>> this is n.b.r. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening. i'm susie gharib. isaac gains hurricane status as the slow-moving storm takes aim at coastal louisiana, raising new worries about u.s. energy supplies. >> tom: i'm tom hudson. the housing market builds a foundation as home prices mark their first year-over-year gains. >> susie: and republicans officially nominate mitt romney as their presidential candidate. tonight, we look at the history of business leaders in oval office. >> tom: that and more tonight on nbr. isaac officially became a hurricane this afternoon, bringing heavy rains and high winds to new orleans. finance ministers from the group of seven countries asked oil

producing countries to step up production with the storm shutting down most production in the gulf of mexico. isaac is expected to make landfall tonight or early tomorrow morning in southeastern louisiana. while isaac isn't nearly as strong as hurricane katrina, memories of that storm seven years ago tomorrow has louisiana preparing, and evacuating low- lying areas. downtown new orleans is quiet except for those boarding up windows and doors. dwayne conrad was getting his art gallery ready for the storm. >> katrina, i felt it, it was severe. this one, i really don't feel it too well, so i'm like, "okay, i think we're going to do pretty well here, for some reason." >> tom: in the gulf of mexico and onshore, the energy industry also is dealing with isaac. 93% of gulf of mexico oil production has been shut in. on shore, five refineries from southeast of new orleans to near baton rouge have shut down production. another three have reduced their operations. they sit in the latest forecast path of the storm.

more than 12% of refinery capacity along the gulf coast has been shut down. additionally, one crude oil pipeline supplying more than one million barrels of crude to midwest refineries also has shut down. kevin kerr is with us. he is president of kerr trading international. >> kevin, is there going to be a short term impact at the gasoline pump because of this? >> we're already seeing it, especially in new orleans and sensitive areas along the gulf coast. this is really more of a fear premium. >> is it going to spread beyond the gulf coast to the northwest and northeast? >> it depends if we see more storms. it's the busiest season for hurricanes, and if it continues prices will ratchet up. >> tom: and how long could that last? >> it could last into october. hurricane season doesn'tf at. >> tom: gasoline futures. take a look at a chart here.

we see volatility. yesterday 3 a.20 a gallon. is this driven by speculation? >> certainly. it's coming out from the weather surface, and when it dies down you'll see the fear. >> tom: this is a problem. you see momentary blips and spikes in prices. but they last longer for the retail companies. >> that's true. i'm not denying that. prices spike faster than they come down. i don't have the answer for that, but right now we have concerns, what it's going to do to the entire system. >> looking at gulf coast refineries. >> folks will be surpriseed to learn we have more capacity for gasoline on the west coast than before. a million boston marathons more compareed to a decade ago. is the industry in better

shape to withstand the hurricane season compareed to 2005? >> it's surprising we've seen the increase. i think the industry has improved especially since katrina, and the offshore rigs are much more safe. but along the coast, you still have the concern about the electrical grid. that's my big concern. >> tom: what's important to watch here as isaac moves ashore, and moves through the refinery areas. >> and the grid along the gulf course, and if it is, it will close down the refineries and could be extraordinary. >> tom: two other issues. the fire at the chevron refinery in richmond, california early ther month, and the fire and explosion deadly in venezuela. how does that weigh on the market. >> all of them, especially the chevron fire in california. it could be months before they're back to full

production again. venezuela, the problems there, and it adds up. >> where do speculators take profits in the short term? >> i think we're close. unless the storm does significant damage, and more storms come in, this could be the high end. it's because of the weather. >> kevin kerr with kerr trading international. >> susie: on wall street. >> susie: on wall street today, a mixed close for stocks. investors welcomed some good news about housing and an increase in home prices-- we'll have more on that in a moment. despite that encouraging news, american consumers are still not feeling good about the economy. a key consumer confidence index tumbled in august, falling to its lowest level since november. the drop came on consumer concerns about the job market and the poor outlook for business conditions over the next six months. the dow lost almost 22 points, the nasdaq gained four, the s&p lost a point. >> tom: still ahead, mitt romney

becomes the g.o.p.'s official presidential candidate as the republican national convention hits its stride. we look at business experience in the white house. >> susie: the fragile housing market is showing fresh signs of life as home prices in cities across the country rose more than expected this summer. the s&p/case shiller index of 20 u.s. cities rose nine-tenths of a percent in june. that's the fifth straight month of gains, and the second in a row where all cities in the closely-watched index showed increases. detroit, minneapolis, chicago, and atlanta recorded the biggest month-over-month gains. meanwhile, phoenix continued to bounce back from poor conditions; prices there were up 14%. s&p index expert maureen maitland says the housing market is starting to make a modest but steady recovery.

>> susie: low mortgage rates are attracting more than just new homebuyers. 80% of all the mortgage activity in the u.s. currently is for refinancings. suzanne pratt takes a look at exactly who's getting those new loans and when it makes sense to refinance. >> reporter: bob patlin knows a lot about the trim that goes on clothes. that's because he heads one of the nation's largest button and zipper suppliers. but when it came to outfitting his long island home with a refinanced mortgage, patlin needed help. that's because his loan was at the sky high rate of 10.75%. after a false start with a big bank, patlin landed at equity now, a new york-based mortgage banker. >> i don't think it took two weeks until we had an approval. i may be wrong, but i know it was relatively quick.

if it took that long, it's probably my fault because i don't work on fridays when they're looking for me. >> reporter: the staff at equity now got him a 15-year fixed mortgage at the much more palatable rate of 3.375%. that's great-- you went from $1,587 a month to $1,176, a savings of $411. total savings of almost $5,000 a year. that's great. more money in your pocket for your wife to spend. ( laughter ) equity now president michael moskowitz says, surprisingly, there are plenty of homeowners like patlin still paying high rate mortgages. and then there are those who refinanced as recently as a year or two ago, and now find that rates are even lower. whether it pays to do another refi depends on how long you plan to stay in the home, and where you live, as costs vary from state to state. >> so we are in new york, where

we have mortgage tax and basically high closing costs. in new jersey, you can close a $300,000 or $400,000 loan with closing costs of about $2,500. >> reporter: in low cost states, it may even make sense to get a new mortgage, if the rate is only half a percentage point lower. which begs the question-- where are mortgage rates headed next? that depends on the u.s. economy, and the ten-year bond in particular. >> if you are a little more bearish on the economy, yes, i would definitely wait to refinance, and give it another three months when you'll probably have a good chance to do it at 3.25%. >> reporter: as for patlin, another refi could be in his future. >> if the rate went down and the savings were there, yes. >> reporter: suzanne pratt, nbr, new york.

>> tom: tonight, governor mitt romney is the republican candidate for president. in tampa, the republican national convention made his nomination official. if he's elected president, romney will be the most successful business leader to make the move from the corner office to the oval office. but history has shown business skills are often of little help in the white house. darren gersh takes a closer look at the pros and cons of an m.b.a. as training for the world's top political job. >> reporter: americans love a success story. and striving for success in business, as governor romney often says, is part of the american dream. >> america has always been a place which celebrates people who work hard, who take risk, who champion a better future for themselves and for their families. >> reporter: but success meeting

the bottom line has not always translated into success in the oval office. as a mining executive and consultant, herbert hoover earned a fortune worth more than $100 million in today's dollars. but his presidency could not solve the business collapse of the great depression. harry truman failed in business, but historians now see him as one of our nation's best presidents. >> being the c.e.o. of a large company is really not an awful lot like being the c.e.o. of the united states. >> reporter: stephen hess has worked for four presidents. his first job in the white house was writing speeches for president eisenhower. while mitt romney is famous for his love of data and analysis, hess says presidents often have to make decisions based on information that later turns out to be wrong. >> you better be focusing on about ten problems or 12 problems at the same time, and understand that you're never going to have the perfect solution to any of them. and that you're going to have to move very quickly before you know all the facts.

>> reporter: in this election, though, private sector experience could prove decisive. >> in an economic crisis, there is a possibility for a business leader to be elected. however, there'd have to be a general consensus among the public that we need a private sector solution, not a governmental sector solution to the crisis. and that's what this debate is all about between mr. romney and mr. obama. which way do we go? >> reporter: whether or not romney wins, hess sees more business leaders turning to politics. >> i think it has to do with people making an awful lot of money pretty young, and then what do you do? and you're tempted to go into politics for, among other reasons, you can afford it. and you can self-finance. you can use your own money. >> reporter: which romney did in his successful run for governor of massachusetts. and it may be that romney the governor is a better indicator

of presidential performance than romney the c.e.o. darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> tom: we asked our facebook friends what they think is more important, business or political experience. david houston wrote, "political experience. running a nation is not the same as running a lemonade stand, even if it is a big lemonade stand." gordon gerber says neither, "leadership skills are the most important attributes a president can have." you can join the conversation on our facebook page. you can find us @bizrpt. >> susie: next week, we'll be looking at president obama's record with the business community. and on labor day, we will focus on an issue that economists are paying a lot of attention to, the fiscal cliff. if nothing is done to head off automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled for january, economists say the u.s. will fall into recession. on labor day, we'll tell you why and what the fiscal cliff could mean to you.

>> susie: shares of google bounced back today, up almost $8 as investors reassessed the impact of apple's sweeping legal victory on tech players like google. is that a game changer for google and it's android system? to answer that, we turn to david garrity, technology analyst with his own firm, g.v.a. research. >> so david, do you think that this means google has to change things up >> we may see a few changes, but understand first and

foremost that google makes android availability to handset manufacturers free. >> despite the apple against samsung, if they wish to migrate away because of litigation risks, the cost they face of developing their oeb software is clearly a very expensive proposition. >> susie: but doesn't apple, and the strategy to modify anything and the current devices? >> i'm sure the handset manufacturers are going to come back and suggest that changes be made, and a certain amount of innovation has to be made to go away from what apple has with ios, but google's best defense is look, google incurring cost developing the software in the

first place, and the handset manufacturers use it at their own risk, and obviously their alternative is, you can either use apple software which they can't because they'd have to pay a license fee or go to microsoft or research in motion, and that's something unlikely as well. so google will be strong in the marketplace with android. >> susie: long standing between google and apple. there's a lot of speculation.çói legal scuffle with. (inaudible) (technical difficulty) is there a legal fight between apand he will google? >> there already is currently. if we look at the international trade commission, the itc, there's currently action, and google through motorola mobility

which is owned wholly, and motorola mobility is suing apple for patent infringement with respect to a patent motorola had. if you look at apple versus google relative to patent software litigation cases, it will be difficult for a jury to go through millions of lines of software code and come to a meaningful conclusion for patent infringement. >> yu're recommending google and apple. take a look at the google chart. the stock is close to the high in 2007 of $707. why do you like it? why do you like apple. >> fundamentals are strong. they're success envelope terms of monetizing mobile search baseed on the june results. and going into the will holiday season is good time for search traffic and typically benefits google stock. >> susie: do you buy apple or

time to take profit ?s >> apple's case, the largest product launch ever, and probably selling over 50 million units. and considerations with the ipad, and ahead of the holiday shopping season, apand he will google both stocks fundamentally attractsive. >> susie: any disclosure ?s >> we own apple in the fund, and personally, and also in the family. google. no owner shft. >> susie: david garrity of g.v.a. research. >> tom: more details on sharp's plans to cut jobs in japan. the struggling electronics giant today announcing plans to offer voluntary retirement to 2,000 workers this november. those voluntary retirements are part of the 5,000 layoffs sharp announced earlier this month as it tries to strengthen its finances.

important things to say about europe, and a lot of speculation. >> tom: lots of speculation, and a beger announcement come next week out of the european central bank. and (inaudible) refund back as well. take a look at a quiet trading day on wall street ahead of that. >> tom: the continued improvement with home prices didn't help the major stock indices as they continue to trade in narrow ranges. the s&p 500 crossed in and out of positive territory several times throughout the session, ending the session with another fractional loss. trading volume was very light. 515 million shares on the big board; just under 1.4 billion on the nasdaq. not much movement with the major sectors, either. the biggest drag was the

telecommunication sector, down four-tenths of a percent. the energy sector was among the biggest gainers, up just two- tenths of a percent. hewlett-packard stock hit its lowest price today since the summer of 2004. it was the biggest percentage loser among dow industrial stocks. h-p-q fell 1.8% today. the stock has lost a third of its value in the past year. hewlett's business has been under increasing pressure on several fronts, from tablets stealing traditional desktop computer customers to its printing business. one of its chief competitors in the printing business, lexmark, announced its response to similar pressures. it will cut 1,700 jobs, 13% of its workforce, as it stops making ink-jet printers. word of the restructuring helped lexmark shares rally 13.7%. volume was more than six times average. the rally pushed lexmark stock to its highest price since july when it was hit by an earnings warning. the company is winding down its ink-jet business because of dwindling profit margins.

it's exploring a possible sale of its related patents. general motors is idling production of its electric/gas car, the volt. the assembly lines will be quiet for 26 days as g.m. tries to work down inventories. it's the second time this year shares fell 1.3%, closing just below $21 per share. it's the second time this year volt production has been suspended because of low demand. we have a closer look at g.m.'s stock chart on our web site, nbr.com. click on the blogs section for technical analysis by michael kahn. the ripple effect of g.m.'s decision to pause production of the volt can be seen in shares of polypore. this company makes parts for the volt's lithium battery. shares fell 7.7% on heavy volume. this is a 52-week low for polypore. yesterday, tiffany cut its financial forecast. today, up-scale watchmaker movado raised its outlook. it credits growing profit margins and strong demand for

its own brand, as well as others it licenses, like hugo boss and tommy hilfiger. second quarter earnings were much stronger than expected, 30 cents per share compared to the estimate of 18 cents, and almost double from a year ago. movado has used a combination of new marketing and new products to fuel its gains. and it has translated into a strong stock rally, up 17.4% today to an all-time high. another fashionable stock today- - p-v-h, the old phillips van heusen. this also hit a new high, up 4.8%. this firm licenses clothing brands like tommy hilfiger and izod. earnings were better than anticipated, and it also raised its financial outlook. it even expects its european business to grow. margins are improving as raw material costs have dropped. you've got your watch and clothes, now for your shoes. the rally in brown shoe dipped, with shares falling 7.3% after hitting a 52 week high yesterday. the company lost less money than expected.

only one of the most actively traded e.t.f.s eked out a gain. the russell 2,000 tracking fund was up a half-percent. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: successful professional athletes have some of the highest paying jobs in the workforce, but that's not the case when it comes to collegiate sports. sports expert rick horrow says

the reason why college athletes don't get a salary may be more complicated than you think. >> reporter: every fall, with the start of the college football season, the same question resurfaces-- do college athletes deserve to be paid? the short answer is they already are being paid. between full tuition, room and board, textbooks, and other covered expenses, college athletes with a full scholarship easily save upwards of $40,000 a year. but compensation that's earmarked for an education might not be enough. in using player likenesses for video games and merchandise, plus the billions of dollars tv networks pay for rights, college athletes bring in much more than they receive. i believe that because athletes essentially already are being paid through scholarships, schools might as well give them a little more money, especially if it helps curb lawsuits and end the negative p.r. there are, however, a few problems. first, most athletic departments operate at a loss, and don't have the extra cash to give to

players. second, title ix dictates female athletes would have to receive the same amount as male athletes. finally, schools also would have to determine how to split money amongst different sports. if they only give to ones that turn a profit, only football and men's basketball players would end up getting paid. unfortunately, it's a sticky issue, and one that wont be resolved anytime soon. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook, and i'm standing among 35,000 pounds of soy beans. tomorrow, i'll tell you why these soybeans and tofu could be getting more expensive this fall. >> tom: also tomorrow, we talk to mitt romney's top economic advisor at the republican national convention. we'll hear from glenn hubbard. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for tuesday, august 28. have a good evening everyone, and you as well, tom. >> tom: goodnight, susie. we'll see you online at nbr.com and back here tomorrow night.

captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org