told you that regulators were close to finding wells fargo1 billion for forcing customers into car

insurance and charging mortgage borrowers unfair fees. the bank will pay $5 million to th o comptroller the currency and $500 million to the consumer financial protection bureau. the fine is the largest every imposed the cfpb. the justice department hase repo opened an antitrust probe into potential collusion between at&t and verizon. according to "the new york times," regulators allege the companies worked together to make it more difficult forco umers to switch wireless carriers. the investigation was opened ago.months both verizon and at&t fell on this down market day. other reports said sprint and t mobile also received requests from the department of justice.e of china's top telecom companies is crying foulver the u.s. government's decision to ban american firms from providg components or software to zte. as we reported, t banas imposed this week by the

commerce department. and as we report zte is making its opposition known. >> zte's chairman called a press conference today to protest a seven-year ban imposed by the u.s. commerce department. the ban blocks american companies from selling components to the chinese smart phonemaker. zte pled guilty last year for violating u.s. sctions by supplying to iran. the company agreed to pay a hefty fine of $900 million and could take steps againsthe employees involved. at the press conference, the chairman admittewto being s to fulfilling the settlement but said the punishment didn't match the crime. such sanctions could putin the compan a com coma, he said. we oppose such an unfair punishment and the act of politicizingtrade. the smart phonemaker said it would use all legal means necessary to safeguard its rights. there are two competing

reactions in china to zte's case. one is thept att to whip up national sentiment to suppony the com and china's high-tech industry. in the state media, the canna daily headline that read p reads the u.s. action against zte aims to hit china's 5g advantages. the shake-up about the danger of getting into a trade war with the united states because they realize that the u.s. makes a lot of products that the chinese need. on social media, one user said, from this i l arned how big gap there is between china and the u.s. in tech otdevelopment. r says only when you have high tech can you have a say.pe s here have been calling for china to speed up its efforts to develop its own homegrown chip industry. for nightly business reports, in beijing. honeywell hikes its forecast for the second time this year. and that's where we begin tonight' market focus. a strong quarter helped by

strength in the aerospace business prompted honeywell to raise guidance for 2018. s honeywell alsd its taking aggressive action to mitigate anyat ne impact caused from the new tarries on imported steel and aluminum. shares rose to 150.57. stanley black & decker topped sales expectations but investors were kiss appoindisappointed to weak full-yeaoutlook. saying the guidance was result of an acquisition and a tax isarge. shares fd down more than 6% to 144.21. schlumberger said strength in divisions of its helped earnings top expectations. the oil field services company also warned the industry will face supplge chall this year and will need new investments to offset a shortage. o shar schlumberger fell 69.23.1.5% to and the activist hedge fund january that partners disclosed

9% sta in pinnacle foods. to the t plans to talk owner of birds eye and duncan hines brands about exploring ap ntial sales. also plans to nominate new directors and suggest ways pinnacle can cut costs. jumping to $60.58. it is time now for our hasly market monitor who names of stocks he says are the number one winners of the digital economy. the lastas time he on back in october, he liked facebook, which is down5%, es speronne there puttic, which is up 55%, and wave life since, which is 96% hier. joining us is mark leeman, president of jmp securities. welcome back. congratulations. we think thas terrific. you're giving our see eviewers kind of advice. you're talking about the digital economy. f ere have been a number challenges in the digital economy lately.

and some of it involves one of youre' picks which getin to a second. but you like amazon. a lot of people think amazon has run pretty far, pretty fast. >> well, they're right. and it has been in the news as of late. and it has run a lot. but it's one of those names y i thin want to continually watch. likeu have an opportunity we've had when it was in the news for other reasons and you got a chance at much lower, that's when you want to pay attention. it's moved a lot. it's a volatile name. you have volatility, potentially to buy it at a moreeasonable price. i think that's why amazon's the top of our list here at jp securities. >> okay, the one stock that has always been in the news i was referring to a second ago is facebook. you're taking a bit of a contrarian view on this one. >> we are. it has been in the news as of la k. everybodyws mark zuckerberg's testimony in front of congress. but the stock i think i much more reasonably priced, despite

all the headlines and all the headline risk. i think there will be some regulation. i think they'll be some self-regulation that i think facebook will go through. but the juggernaut they have with the consumers and advertisers, i don't think it's going to change. i think you have a stock at a morettractive valuation. i think you need to ignore some of the noise you'll get with e currentuarter and know you're still buying a winner at less than 20 times earnings and that's a stock i think is the winner in the digital economy. you got a chance to buy it pe ch you should. >> okay, but as an investor, you need to be aware there may be some headline risk with that name,t? ri >> absolutely, and i think, you know, you probably haven't heard the last oit. think there's definitely more of self-awareness they're going through. but i'd pick mark zuckerberg and his teammates any day. the juggernaut they have with their couple billion users and their daily users. >> wrap it up with zillow, w do you like it? >> it's another company at the top of their game in terms of

the sector therere in of the estate market. it's gone through a little consternation as of late. they talked abt expandingome of the breadth of their products lately. it's caused the stock to deteriorate little bit from recent highs. it is the number one brand in that sector. l the consumers know that name. i think if they continue to expand their offeri, it's more reasonably price ed today, and think nineonths down the road, you're going to want to o that stock. here at attractive levels, it's a goodry point. >> mark lehman with jmp securities. you can read more about his stock picks on our website which is nbr.com. well, it is spring, and as the temperatures rise, so does the pollen count. and that means millions of ople will turn to allergy medicines to alleviate sneezing and sniffng and watery eyes. and that is big business for a companif now, we have more. >> reporter: each spring, national cherry blossom festival

draws more than 1 million visitors to washington, d.c. visitors like 74-year-old sandra, who v loves thew but hated the way it made her feel. >> it's deceptive when you see something so beautiful and it over.y knocks you right you can't sleep. you can't breathe. but icope. >> reporter: she is one of 50 million americans who suffer from seasonal allergies which cause irritating symptoms like stuffy nose and itchy ice but also more serious effects like coughing and wheezing and asthma. this allergy at snyu s seasonal allergies are getting more severe. >> climate change is a big reason for that. because our carbon dioxide levels are now higher, the poll is much more potent and the plants are almost producing super pollen and the seasons are much longer. >> reporter: allergy medicines are big business for the pharma industry, drawing more than$2.6 billion in u.s. revenue in the last year accord to data. that's just for over the counter

products like j &j zyrtec. and doesn't include prescriptioe cines. the costs for consumers can add up. sandra uses a prescription inhaler that she says costs her $50 out of pocket. >> there are pple t cannot get relief because they can't pay the price. her andter: but for other allergy sufferers like this 26-year-old student and waitss jessica, going without illery medicines is not an ustion. >> i'm going to be like waterfall of just all over the ple i guess. it's, yes, it's an uncomfortable feeling. >> reporte here's wishing everyone a less sniffly spring. for "nightly business report," from the new york botanical garden, bronx, new rk. coming up, the new ways to get to space.>> i'm morgan brennan in colorado springs. it is the biggest space conference of the yeand one of the hottest topics, blue or jens rocket engines. we catch up with the spa company created by jeff bezos tk

bout space tourism, its next generation rocket and technology, coming up on "nightly business report." here's a look at what to watch next week.tu on day, dow component 3 m, united technologies and rerizon wiort quarterly results. on wednesday, we'll hear from blue chip boeing. on friday, a look at how much the economy grew in the first quarter. and that is what to wak.h for next w president trump criticized opec and the cartel's role ing pushp oil prices. he wrote, quote, looks like opec is att again. with record amounts of oil all

over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, oil prices are artificially very high. no good and will not be accepted, end quote. that tweet sent oil prices lower earlier in the day, but they recovered and settled slightly r hi opec's secretary-general has said that the organization does not have price objective but is working to restore stability to the oil markets. the faa is issuing an emergency directive, ordering inspections of mor jet engines like the one involved in the fatal southwe. accide the new order goes beyond what was previously proposed. engines with the high number of ngs must and lan complete inspections within 20 days. european regulators are also issuing a similar order. private american companies are competing to become leaders in the new space race and in the process, phase out our reliance on russian s. one of those companies is blue or jen.

i morgan brennan is bk with us, filing this report from colorado springs. >> reporter: meet blue origins new rocket engihe, t be-4. it represents a crucial step toward intergalactic dominance but it's also a matter of national secu aty. >> i thiot of americans don't realize that some of thes most sve security and military missions right now in terms of space are being powered by russian-made rockets. so this actually represents really kind a shift in terms of american manufacturing. what's the opportunity there? >> the opportunity has to do to replace those rockets and get on to american rockets, buying american payloads. so it's exciting actually to do that. this is something we developed with our own dollars so we're excited about the commercial activities. >> reporter: bob smith is the o of blue origins created by

amazon's jeff bazzos. in his first on camera interview since taking the helm last year. >> i we spent so much ti development, over seven years developing this engine to make it reusable. this engine will perform 100ar . >> reporter: the company develops the engine for its own rockets which are expected to begin lauhing payloads into orbit as soon as 2020. but the company also hopes to t sell them united launch alliance or ula. the industry consortium owned by boeing and lockheed martin. it currently relies on russian engines. lawmakers want thos phased out. >> in 2020, we're so excited about that, we'll introduce these elements. then full new technologies in an advance upper stage. >> reporter: blue origin is competing to build the engine. the contract its expted to win when the decision is announced,

quote, soon. smith says it will mean new revenue stream and fit into a broader strategy taken from the amazon playbook. >> buildspa lities, builds capabilities, gains some customer base and continues to build on that. we're going to do the same kind of strategy of building capability after capability and making sure wget customer adoption as we go along. >> reporter: blue origin isti co customers for its own rockry. plans to caying passengers past the edge of space could take place as soon as this year. it all speakso the unprecedented role the private sector's phiying in new space race. as billionaire visions now realities. >> i think we'll have obviously flying space tourists. we'll be flying several payloads as well. we'll be i think the pre-eminent enginecorovider in the try. we'll also have our new vehicle that we'll be using not f only civil and commercial but financial security payloads as well. at tilt point, we be in very much the position we want to be as we sta in today.

>> reporter: i'm morgan brennan in colorado springs. and before we go, here's a look at the day and the week on wall street. the dow fell 20 points. the nasdaq was off 91. the s&p 500 lost 22. for the week, the major i were all fractionally higher. that will do it for "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm sue herera. thank you for joining us. have a great weekend, everybody. we will se on monday.back here

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