this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. brought to you by the street.com. our dividend stock adviser helps guide during a period of low-interest rates. real money helps you think through ideas for investing and trading stocks. action alerts plus, a charitable trust portfolio that provides trade by trade strategies. online, mobile, social media, we are the street.com. >> teflon strong? yes, stocks down today, but the s & p hasn't had a losing month since october. the dow is up 20% since november. despite some soft economic data.

can anything stick to or crack this market? >> worker safety, from walmart to nike what major u.s. retailers are doing when disaster strikes with factory operations overseas. frequent flyer frustrations. why is it so hard to use them? all that tonight on "nightly business report" for thursday may 9th. investors took in a breath today, but stocks have come back in a hurry. >> the major stock averages keep stacking up new milestones, it seems nothing can stick to them and stop the steady climb higher, stocks down a bit today as tyler said, but dow closed above the 15,000 level and the s & p still solidly in record territory. the dow fell 22 points, the nasdaq slipped by four, and the s & p lost six points. investors reacted early on to

news that first time jobless claims fell to a five-year low last week. the u.s. dollar gained strength, topping 100 japanese jen for the first time in four years, which likely trig everied a lot of programmed ordered to sell. but investors still seem to be in the mood to buy, and the major stock averages up double digits this year and most wall street pros are feeling bullish about the outlook. >> not our guest tonight, he is predicting a stock sell-off by the end of this month, he is president of platinum partners, welcome to "nbr." glad to have you with us. you think equities could start a slide that could take 15% off the value of the s & p between measurable day and labor day if your prediction is true, how can i protect what profits i've made and leave room for more as a kind of hedge? >> i think what you need to do is sell out your beta risk. things correlated with the market you want to sell, like

your long s & p positions, long etf positions and only be long on individual equities, sectors or subsectors where you have particular conviction that they can succeed in a major correction in the overall market. >> what is your bear case? what we hear from so many wall street money managers and fund managers on our program, saying where else are you going to put your money? stocks are the place to be. bonds, almost no return. internal markets, not doing as well. what do you say to those people? >> what i say to those people, at the end of the day, always, all securities will eventually trade on intrinsic value what else are you going to own? that's a bearish sign. if that's the only reason are you buying stocks you are

admitting that they are expensive and overvalued. when people get scared, they will take their cash and put it in the mattress, whatever else they want. they don't have to be in stocks just because they look better than bonds or foreign stocks. >> do you think stocks measured by the s & p have hit their phis for the year and if you do, are there certain sectors that you would actually believe will hold their value or may go even higher? are there areas of the market you like? >> yeah, i think we're at or near the year high, i always thought it would come in this period of time, it's gone a little past what my target was, which was 1620, but that's why i have such conviction it will turn around shortly. i do like certain sectors of the energy segment, particularly natural gas. i still think there are opportunities in biotech that aren't going to necessarily be

correlated with the market, there are selected things in technology that i think are still very reasonably priced. but you have to be very, very careful in terms of where to go right now. >> you said that you are a perma bear when it comes to the financials. you don't have any financials in your portfolio, what is your recommendation for people who own some of the biggest banks in the country, whether it's jpmorgan or bank of america or any of the regionals? they should bail out of them? >> what i'm telling you, what i'm seeing from banks right now is behavior that is very akin to 2007. and see what's going on in the junk bond market right now, there are junk bond yields at 5%. ith insane, and the -- the exposure that financials have to some of these are massive, i don't think that they have learned anything since 2007. i don't think they have control over their risks or

over what the risks are. i would be nervous about the major financials. >> is there a way quickly i can use options, like puts, to protect my portfolio or hedge it? >> well, i think you could essentially go short the s & p. either by buying puts or selling calls it's not the cleanest hedge in the world versus individual names, something you might want to do is to short the etf of that sector, where you like a name that would be a cleaner hedge. >> interesting. uri landisman, thank you very much, president at platinum partners. >> a red-hot rolle for the blue chip dow, since november, soared more than 50%. mary thompson has more. >> reporter: both the rejects and replacements outperforming the dow. here is how they stack up. from its recent low on november 1 59, down 20.4%.

the average return for the 12 stocks pulled from the blue chip average since 1999, 30.2%, and the replacement's average gain 24.3% since mid november, the rejects recent gains lie from longstanding troubles as all are off the heyday highs. navistar, a newly designed diesel engine is sparring a surge in its stock. aig and citi, they continue to recover from near-death experiences and international paper strength reflects an extreme makeover that's left it focused on producing packaging and printing paper. not all rejects returning gains during the record run. former blue chipper sears and u.s. field both down since november 15th. rejecting the rejection may have

paid off. all but two are outperforming the dow since 1999. for "nightly business report," i'm mary thompson. >> americans spent a bit more money at big-name stores last month. gains in the labor market, the rally on wall street and gas price drops. overall sales rose 4.7% in april compared with the same month last year. >> many of those same retailers have their apparel made overseas where a key concern is worker safety. one of the major focal points right now for safer working conditions is bangladesh, where multiple tragedies have befallen factory workers the latest just last night. how do consumers and companies react when disaster strikes at suppliers overseas? courtney reagan has more. >> yet another tragedy strikes in bangladesh's garment industry. eight people died when fire spread through a bang will determine clothing factory,

adding to the tragic loss of life from a building collapse two weeks ago. at least 900 bangladeshi garment workers perished in that collapse, the deadliest industrial disaster in world history. but not the forirst, in novembe a fire in a factory making clothing for walmart killed 112 workers. jcpenney, gap, nike, target, and walmart all have apparel manufactured overseas. a new degree of pressure to reassess global sourcing strategies at a time which many consumers are less tolerant of irresponsible and dangerous manufacturing practices. >> ultimately, consumers will turn against those retailers who take the minimal steps necessary to protect the lives of workers in their factories, particularly

in bangladesh. >> putting out of bangladesh is not a viable deal. they have made substantial investments in factories in the country. no nation wants workers in unsafe conditions, losing contracts with major retailers financially devastating. bangladesh's garment industry makes up 80% of the poverty stricken export. and items like these are made in bangladesh, the cost of improving conditions minimal. >> for less than 10 cents a garment, the brands and retailers could undertake the factory repairs and renovations necessary to protect the lives of workers making the clothing. the impact for consumers would be negligentable. >> last week, the founder of retailer joe fresh pledged compensation for victims and families in march, walt disney decided it would no longer source from five countries that do not meet certain safety standards, including bangladesh.

nordstroms' customers are starting to ask questions about sourcing and it's looking to provide new information to shoppers. following the building collapse, the bangladesh government says 18 factories shut down for safety reasons. six of them were cleared to reopen thursday. in recent years, labor advocacy groups and consumers have banded together to force retailers to adopt new code of contact related to labor rights. last week, adidas agreed to pay legally mandated severance pay to indonesian factory workers who lost their jobs in 2011. more good news in housing. foreclosures felt to a six-year low last morning dipping to levels below before the housing bubble burst. home repossessions fell 21% in april from the month prior, and now down 32% from a year ago. also foreclosure starts at the first step in the takeover

process, dipped 4% last month. and some surprising news from fannie mae today, it made money and a lot of it. it earned $58 billion last quarter, largest profit effort. sa fannie plans to use all of that to pay off uncle sam. the u.s. treasury bailed out fannie mae during the financial crisis. it expects to stay profitable for the foreseeable future. a dire warning about the impact of the more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. the consumer financial protection bureau says much outstanding debt could have a devastating, domino affect on the economy, depleting savings, limiting spending on new cars sxuting off retirement savings indefinitely. and as diana oelich tells us, it could also have a serious impact on the housing market. >> sophia wanted to buy a home

two years ago, but her student loans stood in the way. >> it definitely took a long longer than i anticipated. >> facing in $60,000 in debt from graduate and undergraduate schools, she moved back in with her parents. the only way we could save aggressively while paying down debt. >> i consider myself lucky that i had a place i could save. but people who aren't originally from the area who have to pay an extra $1,500 a month in renting, thattan rent money is not going to saving. how are they going to be able to save up or to make that transition from renting to owning? in addition to all of the student loan debt? >> the answer is, they are not. total student loan balances tripled between 2004 to 2012 to a bet incurred of $1 trillion according to a survey from federal reserve bank of new york. it's second only to mortgage debt and in turn has a direct

affect on getting a mortgage. >> if you look at the average student loan balance, about $30,000, $35,000 per person, per student so if you take a family of two, that's $60,000 to $70,000, in certain markets, that's almost a mortgage payment. almost as much as a house. >> that is partially why first-time home buyers are being squeezed out of the market. this vital cohort makes up 40% of home purchases, but these buyers are barely one-third of the market and adding to the burden, nearly one-third of borrowers are delinquent on their student loans which will keep them out vt market for many years to come. >> tyler, we talk about consumer spending. these are the consumers you want to car get and they are sitting on $60,000, $70,000 debt, they won't be buying a computer, a car, a house. >> really a crushing weight on

their backs. still to come, a 21st century bank heist. they are hackers using laptops and local atms. details on today's bank heist bust. first, a look at stocks that hit one-year highs. it may be the biggest bank robbery ever, and the thieves didn't even have to enter a

branch. federal prosecutors in new york city today charged a gang of eight cyber thieves for stealing $45 million in just hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and empty atms around the city and around the world using fake magnetic swipe cards. >> this is the largest theft of this time we have yet seen. a 21st century bank heist that reached through the internet to span the globe. instead of guns and masks, this cyber crime organization used laptops and malware. >> scott cohn is here with details. this is a fascinating story. >> fascinating and more than a little bit scary. the gun and mask are so 20th century. police say this was a worldwide crime cringe, extremely well organized. the hackers would get in the system of big banks and credit card processors, targeting prepaid debit cardia and raise

the balance on the accounts, change the pin code and while still in the system, hacking the computers, they would send a new pin codes to the street crews who would fan out on cue, withdrewing money from automatic teller machines around the world. in one ten-hour period, 1$1.8 million. the total haul on that day in february around the world, $45 million. eight people indicted in new york as you heard. alleged to be the main players in the new york cell of this worldwide operation, seven of those people in custody. one is believed to have been murdered last month in the dominican republic, and this investigation is continuing. >> it looks like they came down broadway and seventh avenue, like they came down the "a" line, whatever the line is, the 1 line down there. you think -- we think is organized out of the middle east? >> well, the banks that they targeted were in the middle east, but this was literally around the world. they had help from authorities

in japan and romania and literally everywhere. the main banks that they targeted were middle eastern banks, but still not clear where this was based. >> you really make a case that this was a very bold move. we have been covering a lot of stories, have you y ies you hav on hacking. no way to safeguard yourself you are very vulnerable. >> the size of it and the way they were organized. it seems like the hackers got in these systems the way hackers get into any system, with attachments and e-mails, people let down their guard a little bit and they can get in, do their deeds, and that's the problem. it's -- there are so many people involved, and the issue now, are there others like this gang, or this gang itself, that are targeting other financial institutions, maybe for more than just 45 milli$45 million. >> thank you. appreciate it.

market focus. priceline.com reported after the bell. profits and revenues, above estimates on the quarter on improved hotel and car rental bookings. the profit estimates for the current quarter were below what wall street expected and shares gained a fraction during the main trading section, fell off more than 2% on the earnings guidance. google's youtube service unveiled paid prescription channels today, adding a potential revenue stream and opening a front in the content wars. the first round of content providers on these channels include sesame street, national geographic and ultimate fighting channel among others. google shares hitting $879.66, before trailing off to close down a quarter percent. barnes & noble, trailed down on news that microsoft is considering buying the nook

reader. shares and barnes & noble fell to $22. and you can see the stock support 45% year-to-date. falling earnings and revenue from a company that makes air frame metals and other metal castings. sales grew 25%, helped by an acquisition earlier this year. the stock the biggest gainer in the s & p 500 today, up more than 7.5% and reaching a new high before closing at $206 and change. another earnings monster, the walking dead, powered amc networks to a profit increase of 43%, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines, amc network's original programming helped life shares following the spinoff last year, and the stock fell back to close at 66.41, up 34% for the year thus far. in health care news, for the

first time in at least 55 years, u.s. consumer spending on prescription drugs fell from the prior year. the main reason? cheaper generics. lipitior and plavix had patents expire. the firm that released the stead, the imf institute of health care say we should expect a slow every rate of spending on prescription drugs compared to overall health care costsory the next few years. shares of the biotechnology drug share dendrium fell 15% after reporting the $72 million on disappointing sales forrith best known drug, prostate cancer prevention drug, provenge. are the odds stacked against you when you try to book a ticket using frequent flier miles? before that, take a look at how

treasuries and commodities feared. tesla is all revved up after ten years in business, the california based electric carmaker record eed its first er quarterly profit. they say worldwide demand could be 30,000 units a year. and the highest rating ever, a nearly perfect score of 99 out of 100 points in a review of the car. only one other vehicle got a

sc similar score, an older lexus model. tesla shares racing ahead by 24%. if you racked up a lot of frequent flier miles and hope to redeem them for a discounted flight, you may be in for a disappointment. even for people who have amassed a million miles or more, getting a good seat is getting a lot tougher. >> it's become a frustrating game for travellers, you may have plenty of miles for a free ticket, using them for the flight you want at the time you want is a tall order. >> made it difficult for me to fly with my family and purchase tickets for my family with me trying to book a flight using my miles. >> the annual switch flight survey of reward seat availability checked summer availability for 22 airlines around the world. value airlines, led by southwest and airtran, almost always had seats open to be booked with miles or points. by comparison, your odds of

finding rewards seats with larger, legacy airlines is much lower. delta u.s. and airways had open seats just 36% of the time in the survey. why the difference? blame it on airlines merging and creating huge frequent flier programs. >> there is a lot of miles chasing each reward seat and i think the lower cost carriers don't have that i guess you could say baggage associated with them. they have fewer miles or points chasing rewards. >> southwest, with fewer frequent miles than rather legacy miles has become a favorite for those looking for a free light. >> it's great. until you get status it can be kind of hard, you have to fight for the seats, but once have you status, you choose your own seat and miles add up really quickly. get flights very quickly. >> overall, using frequent flier miles is tougher, especially for an upgrade on a particular flight. all part of the new reality, where an estimated 8 trillion

frequent flier miles have been racked up and are waiting to be used phil lebeau, "nightly business news," chicago. we end on a sad note. alan abelson, for many investors, the weekend wasn't complete until they read his column "up and down wall street" in barron's magazine. the editor and president of barron's, says his love of wall street was matched by his love of writing. he was 87. a very witty person, he wrote with a beautiful touch. >> he was a guy who could make you laugh at business copy and that's not always easy. right up there with louis ruckheiser. he will certainly be missed. >> that is it for us tonight. i'm susie gharib.

>> and i'm tyler mathisen. we hope to see you back here tomorrow night. >> niceghtly business report brought to you by -- >> the street.com. interactive multimedia financial tools for an ever changing financial world. dividend stock adviser guides and helps generate income during a period of low interest rates. options profits, helps guide options traders, action alerts provides trade by trade strategies. online, mobile, social media, we are the street.com.

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