this is "nightly business report." >> trade optimism. talks between the u.s. and china resume tomorrow. the stakes are high. the relationship complicated. stocks rise on hopes progress will be made. losing its edge. e u.s is less competitive than it was year ago after singapore knock it out of the top spot. frozen pensions. what you should know if your of oyer changes the terms your retirement an. those stories and more tonight on "nightly business report" for wednesday, oober 9. >> we do bid you good evening. on the eve of the critical trade talks, there wased m optimism on wall street today amid more mixed signals. first thing ts morning, there

were reports that china wasas on to reaching at leastea a ptial deal. but late today, there were additional reports that even those expectations were being lowered by chinese officials. investors have been getting used to such mixed messages. clearly, any time there's even a hint of a pential truce, intentions between the world's two largest economies, stock rise. that's what happenedd today. the dow industrial average rose 181 points. na gained 79. aq26,346. the s&p was up 26. here is what ton expect whe two sides meet tomorrow. >> for first time since may, the u.s. trade represeative and treasury secrery will receive china's vice premiere on their home turf to contie negotiations for a 13th round as the trade waron drags reuters reporting expectations from china for a deal are low, after u.s. banned business with eight chinese tech giants.

>> i think they feel that i'm iving a tough bargain. but i have to. >> in earlier reports, chinese officials suggested they a open to a parti deal and are willing to buy more soy beans ngom u.s. farmers after pau purchases this year. that potential sent soy bean prizes soaring. ed the administration says that's not enough. >> i think it's the way the president can essentially have t his cake and it, too. he can say, i made progress oni some real scant things. i'm still tougher than anyone else has ever been wit $250 billion in tariffs in place.s >> t one of many pressure points to try to get more concessions. both sides have announced new visa restrictions. economists doubt china will back down. >> what's not there is for them to stop s supporting their state-owned companies

and -- which is basically their welfare system, or to shut downn their technology efforts. >> the principles begin thego ations thursday morning and extend through friy afternoon. tariffs on $25 billion in chinese goods rise to 30% on tuesday. investong are always loo for clues as to what the federal reserv might do next. at theast meeting of policy makers, some expressed concern that mket expectations may be out of whack with wt central bankers plan to dever. >> the minutes of the federal reserve's latest meeting show division not just over the september rate cut but over how to talk about the panel th of py going forwar a f officials argue the market appears to be factoring in more rate cuts. it could become necessary to

seek a better alignment of market expectations and policymaker expectationev in addition,al participants urged powell to provide more crity about when this period of recalibration could come to an end. powell has pointed a couple of times, including during his speech this week, to the late 199 0s when the f cut multiple times but not for an extended period of time. e called that experience successful but said policy is not on a preset course. on the other hand, a couple of officials have argued f a bigger rate cut of 50 basis points, possiyccompanied by forward guidance, that they believe to prevent the u.s. economy from slipping into stagnation.th ughout the meeting, there were references to traras tensions and a concern that the uncertainty weighing on business vestment and manufacturing could transulte into a slowdown in hiring and hit the consumer. on the volatility inernight

funding markets, there were presentations and official discussion and a broad agreement that there needs to be a decision about the appropriate leave el level of reserves. >> what.t means is interestte are expected to remain low for some time. how should you be investing in this environment? eric marshal is back with us. he is portfolioer man at hodges capital in dallas. we ask this all the time. especially difficult if urine vesti i you investing f income. what do you say to people trying to make monthly inco?yo are investing for income. you are ou arey to peopl investing for >> as long as the economy continues to grgr, and we don't have inflation. interest rates are likely to stay down. we think scks look ver attractive relative to the other alternatives out there right now. if you look at the interest rate on a 10-year treasury, it's 1.5%

today compared to the earnings yield on the s&p 500 is a little over 6%. that tells us thattocks offer a good risk/reward if we stay in this low interest rate environment. dividend paying stocks arehere investors should be looking. any particular ones that you like?? >> for income certainly, depending on investors' risk appetite, we like things like coca-cola on the larger cap companies, international paper, companies thatay dividends that are higherhan the yield on the 10-year treasury look you can find investment grade securities today that do that. on the small cap side we see opportities as well. >> what about small caps? your feeling is they are due at some pnt to tperform the large caps. youwi have to be patien at, don't you?

>> you do. youbvusly take more risk with small caps. underperformede the broader market by about 13% through the end of the last quarter. there's only been three other times post world war ii where you saw more than a 10% lag in smalaps versus the broader market. in each of tho three times,e saw the market catch up over the next year. so we think small caps over the next year are likely to catch ue with broader market. we can find opportunities in things like materials and home ilders and certain areas within consumer stocks. >> very good. eric mal, thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you. the numbe of job openings nationwide felst in au according to the labor department, openings now stand at 7 million which is a 1 1/2 year low and is the third straight month of decline.

that number exceeds the 5.8 million amemicans officially classified at unemployed. > olesale inven troir tories increaseddhan anticipated. they rose .2% whicis below the .4% reported. the report suggests inventory investment could remain a drag on economic growth in the third quarter. a legal setback for johnson & johnson. we told you a pennsylvania jury arded a man $8 billion in punitive damages.ve ors sent the stock down 2% making it the worst performing in the dow today. it finds itself in court over a number of issues. this particular verdict caught many off guard. we have more tonight. >> they are no stranger to the couroom. th health care giant has been fighting legal battles on multle fronts. st recently on its opioid

business and talcum powder. a jury said they must pay $8 billion in a case involving an tisychot damage. they claim they downplayed rig bei risk it could cause breast growth in boys. they called the awarddispro disproportionate and will move to have it set aside. it may be a symptom of the public suspicion of the pharmaceutic industr >> the verdict shows how much we hate pharmaceuticalco anies. we have gone from thinking of them as the people who provide the diabetes medicine and heart pills that kept our grandmothers alive to the people who are gouging us with prices, lying to us about safety prlems. >> the drug industry is now the least popularn the united states. this year unseating the federal

gornment as most hated in a poll. >> they have gone from being heroes to ing bums in the eyes of a lot of us, including jurors. >> more litigatn is on the horizon. another trial is set to begin in philadelphia in december. there's an ongoing tri t t in t health giant's home state of new jersey concerning its talcum powder and ovarian cancer. they are still named in more than 2,000 opioid lawsuits. the company just reached a settlement to avoid the first begin later this month in ohio. it paid $20 million to two counties. that's after a $572 million loss in an opioid trial in the state of oklahoma. some of its vercts have been larger, including $4.7 billion last year. the companysppealing the cases it lost. while wall street analysts rugged off the verdict, saying it's veryikely toe overturned,tu invesrs wipedore than 2% from stock price. billion in market re than $8

time to look at some of today's upgrades and downgrades. we begin with shares of roku. they were upgraded. the analyst sees growth opportunities for the company in connected tv s, advertising and expansion overseas. shares rose 9% to 117.79. chipotle w upgraded. the company's push into digital ordering and setea the case is increasingly untenable. price target $740. more than 2.5ned today. >> fedex was downgraded. the analyst says get worse before they get better. the price target is $153. shares rose a fraction to

$139.25. coverage of pelaton was initiated.d. the company created a bet fitness model and sees a sizable potential market. therice target is $28. the stock was up more than 3% to 24 even. >> still ahead, more companies are freezg pensions a leaving workers withome often confusing sounding choices. america airlines pulled 737 max from its schedule until mid january. that date isat than any other aiine. regulators he not s wd when

thlllow airlines to operate that jet again. theirplane has been grounded since mid march and has forced carriers to cancel thousands o flights, driving up their costs. thousand of northern ca sfornia residennd to lose power. pg & e has begun cutting electricityo areas where wildfire threats are high. e utilityays up to 800,000 including napa.be affecte, classes today were canceled at berkeley as well a other nia schools. area airports and transit systems say they will not be affected. by the way, late tonight, a new developm nt. shares of pg & fell after aju e opened the door to a rival bankruptcy plan. singapore has knocked the u u.s. out of the top spot of the most competitive economy the united states, the world's largest ecomy, is dn to second place this ye.

does this mean that the u.s. is lo its competitive edge? we are joined by michael yoshikami. good to see you.welcome back. you do not think it means tha the u.s. is losing its competitiveness. why? >> well, first of all, if you have been in silicon valley, the degree of creativity and innovation that still exists in that location is pretty incredible let me tell you something about e.ngapore. i used to be a college professor in that college offered innovation and technology creativity classes for executives around asia that would fly into singapore. you know what they were there to learn to do? to be as creative as the united states. i thinkn the end, iyehink certainly singapore, vietnam are catching up. i still think the united states is number one. >> it bs thesuestio though, do you look elsewhere in the world for investment

oprtunities if there are aggressive countries that are working to increase their competitive edge against the united states? >> the answer is yes. i think you do expand your reach outside of just the united states. you certainly, in terms of creativity and innovation, even thoughhere are issues related to china now, you do have other areas inasia, as i mentioned, in singapore and vietnam, i think, that are compelling portunities. i think it's really a matter of ale. do you put most of your money in those markets or creativity that exists inisathe united ? i vote for the united states. >> where would you be looking for that opportunity from an investment standpoint? how much would you allocate to some of the other countries? >>nt well, i think that you to look at obviously the growth areas, artificial intelligence, which is not only autonomous driving but also what people are starting to do with their i hor an onity the other day with amazon to ask customer

servic a question, expecting a person to chat withme. it was an autated chat response, which was really just as effective a chatting with a person. i think you lookt companies th arees expanding, focused on innovati. apple is theoretically going to come out with smart glasses next year. then you want to look and see what's happening in singapore and thvietnam. e countries, vietnam is more about manufacturing. sipg singaporap is where opportunities. >> venture capitalal thank you very fire eyes revenue looks ho the cybersesrity company s its revenue is going to come in at the high end of the herecasted range it reports earnings later this month. fire entroduces cloud security products that will be available on w amazon's services marketplace. shares were up 5% to 14.

today. >fitbithi ising manufacturing out of china to avoid tariffs. the device maker says srting in nuary, none of its trackers and smart watches will be made in china. shares were unchanged at $3.69. >> at&t iselling its businesses in puerto ri and the u.s virgin islands to liberty latin america. it's a deal worth nearly $2 billion. that move alls at&t to pay down some of its debt. shares rose a fra ion to $37.05. jam i river gro cancelling autoicies with an uber sub ssidiarubsidiarth handle payment to uber drivers. th insurer's ceo saidt didee not profit expectations. shares plummeted more than 22%. es cha at u.s. steel. the company plans to cut about

$2 milli of fixed costs by the year 2022. it a named new chief financial officer. the shares dropped more than 8.5% to finish at 10.09. comparable store sales were up more than 5% from a year ago. shares were relativel unchanged in initial after houer trading. theyeglosed thear session up nearly 2% to 9029 after the bell, bedth beyond hired mark triton as its new president and ceo, whh takes affect next month. shares rose but they closed the regular session down a fraction at 9.94. hepensions, once holy grail of a secure retirement are quickly becoming a thing of the past. they estimate 16% of0 fortune companies offer a pension to new hires. 20 years ago, roughly 60% did.

just this week, geralct ec froze pension pbenefits for and plans to offer lump sums to 100,000 former employees whoo have yet start receiving their pension benefits. all to reduce its debt and future obligations. in the meantime it can be all very confusing f individual workers when it comes to making that important decision about joining us with advice, ts. marguerite chang. thanks for joining us. me. hank you so much for having >> it comes down to lump sum now or the income stream in ie future. igr you, it's a clearcut answer. there's no or wrong. right? >> correct. it depends on the situation.es there are tn which you would want to choose one o oion overhe other. >> it has to do with your age, for example, where you are and how much you would be receiving? >> thats correct. if you are 65 and getting ready

to retire, y will be cocoecting your pension benefit soon as oppos to later. you may feel more comfortable taking the income stream. if you are , you may say,'m going to take the lump m. i think i can invest better. >> you say, evaluate the payout optis and specically, you have a formula with payout option andhe insurance and what's covered. >> solutely. another consideraon is if your pension is larger than the nual amount that the pensisi benefit guaranteed corporation ensures, you may want to take eseeoney and i i it for yourself. the other option is when you are presented with this deyosion, want to ask what your payout options are. what amount would you recve that you want to collect a de ldnsion in the future, what amount you w receive your life a a may 20.

it's imptant to ask what your loved ones would receive as well. >> we should point out amount the guarantee corporation of the government, the amount that's insured is about $5,600 a month or $64,000 a year, right? >> that's correct. >> the amoun a yould be receiving eacg month, in that payout, is less than, th then you are in pretty g d shape, right? >> corrt. our pension is frozen, it means the benefit will no longer grow. the question to take the lumpp sum or receive stam, it's personal. >> you point out on benefits, you haveo make sure who is coveredf you pass and are they covered, depending on the situationf e company and why it froze the pensions. >> that's s correct. it's imptant to find out what yourenefits a for you as welllls your loved ones.t >> w are the tax implications

in all ofthis i? is that a consideration? >> absolutely. if you decide you want to take the lump m, it' best to rol thatver to a ira so thaha you ll not taxed on the amount. you would be taxed on when you start to receive the amount. .e>> all rig r. nar is over. marguete chang, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. oming up, vision quest, a high-tech way to keep your eye on the ball.

facebook'sokceo is stieded to t before the house financial services committee on october 23. mark zuckerberg will be the sole itness at the hearing which ocus on the company's digital currency project. lawmakers want to know more about the potential impact on housusg sectg .he > actvision's newew gameas seen more than $100 million downloads since going live at the beginning of october.to the game is free to play but it comes w those in-appha pus that have become popular. the number of downloads topped the previous holder. october baseball is here. the world series is just around the corner. it's the time of yearr when youg prospects work hard to improve their game. for some, that includes using a high tech vion test that aims to fd the best players and improve the ones that need help.

>> a portable computer wit eye tracking ceras is changing the >> we're going t calalrate your eyes. baseball's prospect development pipeline, a program to evaluate amateur pler aive minute series of tests requires users to focus on moving targets and make rapid decisions based on random visual action. a report is generated immediately that evaluates eye trkingpeed and accuracy, hand/eye reaction time andnd ey ability. mo than 4,000 baseball prospects have been tested to date. the results help doctors prescribe eye exercises to improve player performance. >> it is sucuc a great asset fo a player. ifou can find out that when you look to the left, maybe one eye is a little over, and that slows you down over here just ten milliseconds, but it's the difference between you being

able to bat against a rht handedcher over here and a left handed pitcher over here. you are going to want to improve it. >> the applications go further than just baseball. even other pro sports. as is heth care, where vision testing can find evidence of concussion or stroke. it can zero in on learning disabilities. that's one of e reasons vision insurance provider vsp is a pay juror invest m major investor in the company. ngthey are exploig data applications. >> ifou think about what we in addition to the test, we have0, 0 people who have taken the same test. wenow that alzheimes, ms, adhd, dyslexia arell ultimately something that can be diagnosed or at least mop tod.

a final look aoo the day on wall street aheadf trade talks tomorrow. the dow rose 181. the s&p was up. >> that's "nightly business report." thanks for joiningus. >> have a great evening. see you tomorrow.

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