this is "nightly business report." with tyler mathisen and su herera. nasdaq 5000 almost 15 years to the day. the index closes above that key level. but this time around it's different. life after buffett on the 50th anniversary of the helm of birkshire hathaway. who may be next in line to succeed him. "nightly business report" for monday march 2nd. good evening, everyone. welcome to march. it was a long road back but the nasdaq once synonymous with the dotcom bubble climbed above the 5,000 level for the first time in almost 15 years, march of 2000 to be exact. only the third time by the way, that the nasdaq composite index has closed above that

symbolically significant number 5,000. it was a record day, by the way, for the dow jones industrial average, up nearly 156 points. it finished at 18,288. the nasdaq closed 44 points higher. it was 5,008. the s&p 500 also at a new all-time closing high up 12 points to finish the day at 2,117. berttha coombs joins us with what drove the index to this level. hi, bertha. >> it's been an amazing ride tyler. 15 years ago, you had stocks that traded on the nasdaq with valuations that were sometimes 100 times or more what their earnings were, if they had profits at all. very different index right now. if you take a look at a number of these stocks some of the high flyers they now have valuations that are much closer to the closing market. the nasdaq 100, even if you have stocks like amazon and tesla,

you still have other stocks that brought the nasdaq 100 pe down to 19. that compares to the s&p at 17. and really the biggest indicator is apple. apple, despite being the largest company emp by market valuation, trades at just 14 times its record-breaking earnings. pr. >> bertha thank you very much. bertha coombs at nasdaq. bertha mentioned apple and it was a big part of the nasdaq's march back to 5,000. but other companies played a role as well. and dominic has that part of 89 story. >> a lot of investors didn't think we would get there. but here we are. nasdaq 5,000 a level we haven't seen since the peak of the internet stock bubble back in 2000. in addition to the run to the milestone, both the nasdaq composite and nasdaq have been much better performers in the

indices. one company has accounted for the bulk of the gain so far in 2015. none other than apple. despite its massive size the run toward record territory couldn't have happened without help from stocks like amazon.com. they got a huge pop at the end of january after a better than expected earnings report after last quarter that included the all-important holiday shopping season. there are other tech/media companies, like netflix. the movie provider is the single best performing stock in the nasdaq 100. companies like apple, amazon and netflix have an influence because of their sheer size. we hit the 5,000 mark on the composite despite companies like microsoft and intel.

perhaps a big reason why we haven't hit these levels sooner. for "nightly business report,". >> liz saunders joins us to tell us what's different about nasdaq 5,000 this time around. she's chief investment strategist with charles schwab. great, as always to see you. >> hi tyler. >> how do you characterize today's nasdaq and compare it with the one of 2000? >> i would not use the term bubble by any stretch to define where we are, when you just simply focus on valuations which was really at the heart of why we classified it as a bubble back in 2000. the nasdaq was trading at close to 200 times in that era. 10% of that right now. i think also what's interesting, and dom talked about the health care companies, nasdaq is much more diversified now than it was back in 2000. it was about 77% tech and telecom combined and only about 44% now. those are two notable differentce

differences between then and now. >> solid profits, very solid bottom lines, different from 2000. >> and the ipos, too. you have half the track record of ipos that were coming out at that point versus the ipos coming to market today. >> we're not anywhere near a bubble kind of territory, but what is your view of how richly or fairly valued nasdaq is right now? >> again, at 20 times earnings i really don't think that that's a very stretched market. it's a little bit richer than the s&p 500 on a forward basis. frankly, it almost trades at a premium to the s&p 500. so i certainly wouldn't use that as a gauge. i think there are reasons we could have more bouts of volatility in the market. we're approaching an initial rate hike ostensibly this year and that could cause a little bit of a pullback. and i don't think the nasdaq would be immune to a situation like that.

but i don't think it's an impediment right now. >> if interest rate risk is out there, what are the other risks that you're watching? i mean i would assume that it includes perhaps elevated sentiment levels things like that where there's too much enthusiasm? >> i wouldn't say sentiment is anywhere the euphoric levels that you tend to see in bull mark peaks. certainly not what you saw back in 2000. that said whether you're looking at american association of individual investors or investors intelligence which measures newsletter writers, or the pro call ratio, any number of measures shows that optimism has picked up. i suppose you could argue nasdaq getting back above 5,000 might add a little bit of fuel to that. but i think the notion of the kind of extreme euphoria that the bull mark tops i think we're far from that. >> liz ann, so good to see you. hewlett-packard says it will acquire aruba networks for nearly $3 billion. the deal will expand hp's reach

into the mobile market. hp rose fractionally. a chip maker will buy the merged operations that will value the combined company roughly $40 billion. that sent both stocks soaring. deal making is on the minds of the biggest maims in technology at the world of congress in barcelona. >> it's the most important deal making conference for the mobile industry. and this week at mobile world congress in barcelona, the tech heavyweights are out in force. mark zuckerberg telling his audience his company is eager to expand to the merging markets. >> what did you learn that's going to allow you to better scale this? >> that it works. >> reporter: what's more astounding is how disruptive the social media giant has been in

the mobile world. the free messaging service that facebook purchased last year for more than $19 million, had a dramatic impact in developing markets. in india, where about 10% of mobile users are subscribers, they saw their revenues cut in half. >> we focus on building rate products look at the metrics to make sure our products are used for a great experience for the users. >> reporter: back in the u.s. meanwhile, the nasdaq is back at highs not seen since the dotcom boom. >> they're not huge margins in this market. but certainly we ma make money on each one. we think it's a huge opportunity for the company in the future. >> reporter: thanks to newcomers, phone makers like motorola and microsoft have had to drop prices to keep up. that could squeeze margins like intel and qualcomm.

there's another lingering question here in barcelona. what happens when the smartphone market flattens out even more. many of the biggest names show this weekend they're still looking to the risks and the face for signs of life after smartphones. but if the new technology fails to catch on with consumers, many in the industry might find themselves in a repeat of the pc era. when price competition led companies to buy each other to for "nightly business report," i'm john fortt in barcelona. costco named visa and citi its new credit card partners replacing its exclusive relationship with american express. today visa citi and costco were all higher, as you see there. now with more on what the deal means for the companies, and for costco customers.

>> for costco companies, the question debit or credit has a new meaning. for 15 years, credit has meant using only an american express issued costco credit card. starting next year it means using any visa credit card thanks to a new partnership announced toda visa will serve as the exclusive network processing credit transaction at costco's 474 locations in the u.s. and puerto rico. citigroup will be the card issuer. costco credit card holders need to revert to the new credit cards by next april. the announcement costco would let the partnership with american express expire next march taking the financial industry by surprise and creating a vicious competition between banks vying for that business. warren buffett weighed in on the situation. >> someone was going to get the bid. american express learned a week or two ago that they were not the one who was going to get it. i don't know the terms of the

new deal. but i don't think citi will get rich off of it. >> the costco portfolio offers admittedly low margins to an issuer. evercore said it's around 50 basis points. costco blamed economics the reason why they parted waits with savings at costco could have other benefits too. analysts writing the improved economics can be passed on to both members and shareholders. and it is still a win for the new partners. before the deal was announced, barclays announced visa could reap $100 million from it. citigroup is already the largest credit card issuer but revenue has been spotty and while the costco portfolio is low margin it once represented 10% of amex cards in circulation and 20% of its loans. so what happens to those millions of costco credit cards

already in shoppers' wallets? costco said it will provide more details about this transition meanwhile american express will likely try to convince customers to transfer their balances to other amex products only those products won't be accepted at co for "nightly business report," i'm kayla in new york. to a handful of hot global spots investors are watching very closely, from russia to china to cuba. >> we'll start in russia where a massive march started over the it was supposed to be a march for peace organized in part by nepsa. but after his murder the kremlin took the unusual step to allow the huge crowds to gather. out of china, chinese markets

jumping after the country's central bank had interest rates again for the second time in three months just like many other central banks in the world, china's cutting rates in an effort to jump-start the economy. the cut was a quarter of a point for one-year leveling to 3.35%. the price of copper in the u.s. moved to a six-week high on that now. in cuba the state department's lead diplomat for latin america says she is optimistic that the u.s. and cuba will resume diplomatic ties by mid-april. this news came after meetings with the cuban diplomats, the first meetings held in the u.s. after president obama announced the change in the policy to the country. they want cuba to be removed from the countries that sponsor terrorism. they say their presence on that list makes them possible for cuba to conduct banking and other business in this country to operate an embassy here in washington. the white house is deciding whether cuba's designation as a terrorist state is outdated.

new evidence that fidel castro is still alef. photographs showing the former dictator meeting with the so-called cuban five the five spies who spent years in u.s. prison and released in december as part of the prisoner exchange. it came at the same time as president obama's historic announcement. for "nightly business report," michell caruso cabrera. did the oracle of omaha give any hints who is going to take over at berkshire hathaway? at the top of minds of many investors. warren buffett released his annual letter to shareholders this weekend. in it he celebrated 50 years at

the helm of his company and delivered his musings on the market. in an interview earlier today, buffett offered this piece of advice for investo. >> i always say, if you aren't investing for value, what are you investing the idea that value and growth are two different things makes no sense. i mean growth is part of the value equation. a company that grows and uses little capital in doing, high returns on incremental capital is worth more money than one that doesn't grow. >> buffett also touched on an issue his shareholders care deeply about. the vice chairman hinted over the weekend that the next ceo could be one of two men within the organization. >> it's a horse race. that story comes from charlie saying that those two are world class, which they absolutely are. in fact he said describing them

as world class was probably an underestimate. i would totally agree with that. either one of those men could run just about any company you could name. wouldn't just be berkshire. they are incredible managers and we're lucky to have them. >> with us now is someone who's covered warren buffet for many years, from "fortune," and of course very familiar face to all of us, welcome back. suzy great to see you. >> i missed you guys. and all of our viewers. >> my two favorite sues right >> so talk to us about the sung success issue. the language and tone seems to indicate the direction in which he's going. >> look he's got to be talking to shareholders. it is after all, the 50th anniversary. so it's a look back and also a look ahead. i think there's an obligation to talk about it. here's a man who was on cnbc this morning for three hours. the at 84 years old, do you

think he's going to give up? he's having a great time. but he did say a couple of things that gave more hints. he said the board has been talking a lot about this. they have the right person. he said gender is not an issue, it could be a woman. but this person is ready to go into action within 24 hours if warren buffet dies or steps down. one thing that struck me is that charlie munger said in this letter in his version, our ambitions have no finish line. and that says to me that munger who is 91 and buffet who is 84 are going to keep on going. >> having followed him for many years, your instinct does not tell you he's any closer today to turning over the reins a week ago -- >> he's talking about being more acquisitions big ones. >> let's talk about the company's performance. the stock did very well last year. but the profits were less good. energy and the railroads the problem. >> here's a company of berkshire hathaway that has 80 businesses

different things everything from dairy queen and heinz ketchup to burlington northern railroad which had problems this year. many companies tied to the housing industry which had problems. you look at the stock, up 27% last year. and if you look over 50 years, if you bought the stock in 1965 at $19 and those class "a" shares are $122,000 you're making compounded 19 1/2% a year. >> an impressive chart. one thing that was kind of omitted was ibm. and that had some eyebrows raised on wall street today. >> it was ibm, here's a company that they opened for quite a while. you know that the revenues have been declining. that stock investors have been dumping out of it. yet warren buffet says he likes it. and there are many ropes they're sticking with it. he didn't give too many specifics but said if it keeps going lower, he'll buy more. it's a matter of time where the markets right, or oracle omaha

made the right call. >> as much as he normally does. >> very quickly, no dividend coming anytime soon. >> you know he said in 10 to 20 years, maybe. i think he was just sort of telegraphing a message to the next ceo, if you decide you need a dividend it's okay by me. >> there you go. suzy thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. sotheby's a big drop in fourth quarter earnings. suzy can read this easily. the auction house saw its profits fall as expenses rose. this is as it faces pressure from shareholders. the revenue did rise and top expectations but that wasn't enough for investors. shares fell to $43.34. the medical device maker boston scientific will buy american medical systems. the deal comes as endo hopes to streamline and focus on the core

pharmaceuticals business. shares of boston scientific $17.06. endo rose 2% it closed at $87.32. another deal announced in the medical space today. cardinal health the drug distributor, is buying johnson & johnson's cordis medical products unit for about $2 billion. it makes devices like stints and catheters which adds to cardinal's portfolio, of course. shares of cardinal health rose almost 2% to $89.52, and j & j was up also. lumber liquidators, the company is pushing back against a report on cbs's "60 minutes," which said it sold flooring with higher levels of formaldehyde a carcinogen than what is permitted under california law. the improper testing method for results plunged the shares to close at $38.83. coming up one of the top

performing stocks on the nasdaq since its october 2002 lull. you've likely never heard of it. there's a hint. but you probably wish you owned . force . the duty dotcom bubble started to go bust balkck in 2000. some of the best performing stocks are priceline, netflix, familiar names. but one you've likely never heard of. >> since the nasdaq hit its low 13 years ago one of the top

performing stocks in the index is a company called sba communications. ring a bell? maybe not. it's a tower company which makes money in space to carriers at&t and verizon. since 2002, it's up a whopping 54,000%. no matter what time frame you look at ten years, five years, three years, or the past 12 months sba stock easily beats the nasdaq and the s&p 500. what explains the excitement around a company that owns and operates wireless towers? it's a play on the explosion of mobile devices. in 2002 the iphone didn't even exist. now the number of smartphone users worldwide will surpass $2 billion in 2016 according to research firms emarketer. that means carriers need to lease more antenna space from

sba to meet growing customer demand for mobile data. >> whether you're using an ipad or whether you're using an iphone or android device the tower companies are needed by every single carrier at this point in the u.s. and abroad for that matter. >> sba's growth shows no signs of stopping. in its last reported quarter, revenue jumped more than 20% to over $400 million. one catalyst that could move the stock higher? mobile growth overseas. the team at rbc said brazil represents a big opportunity, given its fast-growing population of more than 280 million mobile subscribers. sba owns some 7,000 towers there. if anything will stop the rapid rise is the potential for carriers to dramatically cut spending. analysts don't expect that to happen anytime soon. they bet this stock keeps

rising as long as there's global demand for mobile data. for "nightly business report," i'm josh lipton in silicon . finally tonight, forbes out with the list of the billionaires. warren buffet. and carlos aliu. and bill gates. once again, the world's richest person. that's "nightly business report." i want to remind you this is the time of year your public television station seeks your report. >> i'm tyler mathisen. thanks for your support. we'll see you to.

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