chicago suburban express, but can they keep on truckin with fuel prices headed north. >> tom: it's nightly business report for friday, >> announcer: this is nightly business report with susie gharib and tom hudson. nightly business report is made possible by: "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. oil prices are closing in on $110 a barrel. investors and consumers are watching rising prices at the pump. and tom, they're also listening to the tough talk from iran about squeezing supplies from the middle east. >> tom: sure are, susie.

oil saw another big jump in prices today, settling at 109.77 a barrel. that's almost $2 on the session today. crude up 11% higher since the beginning of the month. of course, with the rise in oil. prices at the pump continue climbing. tripleñ

>> that's a tanker full a month. two tankers for the month. >> demand is down? >> demand is down, prices are up. mobile is celebrating 60 yearsalt this intersection. lee has seen a lot of price changes. seasonal, and the change in direction of fuel. >> a lot of the pressures this year that the industry experiences with seasonality

have been moved up by six or eight weeks. usually the price increases are april and may. >> we're two or three months away from the height of demand. >> this is true, and you're absolutely right there. the cause of that is who to say. who's dictating the prices? if these prices continue to go up, we'll just put the economy back in stagnantation, and not allow it to grow at a pace of recovery. >> yesterday, president obama drove right past the mobile, and if the president stopped he would have told him to help middle class americans. you've already seen demand drop as you have a $4 number on the board drop. if that 4 turns to 5 between now and memorial day, what do you think happens? >> demand is going to go down,

obviously. people are going to cut back more. my costs are going to go up. so i'm going to have to make more to compensate for the costs. every time it goes up two senlts that's two cents out of my pocket to replace it. a smart businessman cover that is in the ground to replace his inventory. credit card coasts go up. credit card costs go through the roof. every time that price goes up, costs for everybody that is an average citizen, it goes up. >> tom: do you think you'll have to put a $5 up before the 4th of july? >> i have 5s in the box. >> tom: he doesn't think he's going to need a $5 board, but expects to see that number for premium and diseasesel by the summer. >> susie: investors cautious. the dow fell two points and the nasdaq and s&p both closed higher. for the week, the dow posted a

net overall gain. the nasdaq also up on the week rising 12 points over five sessions, and the s&p 500 up 4 1/2 points on the week closing at a four year high. >> oufr next guest is upbeat about u.s. stocks. john manley is chief equity strategist at wells fargo fund. nice to have you. >> great to be here, susie. >> susie: you are upbeat. tell us why. what is it that makes you upbeat, even though we have a push and pull in the market? >> i'm a patient man. emotions have a lot to do in terms of discipline and the rest of the world's economy. the values are pretty decent in here. i think there are still a lot of people very skeptical about the future. none of this means anything for the short term. i think investors have time

horizons set at the right scale, it's a good time to be buying stocks. >> susie: what about higher oil prices and tensions in the middle east. that can't be good for the market. >> and if it goes higher, there's issues. >> although we don't know exactly what's going to happen, i don't sense it's like 1973. >> there are highs for oil. a lot is negative. one negative thing the market is fearing or dreading somewhere in the back of its mind is what might happen. >> susie: what would be the catalyst that would take prices higher? >> if something broke out in the middle east. again, it's not 73. in 1973ment. there was a concerted effort on the part of oil producing nations to constrain supplies.

it hilt the u.s. hard and europe and everyone very hard. iran is an issue. we don't know what they're going to do. again, it is isolated. there are other sources of petroleum. i can't say it's want going to happen. >> and will you know, john, we've seen the dow nrirtding. how important is it? is it fundamental or psychological. it's a round number and something we measure. obviously, to go through it is a psychological plus. to go higher we have to go through t. that's definitional. i think it's something that people worry about. with a reinforcement it might

cheer people up to see the market doing that. fundamentally, it doesn't mean anything. >> and warren buffet is going to publish his annual letter. everybody reads it. what are you looking for if that letter, and could it set the tone for trading on monday? >> i hope it sd. i try to be patient. mr. buffet has been amazingly patient over the years. he made a great fortune being patient. and not going with the trend and not succumbing to the fear that is happen to be occurs on a begin day. he has the right time horizon. who am i to speak about warren buffet. all i do is try to emulate him. for a long time at the end of the day he has been right. my suspicion is he hasn't changed his spots in here, and if that's the case, i expect it's more of a positive than a negative. >> it's going to be released

8:30 saturday morning, and a lot of people will >> i'm getting up early >> appreciate you coming on the program tonight. we've been talking with john manley, he's with wells fargo >> still ahead, hollywood big show is sunday. is there an oscar afterglow at the >> i think it would be worth seeing. there must be something good >> i haven't seen war horse. if that wins i want to see it. i'll probably go see it. >> susie: a lotted of excitement about sunday, and a quetd day on the street. people are waiting to see what's going to happen next, and cautious into the weekend. >> very cautious today. but yet we were able to see the broad market, the s&p 500

continues to move higher. >> let's roll t it. we saw a mixed market at the close today, but the s&p 500 is at its highest close since the summer of 2008. the index sent the entire session in positive territory but saw its solid gains erode during afternoon trading. looking at almost a four year chart shows the rally in perspective. the index has climbed over its highs from last year and is back at levels last seen in june 2008 as the credit crunch began taking hold. with oil prices in focus, investors favored the technology sector. one area seen as insulated from higher energy prices. the defensive utility sector also rallied and of course energy. check out the rally in the technology sector. this exchange traded fund highest price since the summer of 2001. the tech stock moving the market today was business software maker salesforce.com. this company was among the first to move into providing cloud

computing services, basically on-demand software and technology. shares shot up 9% on very heavy volume, rising above $140 for the first time since august. the rally came after reporting a strong fourth quarter profit. and already this quarter it signed its largest deal ever over $100 million. the combination of big profits this year and high energy prices lately led to some big selling if airline stocks this week. we're talking double digit declines in the past five sessions. u.s. airways has lost more than a fifth of its value this week. jet-blue and united-continental are down 17% and 13% from a week ago tonight. united wants boeing to pay for delayed deliveries of the new boeing 787 dreamliner. the new planes are supposed to be more fuel efficient, helping air carriers save money on fuel. boeing says it will take up to two weeks per plane to fix a flaw in the fuselage of the new dreamliner. a couple of shoemakers got kicked.

deckers outdoors lost almost 14%. this company makes ugg boots and teva sandals. sales were strong last quarter but it warned of big cost challenges this year and issued a disappointing outlook. meantime, crocs fell 5% also blamed on a down-beat forecast. while we're talking fashion, clothing designer kenneth cole shares jumped 18.5%. the company's name-sake wants to take full ownership offering $15 per share to go private. the market expects a higher price, considering tonight's close is almost 50 cents above his offer. speaking of potential deals, late today, reports surfaced sprint nextel has walked away from a purchase of metro p.c.s., just hours away from announcing a deal. metro p.c.s. concentrates on pre-paid wireless customers. metro p.c.s. stock was 2.5% higher during the regular session and jumped another 8% after the close. sprint slid a nickel today, but it was very actively traded. and that's tonight's market focus.

>> susie: jc penney's swung deep into the red with quarter results, but the stock barely budged. the retailer is promising to reshape its image. >> consumers love a bargain, but retailers hate them. jc penney had to up the ante for promotions hurting bottom line, so did costs related to relating the ceo's new turnaround plan. the retailer is focusing on offering every day low pricing and will eventually offer many within ther store. the results weren't pretty. jc penney lost 41 sentds a share compareed to a profit a year ago. but the shares are still trading at the highest levels in three years. >> looking at the numbers. they're loving this guy, and willing to give the supporters

of under performance until they show better numberss. >> he's not the only one optimistic. johnson said, we are confident that the sifrmified business model will offset the business decline to meet or exceed our 2012 earnings guidance. some worry others will go elsewhere for the bargain. nightly business report, new york.

>> no doubt investors have gotten paid to take risk this is year. small caps and technology stocks and emerging markets rocket higher. tonight thinks there's still room to wince. lanz global.com with us at the nasdaq. lancz, how much more room to run here with the s&p 500 with the highest level since june of '08. >> the market wants to go higher. it's hard to say how much. especially with the concern over energy prices right now, thal put a dampener on big progress from here. i would take partial profits and lighten up. >> but right now, everybody is looking at the glass half full.

taking a little money off the table from the rally, is that fair to say. you're looking back into basic materials, an area that hasn't participated much. ak steel, what makes you attracted to this one. a year ago it was twice what it is today. >> we're looking at area that is haven't moved and ak steel is -- management has reduced health care and retiree costs and they've vertically integrated some of the operations which will give them tighter controls on costs. so a company that was inefficient and really uncompetitive will become a force in >> and that's what we like about. >> tom: you like it for financial accounting as opposed to in demand when it comes to the material.

this is one viewers can participate in. and you like csgs, customer service for cable, phone, utility. you name t. >> all they can but billing and capable for direct broadcast and satellite, and now they do customer service and a lot of analytical, where i think they can define a good niche tl, and earn totion grow appropriately, and the stock is 3% cheaper than peers. another one. miners are good to you haven't

participated in gold yet. gold has gone up, and especially on weakness. all three of these, i think they're a great opportunity. >> tom: last time we saw you was june 24th of 2011. you had three picks back then. one in finance. american international group. and tts, television data systems. do you still like any of these? >> i would buy on weakness. we started buying them last summer, and keep buying on weakness, and if they went back in the low 20s. we'd buy them for a round trip. > tom: you own all six? >> we do, and our clients and family members. >> tom: lancz with lanz global.com. >> susie: hollywood big show monday night with nine movies up. what's an oscar nomination or oscar win really worth these

days? the envelope please. here's suzanne pratt. >> oscar weekend is usually a good one at the box office. earning 27 x*rs of rev view after getting cominated and additional 15% after taking home the golden statue. that's good news for sony which has money ball, and midnight in paris up for best picture. >> two disney vims also got

the nod. paramount released hugo, and warner brrkts is behind extremely loud and incredibly close. the odds are favorite for best pictured is weinstein companies the artist, but the earnings have been small. >> 30 million in domestic box office. it hasn't had that big of a bump since the nomination. an oscar win would really help the movie. >> it's because newer moves are stealing audiences. and then there's a disconnect between the public and the academy. 20011 top closing vim. >> harry potter and the deathly hallows with a monstrous box office receipts

of over a billion dollars. suzanne pratt, nightly business report, new york. >> susie: let's take a look at what we're looking at for next week. on monday billionaire warren buffet issues annual all right to hathaway shareholders. i'll talk with a major fund shareholder for his take. and later, ben bernanke delivers message to congress. and next friday, david cotic, chairman and chief investor officer at cumberland investment advisors. >> tom: lou has been thinking with author lou heckler. lou is thinking about you. >> i've been thinking about the one person. to the world you may be one person, but to one psh, you may be the world. i thought it sounded arrogant. me? to the world, one person? surely not. and then i thought about a

friend who is a radiologist and i thought why he entered the meeld of medicine. >> he, and then i thought about charles barkley. remember when he said, i don't wanted to be anybody's role model. i hear what he's saying, but it's inescapeable. we look to those who have gone before us to show us a path to follow. it might be teachers, coaches, relatives. guess what? it might be you. the people who work with and for you, the customers, supplierss who call upon you, your neighbors. they're watching and trying to determine what to learn from your actions. you might say i kepted to come into contacted with that many people, but you do. and there's more than you think. in the course of a month you might touch the lives of hundreds of people. think about that, and then come to this. if even one person can be influenced in a positive way by something i've done. that's a pretty good day. when you come down to it, the one person might be just that one person. i'm lou heckler.

>> tom: thank you for watching this week. that's nightly business report for february 24th. i'm tom hudson. >> susie: and tom you have a great week. i'm susie gharib, and we hope to see you all next week. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org