this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen around sue herera. >> back to basics. why this summer week taught us a lot about the u.s. economy and what it might mean for the federal reserve and your money. long road ahead. the u.s. flag is raised at the embassy in havana. but there's still a long way to go before economic relations are normalized. all american. why our market monitor is investing in companies that do most of their business right here in the usa. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for friday, august 14th. good evening, everyone. welcome. i'm tyler mathisen. sue herera has the evening off. well, this august week was anything but a summer snoozer. over the past few days we

learned that the world's largest economy, ours, remains resilient. so far from firing on all cylinders. manufacturing is improving. in the face of a strong dollar and falling oil prices. the consumer is spending, the job market is strengthening and the stock market rebounded. after china devalued the currency earlier this week and all week long. today, we got additional information on the state of the economy bringing investor attention back to good old fashioned fundamentals. it's a familiar story, but it paints a muddled picture. on the bright side, the u.s. economy is growing. two key numbers out today confirm it. the producer price index or ppi up 0.2 of 1% and industrial production also higher. 0.6 of 1%. both up more than expected. but whether the u.s. economy is moving fast enough to justify an interest rate hike by the federal reserve, well, that is another question.

>> if they're going to move it's once or twice and only the move off of zero and to stay silent in the election period. >> when we look at this on an annual basis the ppi is in negative territory as it has been for the seventh consecutive month. still no signs of upward pressure, no immediacy for the fed to react. >> in fact, producer prices are actually down almost 1% compared with a year ago. and the rise in july was a smaller jump than we saw in june so the rate of growth slowed down. even core prices excludeing both food and the reeling energy sector are only up 0.6 over a year, so we're a long way from any signs of the 2% inflation the fed says it's looking for. industrial production is also showing some weakness. peel back the headline number and you will find that almost all the growth came from autos and auto parts manufacturing. up more than 10%.

strip out autos and manufacturing which accounts for most of the industrial production number was barely higher. 0.1 of 1%. there were downward revisions to the june number. what's more, the fed has to consider the stronger u.s. dollar. that cheapens imports and slows our exports. then there's the weak energy sector and a generally bumpy global economy. earlier this week, china devalued the wan. today the european union said it missed forecasts and revised the first quarter number down. the u.s. consumer may be feeling a pinch too. even with a good july retail number this week. consumer sentiment dropped below 93 after a slight uptick had been expected. of course, it's still summertime. the living may be easy. even if the data for now looks choppy enough to make the fed reach for the dramamine.

well, that economic data sent stocks higher to finish the week by the close of trading today, the dow jones industrials rose 69 points to 17477. nasdaq climbed 14, s&p higher by 8. for the week which was filled with volatile till -- volatility, it or not all three major averages rose by a bit. well, investigators are pulling their money from u.s. equity funds. morning star reports outflows through july are running at the highest level since 1993. and as the money flows out of u.s. funds it going into the international funds. it is moving out of actively managed ones or into passive or index funds. well, the u.s. has approved limited sales of crude oil to mexico. the commerce department has told lawmakers that it will approve an application by mexico's national oil company. the application would allow mexico to enter into oil trade agreements with u.s. companies. the energy industry has been pushing to relax washington's

restrictions on oil exports which have been in place for decades. today nonetheless the oil prices rose slightly to $42.50 a barrel. well, it was an historic day. more than 50 years in the making. the american flag was raised above a new u.s. embassy in cuba. symbolizing the restoration of diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries. but as michelle caruso-cabrera reports, there's still a lot of hard work ahead. >> reporter: the defining moment of today's event -- when the three marines who lowered the flag the last time back in 1961 raised the flag today at what is now once again the u.s. embassy here in havana. john kerry became the first u.s. secretary of state to visit since 1945. in his speech, which was broadcast on national cuban television, he said that the u.s. and cuba are not rivals, not enemies, but rather

neighbors. he once again repeated the president's request to eliminate the u.s. embargo against the island and at the same time, welcomed american business executives interest in trying to do business here despite the embargo. >> we are encouraged that more and more u.s. companies are exploring commercial ventures here that would create opportunities, for cuba's own rising number of entrepreneurs. >> reporter: many of those invited and in attendance were those who worked to improve relations for the last several years. there were many cuban-american business people as well. including former commerce secretary gutierrez, the former ceo of kellogg's. he was born here in havana and today's trip was his first since 1960. >> this morning i woke up and i was joyful, i was happy. to wake up in havana. this was incredibly emotional to see our flag coming up in havana again. having cubans applaud. >> reporter: and despite today's

watershed moment, there is still a long road ahead before this full normalization between the two countries. once again, the cuban government called for the end of the embargo against the country. but it doesn't look like there's enough votes in congress for that to happen any time soon. even if the embargo were to go away, this is a communist country and it's incredibly difficult to do business here. in havana, cuba, michelle caruso-cabrera. meanwhile, in brussels the members reached an agreement to lend greece the equivalent of $96 billion in bailout funds over three years. the deal followed approval by greek lawmakers of austerity measures that were needed to get that bailout money. and now to china where investors have been watching the government's move to devalue the currency this week. small importers and exporters have taken notice. they can be sensitive to currency swings because they typically have fewer resources to handle the impact and for

some, china's currency devaluization may be both a blessing and a curse. kate rodgers explains. >> reporter: this is the manager of the phoenix division of value terra products, located in avon lake, ohio. phoenix makes 40% from imported faucets and plumbing products from china. if the devaluation continues, it may mean better leverage going forward. >> we are seeing evidence of weakness in the chinese economy. and they have really been facing some challenges over the last couple of years. which has left the manufacturers, the people we're dealing with working very hard to be aggressive with their pricing. what that means for me as we go forward is as a buyer, i may have more leverage with the suppliers because they don't have as much business activity as they did and we may with the stronger dollar be able to

negotiate better deals. >> reporter: while small business advocates say a continued decline will benefit importers of chinese products, it will hit on the made in america manufacturing. >> american made products are going to be more expensive in china to buy. which puts u.s. exporters at a competitive disadvantage and i think it also potentially leads to an even widening of our already large trade deficit that we have with china. >> reporter: this is a concern of ours as 60% of the products line is manufactured here in the states. the devaluation puts him in the area where they're against competition. >> the low price entry point which is an imported product and the phoenix made products that are produced in our factory customers will tend to move to buy the lower priced product. so it actually while i get the benefit of buying lower priced components and finished

assemblies, because it competes with my other product line, my domestic faucets will see some erosion in sales as customers move to lower price offering. >> reporter: so as the global markets continue to monitor the won decline, so too do american businesses. for "nightly business report," i'm kate rodgers. still ahead, the big money behind some of the biggest state fairs. ford is dropping one of the most popular mutual funds of all from its retirement accounts for

employees. the automaker pulling $900 million from fidelity's contra fund found in many retirement accounts. in a statement ford said it makes changes from time to time to suit the needs of its employees. well, iowa is hosting one of the largest state fairs in the country. and while it may conjure images of deep fried foods like fried butter and amusement rides, this is also big business for state associations and local shops. morgan brennan is at the center of it all in des moines. >> reporter: fried food and politicians. >> that looks good to me. >> reporter: this is the iowa state fair. with roughly 1 million visitors each year it's one of the biggest in the country. >> of those million people that come to the iowa state fair, many of them come and stay in the surrounding area and they of course drive here and utilize our local businesses in addition to the fair, we have estimate

it's over $100 million worth of impact in the 11 days. >> reporter: even though they're not for profit entities, state fairs are a big business. with the largest racking up tens of millions of dollars in revenue. including sales for local entrepreneurs and statewide associations like the corn farmers and cattle ranchers. in iowa, officials have been taking steps to make sure the fair stays strong. >> in the last legislative session, the senate and the house, the governor all agreed to make sure that the school start -- none of the school districts can start schools until after the state fair is over. >> reporter: western apparel retailer has two booths at the iowa fair. >> belike coming here because there are so many people here and then we're advertising and hopefully they will be coming to our stores in future. >> reporter: and politicians like to come here today. they hold the first caucus or major electoral event in the nominating process for president. groups gather around the soap box that hosts candidates and iowans line up at the booth to

vote with corn kernels on who is the next commander in chief. >> i think it does drive the attendance. >> reporter: while the iowa state fair is the campaign ground including earlier this morning gop candidate jeb bush, when its comes to making money at the fair it is all about the food. >> very hot. so be careful. >> there's a waiting list for booth time. and if it's on a stick it's likely to sell, be it corn dogs or pork chop on a stick. of which the pork association expects to go through 67,000. for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in des moines, iowa. >> i'm now very hungry. well, investors cheered j.c. penney on better than expected results and that's where we begin the market focus. the retailer did most a loss, but it was narrower than expected. revenue beat forecasts as did the increase in same-store sales

and that was a good day in the market. shares rose 5.5% to $8.52. warren buffett eliminated his stakes in national oilwell varco and phillip 66 according to a filing the move signals that he could have another large investment in the works. clearing the deck, shares of national oilwell fell a fraction to $39.55. phillips 66 was down slightly. lumber liquidators rose after a new stake is being taken in the new flooring maker. the 240,000 share position is welcome news for investors following allegations that some of the flooring sold there contains a known carcinogen. shares were nearly 8% higher today to $14.02. and nelson peltz' trian funds revealing it has taken a more than 7% stake in sysco. the position worth more than

$1.5 billion that would make trian the largest shareholder in the country. shares were 7.5% higher. and with all the uncertainty overseas, how can you protect your portfolio? tonight's market monitor has three picks that he says are safe amid all the volatility. this is his first appearance on "nightly business report" and so we welcome mark spellman, portfolio manager at alpine. you have two principal concern, one, how the market will react in the short term if and when the federal reserve raises interest rates. and the other is slowing global growth. how do you meld the two and come up with a portfolio strategy? >> yeah, i think this week for sure the emphasis has been on slowing global growth. the actions by the chinese government has shown they're very worried. that has global implications. in the area their trading partners in japan.

also with commodity prices and energy, metals. that's all a worry. that's why in our -- in our equity income fund we are trying to concentrate on companies that derive most of their revenue from the u.s. and are going to raise the dividend. >> stay close to home and look for dividends. after all, you're an equity income fund. let's go through your choices. discover financial is one of them. you have a target price of $72 a share. >> yeah, i think the bottom line with discover, is extremely cheap at ten times earnings. when you look at the dodd-frank stress test, they ranked number one of all companies. that's going to help you sleep well at night. this is a company that's raising the dividend, buying back 8.5% of the shares. we think they'll do the same next year. it's almost exclusively u.s. revenue, its benefits from higher disposable income. >> let's talk about cvs corps, target of 64 over the next 12 to 18 months. >> yeah.

the space of media has been really beaten up. i think cbs has gotten beaten up a little too much compared to some of the rivals. i doesn't have the kind of exposures they have. it does have ad exposure. they have what everybody wants -- content. if you're worried about the slimming down of cable bundles, cbs is going to be there. and they also have football, they have the super bowl this year. they have a lot of content that people want. they're buying a lot of stock. they raised their dividend 25% at 14 times earnings. >> and one of the best executives running it in less moonves. let's go to kinder morgan. >> yeah, the baby out with the bath water, we know what's happened in the energy sector over with the past year. however, this is a company that is the largest transportation pipeline company in north south america. very little of its everyoarning derived from commodity prices. there's a lot of volume. this is a xaej -- company that

has a 6% dividend yield. not only do we think this dividend is safe, we think it will run up another 10% for the next couple of years. and the other thing i really like about this company, when a stock gets hit the way this has done, this management team and the board of directors since the middle of june have fought back -- excuse me, they bought $30 million of stock in the open market, that's a good sign that they're really confident in what's going to happen going forward. >> putting their money to work in their own -- that's good. that's a good sign. mark spellman, thank you. with alpine funds. coming up, can disney turn it around for the company and the shareholders?

shares of disney may have taken a beating recently but they're still up about 20% over the past year and today thousands of disney fans were on hand to see what new offerings the company has planned. jane wells reports from anaheim. >> he transported us to the galaxy far, far away. and there was no looking back. >> reporter: of all the things the walt disney company wants to celebrate this weekend at its fan event, d-23, none matched the anticipation around "star wars." the force awakens will awaken in theaters in december. the first big screen "star wars" movie under the disney banner. today, george lucas was honored. >> not very many people realize that goofy was the inspiration for jar jar binks. i know you'll look at him

differently now. >> reporter: investors hope to learn more about the plans to further monetize "star wars" like the possibility of converting toon town into the "star wars" area. more tomorrow like than tomorrow land. even "star wars" music is getting high praise as elsman paid tribute to the legendary john williams who has scored every "star wars" film ever made. >> of course, you know, he is separate from all of this group. and, you know, he is incredible. >> reporter: the "star wars" event will be the big event of the weekend and even though there was a disturbance in the force right now in the chinese economy, box office expectations are galactic. there's more to talk about, like the investment in the park in shanghai. what's up next for marvel, a branch of disney which had no presence this year at comic-con. good news for friends of buzz and woody. john lasseter is directing toy

story 4 and a sequel to frozen. >> we only make sequels if we come one a story that's as good or better than the original. >> finally it's a weekend to remember those who made a huge impact on the company and remember the past when walt disney created something very unique a long time ago in an imagination far, far away. for "nightly business report," jane wells, anaheim. >> and from anaheim, we head north to the beautiful monterey peninsula, pebble beach where some of the most expensive cars in the world are on display and up for auction. robert frank took a look at some of the classic cars. >> reporter: it is the richest car week in the world. concours d'elegance here in pebble beach is where millionaires and billionaires gather to party, show off their rides and buy cars that cost more than most houses. this year more than $400 million worth of cars will be auctioned

off. and more than 140 cars will sell for more than $1 million. ferrari, porsche and other luxury companies will hold exclusive dinners at events for their top customers. wall streeters, real estate tie continues and european heiresses all fly in for the big three days. >> well -- >> reporter: jay leno has been coming to the concours d'elegance for decades and says there are more international buyers and the prices have skyrocketed as the rich buy the cars more as investments than just toys. >> oh, i have been coming here since the '80s. what's changed are the investment potential of the car. i mean, you could buy -- well, i'll give you an example. there was a guy on long island that had the million dollar car museum. and he had 250 cars. now you have one car in the museum. maybe on jacks with the wheels missing because i mean, that's how crazy it's gotten. >> reporter: but some wonder if the collectible car craze is a bubble that's getting ready to

pop. prices for top cars have more than doubled over the past three years and there are now more and more speculators entering the market purely to buy cars for investment gains rather than to drive. >> the concern in the marketplace is just are they going the drive values through the roof? and, you know, really kind of create that frothy, speculative environment that will make people nervous. >> reporter: among the top cars are the pope ferrari. it was given to john wall ii and auctioned off. last night it sold for $5.5 million. ferrari testarossa used on the miami vice tv show in the 1980s could sell for up to $1 million. and the last car purchased by steve mcqueen the actor and racing legend is being sold, the 1976 porsche that could top $1 million. and the most expensive car this week could be this 1961 ferrari

california spooider expected to sell up to $18 million. for "nightly business report," i'm robert frank in pebble beach. >> i think the lesson is buy a ferrari. that's "nightly business report" for tonight, i'm tyler mathisen. we want to remind you this is the time of the year public tv seeks your support. thanks for watching. thank you for your support. have a great weekend. we'll see you here on monday.

what are we doing here? it's a surprise. come on. all right. hiya. what do you think? great. ah, there they are. you haven't dragged them here as well? is is your birthday. ( all greeting ) thanks for coming all this way. it was worth it just to see these two in a comedy club. certainly having a laugh at these prices. d'you know how much this round cost? happy birthday, gerry. suppose you want one, now you're here. yeah, i'll have a beer. emily? vodka. large. oh! look who's on tonight. haven't heard of him for years! ray harris. used to be really big. do you remember him? vaguely. was he any good? not my cup of tea. oh, no, he's all right. proper old-fashioned comic. you'll love him. i will, anyway. ha ha! so i said to this woman last night, "would you have sex with me for a quid?" she said no. i know i was shocked. i said, "would you have sex with me for a million quid?"