>> announcer: this is "nightly siness report" with bill griffeth and sue her hope springs eternal, but two new reports on the housing market are raising some concerns at a critical time of thear historic settlement. the maker of oxycontin has agreed to pay a hefty fine after the state of oklahoma accused it of helping fuel the opioid drug epidemic. tech transformation. mcdonald's mak its bigge acquisition in 20 years, joining other fast food companies who are betting big on the digital e futu those stories and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tu and we do bid you a good fening, everybody, and welcome. stocksished higher today despite those continued concerns

about the slowing global economy. but as it happens,uch ofhis day's news centered around the consumer, and we begin tonight with the fed and the increasing possibility that the central bank could lower interest rates later this year. at least that's what the marts are signaling right now. and it could affect everything from your morrage to y auto loan to the amount of interest that you receive on your savings account. steve liesman takes a n look at the rapidly changing outlook for monetary policy. >> up until a few days ago the idea of the reservera cutting s was a minority review and was a remote possibility for next year. now the market has shifted dramatically. pricing inut rate maybe as soon as september of 2019. the fed fund futures market which bets on what the fed israel do is pricingn a50% chance of a quarter point rate cut in september and those odds rise to 64% by december. what happened? first, theee fed last

signalled lower interest rates th the market had expected. second, some key economic data from overseas, already weak, came in weaker than expected.n thene past few days, two fed officials suggested rate cuts coupo be a ibility. speaking in hong kong, chicago fed president charles evans said on monday quote, if activity softens more than expected or il ion and inflation expectations run too low, then policy may have to be left on hold or perhaps even loosened. a rate cut would be a sharp reversal f a fed that just hiked in december, and that move is increasingly criticized. >> they made a mistake of raising it and then made a terrible mistake in the statement that came out that edsort of imp they wouldn't keep on raising in 2019 which b they walkek immediately when the markets collapsed. the move itself was a miste. if they ha known the long bond was 2.40 in march, they would never have raised it. >> has the market gone too far? it's worth remembering at its meeting last week the fed emphasized it had shifted policy

into neutral, neither leaning towards a hike or a cut. the market has taken that a step further, taking the minority view of a cut and making it thes n bet for now. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. lower interest rates cou mean lower mortgage rates. but there is more to the housing market than just that. today two important reports are raising some questions about the critical spring selling season. diana olick has the details. >> reporter: home buillers back in february, which was a surprise, given the strong demand for housing and theig drop in mortgage interest rates. single family housingtarts fell more than 10% annually, and building permits were down as ll. the average rate on the 30-year fixed rose through much of last year, peaking at just over 5% last november, and that caused sales of both new and existing homes to drop dramatically. but rates began falling in december and have p nowmmeted to the lowest level in more than a year. that should have prompted

builders to be more optimistic pouring more foundations. apparently not. >> i think there's a lot of caution from builders coming out of the pretty abysmal q4 that they had. so people have been h back on adding more inventory into the pipeline. >> reporter: single family home construction is still climbing out of the crash that hit a full decade ago, and starts are still well below historical averages. builders did put up more speculative homes or homes without buyer contracts on them recently and are now sitting on asi month supply. >> i wouldn't say it's a great time. i would say it's a better time than a year with the rise in speculative inventory that builders he seen the past three or four months, yeah, they have had to stunt disng on that. >> reporter: price gains have been shrinking for tentraight months, falling to just over 4% depreciation inja ary. all of these are mixed signals for the housing market thi

spring, which will depend as much on housing affordable as it will on overall confidence in the eeconomy,ecially for the growing number of millenials who e the decision whether o jump ir stay on the sideline. for "nightly business report," i'm diana welcome back, nela. >> thanks for having me. >> diana laidt out there, you get less inventory which could mean higher prices and that's an afford ability problem for those first-time buyer, >> right. on the demand side, affordability is the key issue. we're at a state demographically where we're seeing the largest generation in history for the united states, the millenials, ing into peak home b years. so the demand is there and it has a strong tailwind. the problem is we don't have the inventory to match the demand that is coming. >> that's been a proem for

some time now, especially for first-time home buyers. do you s that dynamic changing at all? >> it's going tohange very slowly. and we've seen that. we've seen single h familysing struggle to get to prior historical norms, even though there is this demand. the reason is there are several headwinds on theupply side. we have still the difficuy of finding buildable lots. it's still hard to find bor, labor shortages are a factor. tariffs are a concern for building costs like lumber. then the a's regulatio zoning. these are persistent things and are not going come and go with one cycle or one decree in rates. >> do you like the home builders here as investments? >> you know, i amlong-term bullish on real estate because basicallyra demics are sde destiny andee the demographics very positive.

there are short-term factors that will build momentum for housing. wages are the strongestn they have bn the ten-year expansion so that's good for housing. we've seen mortgage rates come down as dianalluded to. all these things. we've seen prices coming down, helpinabwith affoity. all these things are additive for a momentu builders to meet that demand, but it is going to be a game o inche because of the supply headwinds still. >> indeed. very frustrating if you're tryi to find a home to buy right now. nela richardson with edward jones, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. and now to trade and rorts that top chinese officials have softened their tone on certainis es. it could signal that negotiators are getting closer to a de, one that could get rid of some of the tariffs that have hit both business and consumers. but there's another tr that still needs to be resolved, and that is the new nafta. it has not yet been ratified by congress and now the white house is looking to build support on capitol hill and beyond.

kayltausche has the de >> reporter: nearly four months since the u.s., canada and mexico signed a new trade deal, the white house is now making its pitch to lawmakers to pass g the reement. republicans meeting today at the white house to air their concerns. esident trump's top trade official meeting with democrats to shore up their votes. using hearings on other topics to sell the deal. >> if usmca doesn't pass, i've said this, befot would be a catastrophe across the oruntry. >> r ato avoid that outcome the administration has enlisted outside trhelp. e works for america is led by gop strategists. a multimillion dollaarting blitz with employee outreach, thousands of calls to lawmakers, and tv ads in vulnerable districts. >> the usmca is a trade agreement that will protect auto jobs an energize our >> reporter: michigan is one of oi handful of states where poing shows potential support for the deal in battleground districts that supported trump in 2016 but elected democrats

st november phil cox who leads trade works for america says thell eventually target 50 districts. >> those are the areas that we're going to be targeting the most because we're going to need mocrat votes to pas the house. we want to know how people in those districts view usmca. most of them don't really have an opinion. soe have a great opportunity to sort ofin d what this agreement is. >> reporter: cox's group found that 72% of voters in four sample swing districuprted the deal after hearing upbeat messages about it. the biggest jump, among women and democrats. >> what folks respond to in the polling is not the technical aspects of the deal, but the fact that this is good for farmers, it'sood for autoworkers. >> reporter: the sales pitch will kick intoigh gear in april when text of the deal and the report on its economi w impal be sent to lawmakers. vice president mike pence will take the lead on th white house's public effort in hopes of passing the deal by august, when lawmakers leave washington d the 2020 election season

begins. for "nightly business report," i'mayla tausche in washington. on wall street, stocks did finish the dayigher thanks to thrise in energy shares and a stabilization o yield of that 10-year treasury. by the close, the industrialas average up 140 points at ,657. the nasdaq added 53. the s&p gained 20. concerns of weaker global growthotid dampen demand for oil. prices rose as traders focus on opec's supply cuts and forecasts lower u.s. inventories. domestic crude settled just under $60 a barrel. believe it ornot, o prices are up about 30% so far in 2019. as you mno have ced, that is lifting the price that you pay at the gas pump. here to talk more abo oil and gas prices is dan mcteeg from gasbuddy.com. nice to have you here, dan. welcome back. >> good to be here, sue. thank you. >> this is kind of a push and pull situation between the e

fundamentals l the supply and demand, and what traders are willing to do ithe oil pits today? >> yeah. it looks like we have really two markets at play here. we've gone through three days where we've seen losses on the energy marketee now we a bit of a reversal. really at play is a concern about recession, brexit, concern abouthe trade deal, which the previous piece had alluded tobe een the united states and china. and of course the sort o stuff we heard last week, kind of an odd sort of circumstan. theield curve, basically meaning that there are indications that a recession is in the offing. whether that's true or not, i'll leave that to the economists. but all of these things have the pessimists really saying, hey, you know what, we don't want oil prices to go too high. the oth hand those dealing

with the supply issue are sayi tightening of oil. >> saudi arabia wants to see -- do you think they'll get it? >> it wouldn't have to go very far. it's trading today at 67, 68, a couple more dollar maybe we're finding a happy medium but we know crude has gone up over 30% since the beginning of the year. gasoline shot up, what, 42 cents a gallon since the beginning of january. so those prices look a whole lot more like what we've seen, say, in the last couple of months up to october of 2018. we're back to the high prices. but this may very well soften over the next several weeks. >> how much high do you think gasoline prices specifically could go? $3? $3.25? what's your forecast? >> you know, we think $3 is achievable. it was attainable last year. we saw it memorial day, long weekend, it hit $2.99 a an average. and of course it slowly climbed

down, didn't quite hit that point. i think there is upside momentum, especially given the tightness in supply. we've a number of criticalle pr with some of the refineries across the country. of course we saw the evidence from deer park and the houston channel bringing vessels in and out that have been sort of disrupted. all of r these arel factors. but strong demand for gasoline continues to be a biggh issue across the country. for that reason i think we can certainly see$3 before memorial day. >> on that note, dan mcteeg, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> time to look at some of day's upgrades and downgrades. looking at nvidia, the analyst cited potential for significant margin expansion at the company. the price target is $200. that stock rose 1.5% to $176.87. allegiant travel was upgraded to tperform from

neutral. the analyst citedhe strength in leisure fares lately. price target $149. shares were up 1% to $124.01. >> vertex pharma was edupgrt william blair. the analyst cited strength in the cysti fibrosis market following recent data from competitors. the price target now $222. that stock gained 3% to $189.91. still ahead, a settlement in the opioid crisis. but it's not ove > he acting head of the faa

will reportedly tell aenator panel that boeing 737 max jets will return to service only when analysis indicates that it's appropriate. according to reuters, dan elwell who is scheduled to testify tomorrow is expected to say the agency's oversight approach must evolve followi those two fatal crashes since october. the faa is expected toe receive inal version of boeing's software update later this week for evaluation. separately lufthansa says it has not lost trust in boeing. the german airli plans to expand its fleet next year but has yet to decide whether it will buy boeing or airbus smaller health insurers that have exposure to medicaid came under pressuretoday. this after a texas district court's decision that the affordab care acts unconstitutional should be affirmed. wellcare has some exposure. eports late e

tonight that centene and wellcare are in takeovks. congress went back to work in washington today and there are a number of policy issues that need to be worke out, as usual. ylan mui is following that story for us. what's on the agenda now that the mller investigation is over. >> reporter: there are two big issues that dominated the discussion on capitol hill today. the first one was health care. as you mentioned, democrats came out with new legislation today that they said will protect people with pre-existing conditio. it willlso lower the cost of premiums. but president trump was on capitol hill meeting with senate republicans today and he said that republicans should be the party of health care, so that is one issue that we n expect to see a lot more fus on in the woex a and month ahead. also today the senate took a vote on the green new deal, the sweeping proposal to climate change. it didn't advance in the senate, but democrats are determined to

continue t talk about this, even though it didn't move forward. that is another area where tuby say rcans are playing politics and republicans say that democrats need to decide whether or not they are tctually goin support this controversial proposal. >> on the health care issue, is this a pivot for lawmakers, especially republicans? >> so democrats would say they have been focused on these kitchen table issues allal g. that's one of the reasons they say that they won during the midterm elections back in18 i think that republicans right now are trying to regroupnd try to press their advantage right now politically. the end of the mueller investigation was a big win for them, and so they are willing to perhaps push forward with some boulde legislative and policy proposals they may have shied away from previously. >> ylan mui as always keeping her eyes on things in congress. thank you for joining us tonight. >> rep thank you. carnival cuts its profit outlook and that's where we begin the market focus.

the cruis ship company is blaming higher fuel prices and a tronger dollar for its soft outlook, but carnival topped earnings and revenue estimates in the most recent quarter. the ceo says the fundamental are strong. >> we see no weakness. we have capacity increase, bookings have been strong. in fact we have less volume to ok now same time as last year as we did last year and that' with capacity increase. so we're ahead on bookings. we're doi. very we >> shares of carnival, though, fell nearly 9% to $51.71. activist investors are calling on bed, bath and beyond's ceo to step down and they want the entire board replaced. the two investor groups own amb ed 5% stake in the company. they are also pushing for a revi of options, including a sale of all of bed, bath and beyond's noncore brands. the sres rose 22% to $16.92. mccormick reported

better-than-expected earnings but sales came up t shortnks to weakness in its consumer business. he ceo of the spice and seasoning maker says the company continues to execute successfully on its strategies. mccormick was up 1% today to $145.36. kb home reported better-than-expected earnings after the close of trade, but the home evilder'sue was shy of estimates. dvertheless, the ceo says he anticipates stronand during the spring selling season. shares initially rose following the neo, adding a fractional gain during the regular session toy where they closed at $24.08. the maker of prescption pain killer oxycontin settled a closely watched lawsuit with the state of oklahoma for about $270 million. purdue pharma has been accused of playing a role in the nation's deadly opioid crisis. as aditi roy reports, this settlement will not be the last. >> reporter: a settlement announced today aimed at the heart of the nation's opioid crisis. the agreement resulting from a suit agast oxycontin maker,

purdue pharma, by oklahomto atrney general mike hunter. the majority of meey will go towards the national addiction center at oklahoma state university. >> it is going to save countless lives and it's going to keep families together. and it's going to be the tip of the spear in terms of leading the nation out of the addiction epidemic that has claimed this past year 70,000 lives. >> reporter: oklahoma's suit claimed purdue and other makers powered the opioid crisis through aggressive marting tactics which downplayed the harms of the opioids. the deal aids what would have reportedly been the first trial purdue over the drug crisis. two members of the sackler family, which founded the company, will not have to testify in court. in a statement, members of the sackler family said while the agreement announced today is not ainancial model for future settlement scussions, the establishment of a national

center is a unique and important step that we w hopl save lives. but today's deal could be just the beginning for purdue. the company reportedly faces up to 1600 opioidawsuits from states, cities and counties over prescription painkillers. and oklahoma is reportedly one of 37 states to sue purdue since 2017. earlier this month, puue's ceo said the company is looking at a possible bankruptcy as a result of these claims. the company has dend wrongdoing, saying labels for its pain killer carriedtharnings abou risk of abuse and se mi from 1999 to 2017, nearly 218,000 people have died in the u.s. from overdoses related to prescription opioids, according to the centers forl isease contprevention. oxycontin came on the market in 1996. t some say pharmaceutical companies are not the only ones

to b for the crisis. >> as a society we're always looking for bad guys. it's rarely tlet si there are a lot of people, the fda and physicians and drugrs develon insurance companies that can really play a role in making things better. >> reporter: today's settlement only involves purdue leaving claims pending against johnson and johnson and rael-based teva pharmaceuticals. i'm aditi roy, san francisco. coming up, how artificial intelligence will change the way former nissan chief carlos

ghoan received a perk from the automaker. nissan paid the collegeuion of all four of his children who attended stanford university of the total cost about $600,000. nissan did not respond to a request for comment. uber is buying middle east rival kareem for a little more than $3 billion. this acquisition is uber's largest ever. it will help the ride-hailing companyush further into that region that has about 400 million people. the deal also ends a rather costly battle between the two companies over market shars lyft expected to price its shares above the targeted range when it goes public. that range was between $62 and $68 a share. according to "the wl street journal" there's strong investor demand o aheadthe initial public offering, but he price is unlikely to be as high a $80. shares are expecte to price late thursday. and for those consumers who enjoy fast food, the entire

industry is undergoing a technological transformation. and today, mcdonald's made its aggestuisition in 20 years, buying artificial intelligence start-up dynamic yield. the stock rose nearly 1% on that news. and tonight, kate rogers takes us into the company's digital future. >> reporter: mcdonald's spending some $300illion on the startup, according to people familiar with the deal. dynamic yield uses technology to help personalize the customer experience. mcdonald's will display it's in willrive-throughs which show food based on time of day, weather, traffic, and trending items.y it will displ additional items based on what they just ordered. the plan is to roll thisut into u.s. t restaurantss year and th into top international markets. this as they modernize and ur update rests around the globe. mcdonald's isn't alone with its

focus on technology as consumer preferences change. chipotle is focusing on digital, seeing its digital sales skyrocket about 65% in the fourth quarter. the company is currently testing out chipotle lanes. duin' donuts rolled out a drive-through solely for mobile orders. part of its $100 million blueprint for growth to upda a location offerings through 2020. and just last week, starbuts announced would focus on investing in and potentially partnering with food and retailstartup technology companies through a new fund. as custouirs demand access, customization and easy ordering, more now than ever before, restaurants are banking on technology to get them into stores, at drive-throughs or even orderin from the comfo of home. for "nightly business report," and before we go, here's a final lookt the day o wall street. the dow was up 140 points to

25,657. the nasdaq added 53. the s&p 500 gained 20. and the pricedef domestic c settled just under $60 a barrel today. beeve it or no oil prices are up about 30% so far in 2019. and that will do it for "nightly business report" tonight. i'm sue herera, thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have awereat evening. l definitely

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