>> annnnouncer: this is "nightlw business reporh sue herera andill griffeth. make or break. that's how some are d wcribing thk ahead for investors as the fed decision comes into focus and tech valuaonons are ques. targeting cancer. pfizer makes a$10 billion deal to expand its cancer lineup and its footprint in an area konwn as preciedicine. high stakes. airbus unveils a new jet and announces new orders at the paris air show, while rival boeing plays defense. hose stories and much more tonight on "nightly business report" for monday, june 17th. > good evening, everyone, and welcome. inflection point, crossroads, watershed moment -- whatever you

want to call it, it has aheived for market. investors are looking for clarity on two major issues -- interest rates and trad thisweek, the federal reserve policymakers meet to decide whether t now is time to lower the benchmark rate. most say it is not, but some say it is. the market wants a rate cut. some economists argue it's not necessary. if a rate cut doesn't come at this week's meeting, investors will be looking for clues as to when it will, given the escalating geopolitical and trade nsions, as well as slowing global growth. and with that as a backop investors were in wait-and-see mode today. the dow jes industrial average rose 22 points to 26,112. the nasdaq added 48. and the s&p 500 was uptwo. bob pisani starts us off tonight from the new york stock exchange. >> stocks are off toui a start so far, but there's no shortage of market-moving catalysts to comen the week ahead. that's what's important. trade talks and the federal reserve will be front and center all week with president donald

trump set to meet with chinese present xi jinping next week at the g-20 meeting in japan. but earlierrc today, com secretary wilbur ross downplayed prospects of a major tde deal getting done. >> it's very hard to put a timetable on things. i think that we willy eventua probably make a deal, but if we don't, the president is perfectly happy with continuing the tariff movementshatre we've aly announced, as well as imposing the new ones that he has temporarily suspended. >> we saw ade-related sectors like semiconductors, materials, industrials, all weaker today, generally, as a rest of that on the flip side, we did see some strength in communications services, like facebook, netflix, and google pent alphabet, all turning around a bit. the other big issue for the week is the federal reserve. they kk off a two-day meeting on interest rates tomorrow. the question now is, c the fed set the stage for a new easing cycle when it meets on wednesday? many traders are expecting fed chair jay powell to leave the door open for a rate cut later

this summer, maybe even next month, without sounding the alarm about a global economic slowdown. it won't be easy to get the tone right on that. right now, interest stte-sensitive groups like utilities and reale are essentially at historic highs as rate cuts make them more attractive investments for investors who have been starving for yields. ter in the week, by the way, we'll also get key data on housing and otmanufacturing, of which will paint a clearer picture of just how healthy the economyeally is. for "nightly business report," i'm bob pisani at the stock exchange. >> so, there's a lot to come. a slew of economic data, the fed, the ongoing trade talks. will these be catalysts that move the market higher, or will they be road blocksh that pt lower over the next couple of weeks? joining us right now, jack avolon, founding partner and chieftnvestment officer crescent capital. jack, i cannot recall a wider spectrum of forecasts for a federal reserve meeting. plenty of people are saying it's not goinge to happen this t

around, but a few high-profile people, economist diane swonk, jim graham, they're saying they could cut rates this week. what do you think's going on here? >> well,ou know, it' matter of what they should do and what they -- you know, wha they should do and what they will do. and i think if it comes to either nourishing theconomy or feeding a very hungry sto market, my sense is that they ultimately willke cave to m pressure and lower rates. i don't think they want to do it this week. remember, if we look at the economy right now, we're coming off one of the strongest quarters we've had in the last ten year l thor market's the best it's been in ten years. confidence is running high. so youknow, from an economic, purely economic standpoint, there's actually very little justification for lowering rates. in fact, it's really just sort of a consequence ofhis stalemate going on with trade that's causing problems, and that's where we need to focus next. >> which puts the focus directly

on the g-20 meeting, does it i mef we're going to get not? any progress with trade, the presiden and the chinese premier are reportedly going to meet. that change, certainly. but might the fed want to wait and see what the outcome of thas meeting >> yeah. i mean, if i were a member of the federal open market committee, i'd say, absolutely, t's take a wait-and-see. fact is, we have this, you know, potential for an agreement, albeit, i would say it's remote, to perhaps wipe away these tariffs, move back tness as usual, and you know, carry on. that said, you know, most investors or most americans believe this is a trade this really is really more about the global dominance in technology and life science. and the president is using trade as really one of his only weapons to get being's attention. so, the fact that there's such a

gaping difference in philosophy suggests toe that, y know, a sweepingat trade negon, a deal around the corner still seems pretty unlikely. >> well, get the popcorn ready. it's going to be an interesting that's for sure. >> jack with crescent capital, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. goldman sachs is raising some questions aut the tech sector today. the firm says the valuation for growth stocks is high, and if so, what could that mean for the overall market? joboing us to talk that is paul meeks. he is the lead portfolio manager for the wireless fund. welcome, paul. nice to have you here. >> thanks, sue. >> you know, goldman sachs made some pretty compelling arguments, but you think they've taken it a little bit too far.u' not as bearish on that particular sector of the market. why? >> now, i'm value-sensitive. i typically only buy stocks when they've really come down a lot and they're still embracing m long-term themes.

i think goldman's call today was far too broad, because when you take a look at the tech sector, it's actually made up of a number of component industries. and there are a couple of industries, such as rs semiconduc that looked actually quite cheap to me because they're the ones that have beeneaten up t most by the ban on huawei and also the continuing trade and tariff battles with china and the u.s. >> we, that's a issue that needs to be addressed. i mean, fundamentally, you may find some of these fihigh-p technology companies aren't cheap, but they faceer some big political head wundz in washington when we the antitrust investigations that are going on that go after some of the big faang stocks right now, right? >> that's true. it will be interesting to see what happens with these ongoing investigations. the ftc andhe department of justice, with at least four of the major tech companies and both of the major social media companies. but the way i look at this is,

particularly the ftc investigation -- thi tis somethint's been going on for a long time. i don't think thaew that is news. as it pertains to the department of justice, something more new, something more interesting, something that we have to be wary of, but i also think it's a lot of pressure going into the presidential election in the next couple years, wherell of -- both sides of the aisle are interested in showing their strengmp versus these ies. i don't want to say it's much ado about nothing, but i do think tt once we ghrough with this, there won't be that many changes and far less consequential than some people think right now. >> so, given the broad swath that we've talked about here, where are you still findingel cong value in the tech sector? >> so, sue, what i've done is i do think you need to play some defense in the near term, and so, i have a little bit higher cash than usual, and i've bee hiding in a couple of, i call them techish names,re that are

ecure and stable. and these are companies like the payment processors -- mastercard, visa, paypal. i even bought some disney recently with its videore ing entree, and trying to stay away from some of the big, cyclal companies, particularly those that are tied up in the geopolitical mess. >> on that note,pa , thank you so much. paul meeks -- >> thank you. >> -- witel the ws fund. we have deal news today. pfizer bought oray f biopharma more than $10 billion. it beefs up the drugmaker's portfolio of cancer treatments just as it faces an increase in generic competiti for som of its popular drugs. shares soared by 56% today. pfizer gained a fraction as well. meg tirrell hor more us tonight. >> pfizer is making a $10 billion bet in an area known as precision medicine. the idea thatde intifying the drivers of disease can lead to more effective array biopharma makes tarerted canc drugs, an approach that's garnered increasing attention

from investors in biotechnology. >> we think that targeting the root cause of disease is the best way to approach drug development. >> big pharmaceutical companies agree.pf er's acquisition of array is just the latest focused on targeted therapies for cancer. earlier this year eli lil purchased loxo oncology for $8 billion and glaxosmiteline m an acquire. in array, they get a lint of experi medicines for different forms of cancer as well as a combination of drugs that treats melanoma a has potential in other cancers, something that mike caldwell said drew his firm to the stock. >> what got us really excited was their data in colorectal cancer, which is a market that th will have a best-in-class profile as well because right nowhe are no competitors there and nobody that's on their heels. so that's a market that pfizer will be able to own that's substantiara and where s data are really compelling. >> the deal also spurred

speculation about more biacquisitions of ech companies, driving up shares of others developing targeted cancer drugs like brupt medicines and miradi therapeutics. and while the precision medicine approach isn't a cure-all, er's investment in the space, according to caldwell, is evidence of its promise. for "nightly business report," i'm meg tirrell.> a number of disappointing economic reports to tell you about. a key gauge of manufacturing nactivity the new york region saw a record decline in june and fell into negativ territory for the first time in two years. any rding below zero indicates a contraction in activity. the reportuggests that business sentiment around tariffs is starting to sour, particularly because manufacturers tend to be extra sensitive not jt to the actual implementation of tariffs, but also to the threat of new ones. meanwhile, sentiment ang the nation's homebuilders dipped in june. that industry is sll plagued by some familiar concerns like the high costf construction materials and a continued lack of skilled labor.

trade issues also don't help. tariffs are adding to t cost of lumber, and that's been going up anyway. the latest sovey als cited excessive regulation for the downturn in confidce. ahose tariffs are one of the reasons why the nation's executives are feeling less optimistic about the economy. dominic chu breaks down the latest survey thateasures ceos' moods. >> reporter: business leaders in america are losingonfidence in the outlook for business in america. that's according to a new survey released by the chief executive group, which asks hundreds of ceos across the country about their concerns and challenges, and the month of june saw ceo confidence fal to the rowest level since december of last year. 384 ceos representing various-sized businesses collectively feel less confident ab t futureconditions. one of the biggest reasons for the drop in confidence has to do withne heigh trade tensions between not just the u.s. and of the t also because recent issue surrounding trade

relationships with mexico. that drop in confidence is also showing up in whateos think will happen with their company financials in the coming year. while nearly three-quters of survey respondents felt like they would see an increase in sales and profits when may numbers were collected, this month those numbers dipped. the same themes bear out when comes to how much they expect to spend onng thi like hiring and investing in buildings a production facilities. only around half expt to hire more workers or spend more on capital expenditures. the good news is that much of the drop in optimistic is due the uncertainty around trade and tariffs. if those overhangs were to towards eventual resolutions, ceo confidence may very wellee turnaround. for "nightly business report," i'm dominic chu. time to take a look at some of tay's upgrades and downgrades. we begin with shares of disney.y ere cut to inline from outperform at imperial capital. the analyst citedoc the s big run-up this year so far,

saying shares are now what hes cat a record multiple. price target, $147. that stockct fell a fn today to $140.97. dow inc. was downgraded to market perform from outperform at bmo capital markets. the analy says the global trade issues and weaker growth worldwide will make 19 a challenging year for this material science company. price rg, $52. shares fell 3.5% today to $49.35. deere was upgraded to troutperform from n over at baird. the analyst cites higher prices for some crops, which should help drive farms a equipment demand. the price target is $175. the stock rose more than1.5% to $154.37. curing dr. pepper was upgraded to outperform from market perform, citing a potential for earnings growth. the price target is$3 shares were up nearly 5% to $30.04. still ahead, boeing and

airbus go head to head. >> reporter: aroded 737 max and a new airplanfrom basairbus the two stories dominating the paris air show. i'm phil lebeau in paris. that story coming up on "nightly business report." ♪ there are reports tonight suggesting that the faa will soon begin certification flights to test the chaes boeing made to t the 737 max flight control system, but boeing says those flights have yet to be actually

scheduled. meanwhile, the future of the max has been in focus at this year's paris air show, where aviation companies historically book some big orders. this year, that'sxa ectly what airbus did, but boeing did not. phil lebeau is there. >> reporter: the roar of planes soaring above the paris air show could nrown out the two big stories swirling on the tarmac -- the changin fortunes of airbus and boeing, more specically, the 737 max and whether boeing can get the grounded plane drecertifie and erck in service by early september, or whet will be closer to the end of the year. >> well, certainly we expect to ore the endappen b of the year, as we've said. i can't give you a specific timetable. that will beoverned by the regulators. we're keeping our airline customers very much in the loop so they know exactly what's going on. >> reporter: what many are unclear about is exactly how much thedi gro of the max will hurt boeing's business long term, and by extension, hundreds of companies building parts for

the plane. >> thess primary that everybody's focused on, whether it be the oems, not just ,boei but also airbus, because it's an interesting issue, and then it's obvisly hangi over every supplier and every disvession and investment people are looking at. that's the biggest issue, certainly. >> reporter: the other big story in paris is the new airbus 321 xlr, a longer-range, narrow-body ane, designed to connect smaller cities f that arether apart. air lease corps, which leases hundreds of airplanes to airlines around the world, is buying the first batch of xlrs scheduled to start lying in 2023. >> there's huge demand there, and the eat advantage of the 321 xlr to an airplane is not having to fly a wide-body on some of these city pairs that d really't demand it. >> reporter: the launch of the xlr, while que ions swirl around the 737 max, means airbus gill easily rack up more orders than boe in paris. but overall, there will be far fewer new airplanes oered at this year's show, the fewest in

three years, as airlines wait t see when the max will get back in the air. phil lebeau, "nightly business report," paris.> today, shares of boeing rose more than 2%, but thetock is down 16% since the deadly ethiopian airline crash in march. the 737 max was grounded worldwide shortly after. going once, going twice, sold!s sothebits the block. that's where we begin tonight's "market focus" with bid air usaa that's private group controlled by french media entrepreneur and art collector patrick drahy. he bought the auction house for more than $3.5 billion. if approved by deshareh, sotheby's will return to private ownership after 30 years. shares soared to $56.13. c&j energy and keen group have agreed to a merger of equals in a deal valuedne at ly $2 billion. that merger will create a

diversified oil fie services mpany with more than $4 billion in annual revenue. c&j eney rose 20% to $12.87, while keen rose 7% to $7.48. and at that paris air show, general electric notched a $20 billion engine order from india's budget carrier indigo a company jointly owned by ge and francis safran will make engines that power nearly 300 airbus aircraft for indigo. ares of ge fell more than 1.5% to $10.05. grubhub is teaming up withs dunkin' brao allow people to order online at 400 dunkin' stores in new york city through seamless, which is grubhub's new york brand. after the big apple, that service will then expand to boston, chicago, and philadelphia in the coming months. grubhub cmbed more than 2% to $72.01. dunkin' rose a fraction to $80.50. the chinese e-commerce company alibaba is proposing an

8 for 1 stock split, a move designed to increase flexibility in raising capital. under the proposal,he number of ordinary shares would increase from $4 billion to $32l n. a vote will be brought up at alibaba's annual meeting next month. the shares were up more than 1% to $159.91. a lockheed martin executive says he's not concerned that the proposed merger of raytheon and united technologies would affect the f-35 program. greg ulmer, the program manager for the f-35 fighter jet, believes the merger will also not p t pressure on company's profit margins. the shares dropped a fraction to $348.69. a health care start-up wants to shake up and simplify part of the very complicated health care system, and its mission sounds very similar to the ones set forth by the jointtu v between berkshire hathaway, jpmorgan and amazon. bert coombs has the story. >> reporter: collective health has administered health plans or tech neighbors like activision, pinterest, and uber,

for the last five years. with a new $200 million investment led by tech venture firm softbank, the start-up aims to build its business with midsized and large self-insured employers beyond silicon valley. >> establish new local, regional, and national network t rships, work with provider systems. >> reporter: and build out its technology infrastructure, which weaves together health benefits all on o platform, making it more efficient to navigate for employers and workers. >> providing our members with much more intelligent, ma ine-learning-powered navigation capabilities, understanding their health care needs often before even they need. at they >> reporter: early investor rshammed makzumi says, like employers, invesre looking for health technology firms that make benefits more cost-efficient. >> digital health has been the fastest growing subcategory in all oor venture the last seven years. you know, more money is flowing, capil inflows into private digital health companies in 2019

than in 2018, 2017, 2016 combined. >> reporter: arguably, one of the biggest investmn the last year has been amazon, berkshire hathaway and jpmorgan's formation of haven, a new venturein tg to use technology to reimagine employer health care, but analysts say softbank has a record in inveing in tech unicorns valued at more than $1 billion, which can dominate in their businesses. >> i think it was also fair to e,sume that it would take a long time to get th and you know, now is the time to make an investment and to make a stake now, put a stake in the ground. >> reporter: the 6-year-old start-up sees plenty of room for both. >> it' an encouraging sign that they're trying to do a lot of the same things that we have been doing. >> reporter: in fact, collective health would like to work with haven and its founding firms. for them, the real competition is about disrupting the traditional insurers. for "nightly business report," i'm bertha coombs. you probably have heard by

now that gloria vanderbiltss away today. and what a life she lived. yes, she was the great, great granddaughter of the fabled rail titan c neliusvanderbilt, and she was forever known as the poor little rich girl when her adult relatives waged a highly publicized custody battl over her in the 1930s. but she also made her own mark in busineost famously with her gloria vanderbilt jeans, ich helped usher in the designer jeans craze of the 1970s. it was the beginning of a $100 million fashion empire. beyond that, vanderbilt publishedpoetry, short stories and novels. she wrote four memoirs, all of them best-sellers. gloria vanderbilt was 95 years old. ♪ hi

a group w the treasury department is recommending mandatory financial literacy courses for college students.ep thet also suggests that financial aid letters should itemize attendance costs. the group says such practices are especially imptant now cause americans have loaded up on $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. here we go again. a number of companies will be makil their wreet debuts this week, and one of them is a company called slack. this company's software is used by businesses to help employees communicate. and just as it aims to shake up instant messaging, it's also going public in a nontraditional way, throu something called a direct listing, as opposed to a more common ipo. leslie picker explains.

>> reporter: a direct listing differs from the moretr itional initial public offering in three major ways -- one, no aderwriters. ipo, underwriters wil find investors, market the shares, and help set a price based on demand. direct listings, instea involve financial advisers, usually from the same wall street firms. these bankers provide advice about the process and help with the discovery of the opening price. financialosdvisers less than underwriters. spotify's direct listing costs about a third of what the company would have spent on an ipo, saving the company about $100 million. two -- no cash. instead of raising money, the prary purpose of a direct listing is to create a public market for a stock by allowing early investors and employees to sell and newer investors to buy. three -- no road show. traditional ipos require executives to spend two weeks on the road, visiting with and tors to pitch the deal drum up demand. the direct listgs generally require just one day, really, just a few hours for execuves

towebcast the pitch for any s vestor who wants to tune in. for "nightly businport," i'm leslie picker. and before we go, here's a look at the final day's numbers on wall street. the dow rose 22 points. the nasdaq added 48. and the s&p 500 was up two. and that is "nightly business report" tonight. i'm sue herera. thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffeth. have a great evening. see you tomorrow.

woman: this is "bbc world news america." e possible by... the freeman foundation; by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation, pursuinga'olutions for amerneglected needs; and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. jane: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washingn, i am jane o'brien. rare access inside chin'