this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herara. >> best year ever. car sales accelerated in 2015 as automakers report their highest annual sales in history. >> turn around time. will some of the blue chip stocks that lost their shine in 2015 gain is back in the new year. >> and trouble in texas? the lone star state's economy boomed along with the price of oil. how is it holding up now that crude is cratering. all that and more on "nightly business report" for tuesday january 5th. >> good evening, everyone. and welcome. investors may not have liked 2015 very much, but automakers sure did. the industry sold a record number of vehicles last year. in 2015, americans purchased roughly 17.5 million cars and

trucks. topping the previous high set in 2000. the reasons are the ones we've been telling you about, cheap gas, low rates on loans and a strengthening economy and job market. as phil lebeau explains, records were broken despite lukewarm sales in the final month of the year. >> reporter: americans bought new cars, trucks absuvs at a strong pace in december, though maybe not as strong as many on wall street expected. the major automakers boosted sales last month between 5 and 1% which was generally shy of what many on wall street were expecting. the one notable exception, general motors increased sales 5.7% in december and for the first time since 2007, gm sold more than 3 million vehicles in the u.s. with interest rates starting to rise and the expected monthly payment for auto loans expected to move slightly higher, some have been concerned that perhaps we've seen a top in auto sales in the u.s., but analysts

believe we should see strong demand continue for the foreseeable future. >> we're actually still expecting 2016 to see some sales growth which will be the first time we've seen seven consecutive years of sales growth since really the dawn of the automotive era. >> "uss auto sales came in at a record clip for 2015 at roughly 17.5 million vehicles. compare that with the depth of the recession when the annual auto sales were roughly 10 million vehicles. after 2016, many believe we have not seen the top and that we could see sales inch even higher. >> and that was phil lebeau reporting. we'll have another report from phil a bit later in the program on new technology that allows cars to talk to one another. of course, those low gas prices that helped auto sales seem set to stay that way at least for now. today despite continued tensions in the middle east, domestic crude settled near an 11-year low at just below the $36 a

barrel. but the energy markets remain on edge as the divide between saudi arabia and iran deepens. headley gambill reports tonight from riad where she spoke with the saudi foreign minister. >> i got the chance to catch up with the saudi foreign minister earlier today and asked him how can the crisis be resolved and to respond to accusations this country lost face retribution over the execution of nimr al nimr. take a listen. >> he's a terrorist. he's as much a religious scholar as osama bin laden was. he was implicated in inciting people, recruiting people, providing munitions for people and he was involved in attacks against security people and what i find very puzzling is this individual is a saudi citizen. he committed the crime in saudi arabia. he was? ed in saudi courts and the sentence carried out by saudi authorities. what does iran have to do with

this? they execute hundreds of people every year. nobody says anything about it. this is their system. and so for the iranians to inject themselves into our domestic affairs is in line with what iran has been doing for years. at a certain point everybody reaches their limit. the iranians have gotten away with murder for more than 30 years. we did not escalate. we have not escalated in the past. very simple. iran should back off. they should stop being aggressive. they should stop interfering in the affairs of neighbors and stop supporting terrorism. >> the foreign minister telling me tehran needs to back off and stay out of saudi's business. of course, just in another sign of just how far things have deteriorated in that relationship, i asked him how his country and how iran, how the world can hope to possibly defeat the islamic state if iran and saudi arabia aren't talking. he doesn't even know at this point if iran wants to defeat the islamic state at all.

>> hadley gambill reporting from saudi arabia. >> from one oil capital to another, texas. that state's economy is closely tied to the energy industry and just as it grew rapidly as prices rose, there are now growing concerns about that region now that prices are falling. ryan sullivan reports from houston, a city synonymous with oil. >> reporter: for years, texas has been a shining star of the american economy. nearly 2 million people have moved to the state in the past five years. and houston's oil-fueled jobs boom is one reason why. as the new reality of lower prices sinks in, that growth at least in houston, may be at risk. >> used to make 5 1/2. >> he runs a company that makes pipes used for oil wells. he has had to lay off half his workers over the past year. >> we have had to go from over 1100 employees to less than 530 now. >> houston is much more than

just the old oil town it used to be. the city is diversified with medical, technology and manufacturing helping to power the economy to more than 3 million workers last year. but make no mistake. oil is still the blood that flows through houston's economic veins. and oil's impact is felt across many parts of the economy especially housing. > we sold 2500 homes in 2015. that's down about 8% from 2014, which was a record year for us. >> reporter: if housing slows, many of the construction jobs that come with it could also be impacted which could also then hurt consumer spending as jobs are lost. who nobody is predicting a lights going out on the lone star state anytime soon. but if oil prices do not recover, texas and in particular houston could be in for a rough couple of years. for "nightly business report" from houston, i'm brian sullivan. on wall street, investors remain cautious following yesterday's bigbee beginning of the year selloff.

the people's bank of china reportedly injected $20 billion into money markets last night and that helped stocks stabilize. buy the close the dow jones industrial average was up 9 points. blue chip index down as much as 110 middle of the day. nasdaq ended the day lower by 11 and the s&p 500 was up 47. >> so two days into the new year investors may be wondering if some of last year's losers will be this year's winners. take walmart for instance. it was the worst performing stock on the dow in 2015, but today, it outpaced the broader market to finish more than 2% higher. dominic chu takes a look at whether some names that lost their luster last year will shine in 2016. >> reporter: some investors are hunting for value in last year's beaten down stocks but not all of last year's losers necessarily have an equal shot at outperforming in 2016. so take consumer electronics giant apple. construction equipment maker caterpillar and walmart, all

three members of the dow jones industrial average. some experts think the you have to be choosey which stocks to invest in. >> i think the apple valuation is spelling trading around 10 to 12 times estimated earnings. caterpillar be a little bit cautious. they're in the mining industry that is struggling, for instance and they get a good portion of revenues from overseas. they're going to be largely dependent upon the dollar in their earnings. but i would invest in both for the long haul. walmart is under a restructuring right now. not quite as high on walmart as we would be on cat and apple. >> others are looking at bigger picture themes like which sectors could do well and which ones investors should remain more skeptical about. >> what we see from the forward estimates is two sectors, health care, consumer discretionary, still project double digit earnings growthing in 2016.

the sectors we would looking to so to speak stay underweight during 2016 to start, the easy ones are energy and materials. we just don't see commodity traction there yet. >> of course, there already countless bullish and bearish views in every part of the market but many on wall street are approaching 2016 with more caution and not all beaten down stocks are ripe necessarily for gains. for "nightly business report," i'm dominick chu. >> and speaking of caution two big banks are starting the new year on a somewhat bearish note. jpmorgan said the strategy of buying on the dips no longer works. today, citi downgraded its outlook for u.s. equities to an underweight. let's turn those issues over to michael an farr, president of farr miller and washington. good to see you. last time we were together was fed day down. chilly washington. it's a lot chillier there tonight. the market's starting off a little bit chilly. what do you think of citi

cutting to underweight? >> i think they're just listening to us and the last time we were standing in front of the fed where you and i talked about a reallocation of risk where we said that all of the stocks that had gone up because the fed was there with easy money when stocks went down wouldn't -- that same play that same investment wouldn't work, that risk would once again matter. i think the big banks are just following mathis son and farr down a logical road. >> that's a an dangerous thing to do. >> what changed? because when you and ty were down. washington, you were talking about the fact that the data were coming in better than expected in some case or certainly strong enough for the federal reserve to make their first move on interest rates. now all of a sudden, this market came into the new year with a very bearish tone. >> it has, sue. i think that tone has been building for a while. i think a number of investors look through year end and said wow, we didn't make any money last year. we're taking a look at the news out of china which continues to

deteriorate. keep in mind, chinese, the chinese economy is still growing. but there's sort of a global malaise. and we're seeing a global weakness. so as we look at stocks, we aren't looking for anything robust but sentiments turning negative. when it turns negative, the whole herd runs in the same direction and the stampede shifts. it's important to pay attention to the data, the discipline and do your research because you can get caught up in a lot of noise. the sky isn't falling. look at the numbers. >> where can i make money. 207 2016. >> i published my top ten stocks for 2016. a lot of the stocks that didn't do well in 2015, some of the johnson & johnson kind of names that have nice dividends, good balance sheets are selling at discounts to market multiples continue to look good. so if you look at technology stocks, some of those with solid balance sheets, some health care

stocks i think look pretty good and consumer staples. all of these are defensive. people continue to spend money in these areas. i think with a little bit of a dividend and a patient investor, there's still money to be made. >> you also like u.s. multinationals but that's your way of playing the international market versus going into maybe developed europe or something along those lines. >> it is, sue. i think for me, i like companies that report according to gaap standards and where our regulators can have some control. but if you think about europe for a minute and some of these markets where perhaps the growth isn't robust, central banks are infusing a lot of cash. we know what happened to our markets as our central bank infused a lot of cash. so i like participating and owning some stocks in those markets through some of these large multinationals that i think will do very well either driven by their own success or the success of the central bank. >> all right. michael, thanks very much. happy new year to you.

>> happy new year. >> michael farr of farr miller in washington. >> shares of two gunmakers hit all time highs today as president obama outlined new measures inattended to reduce gun violence. the president used his executive authority to expand background checks and strengthen firearm laws that already exist. speaking at the white house, he said the actions could save lives. and became emotional when reflecting on the shootings at sandy hook elementary. >> first graders, every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. and by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every day. >> smith & wesson shares rose 11%. the company gave an upbeat outlook for earnings and sales. sturm ruger gained more than 6.5% in trading today. >> still ahead, look can to move to the west coast? there's one city people are

flocking too and where rents are soaring. see if you can guess. ♪ it has never been more expensive to buy a home in manhattan. the average price of an apartment hit a record $1.9 million in the fourth quarter of last year this according to the real estate firm douglas ellerman. the manhattan market held up despite volatility overseas. that impacted international buyers. >> if you're looking to rent, you may be in for sticker shock. rents rounded out 2015 with staggering numbers. and one city in particular is taking a huge lead thanks to big job growth. diana oh ling has the story. >> reporter: rents continue to soar ending 2015 with the

highest year end rent growth in a decade. it came in at 4.7% in q4, a little lower than q3 but above the year before. rent growth has been at that level or above for five straight quarts and that's the longest it has been that high for that long in over 20 years all according to ax k axiom metrics. topping the hot rent list portland oregon replaced oakland, california, for the highest annual rent growth up 12% in q4 compared to the previous year. job greet is fueling demand, outstripping supply and pushing home values and rents significantly higher. portland home prices were up 9% in november year over year. that's far higher than the 6% home price gains we saw nationally according to core logic. and oregon came in at 2015's most popular moving destination according to united van lines. 69% of interstate moves were inbound. this as the northeast experiences a moving deficit,

new jersey, new york, connecticut and massachusetts made the list of top ten states people are leaving. for "nightly business report," i'm diana olick in washington. the drugmaker eli lilly issues a weak financial outlook where we begin tonight. the company cited are impacts from foreign exchange as well as analysts differing revenue expectations. on the upside, it said it does expect r&d spending to be higher than last year and it has nine late stage drugs in its pipeline. shares of the drugmakerer up to 84.11. gilead's shares rose after the fda granted it a priority review for experimental help c treatment. they once made up a majority of gilead's sales but competition has been eating into revenue. shares of the company up more than 1% on the day in the 99.26. spirit airlines chief executive steps down and company shares step up. he had been in the job since

2006. he gets credit for keeping ticket prices low while boosting fees. shares rising almost 6% today to 41.50. meantime, three major carriers increased air fares. delta raised fees by up to $4 one way. southwest and american increased ticket prices by $3. shares of delta fell slightly to 48.57, southwest rose. and american airlines finished done nearly 1%. amazon says customers ordered more than 23 million items from sellers on cyber-monday. an increase from the previous year. the retailer delivered more than 1 billion items sold by third party vendors in 2015 through its fulfillment by amazon service. a third party sellers are able to store their products in amazon's warehouses which enables amazon to fulfill the recordses directly. shares of the company down to 6.33.79. >> amazon is teaming up with an automaker. today ford said that it is

working with the tech company to connect cars to home devices so you can do things like start your vehicle while in your living room. let's be clear here. the vehicle is not in your living room. you can turn on your porch light while you're driving home. >> we're accelerating our transition from an auto company to auto and mobility company. if you look at internet-enabled devices, smart devices in the home more and more people are buying them. we want to integrate ford vehicles into that. >> ford's ceo mark fields made the announcement at the consumer electronics show in las vegas where the buzz isn't just about cars talking to homes but also to each other. back again is phil lebeau who went behind the wheel to show us how that technology works. >> reporter: all right. here we go. auto supplier delphi says this is the brains behind the next generation of intelligent cars and trucks. software and cameras in this test vehicle allows them to not

only talk with other cars so they can avoid collisions at blind intersections. >> changing lanes. >> so we're changing lane because there's a hidden driveway up here. >> but it goes one step further. communicating with stoplights about changes in traffic and with the smartphones of pedestrians so they can stop or slow down and an crashes where pedestrians could be hurt or killed. >> the car has let us know. he's right there. >> the opportunity to get that the advanced information before the car is there before anybody's put in dangering is -- it would just be an incredible improvement in safety. >> vehicle to vehicle communications is a crucial step in the development of autonomous drive cars and trucks like the google car. delphi's technology will be in the first gm models with super cruise control which come out later this year. the next step for smarter cars which will hopefully lead to fewer people being in accidents. >> and to read more about the way cars communicate, head to our website nbr.com.

also on display at the consumer electronic show this week is virtual reality technology. it's expected to grow rapidly over the coming years. as julia boorstin reports there's more evidence than ever that the technology has gone mainstream. >> reporter: virtual reality is headed for a breakout year with sony's morpheus and facebook's oculus launching vr head sets. presales of oculus tomorrow starts tomorrow. htc announced its second generation virtual reality system. on the heels of the first shipments of the lower gear vr selling out over the holidays, a new study out today finds nearly half of american who's play any sort of video games are interested in at home vr. >> these are really strong numbers. you don't need to get anywhere near the number of people that said they're very interested to have a very successful launch. >> a sign of how broad demand is

for vr, mag jid advisors finds even gamers are more interested in entertainment content in vr movies and television than playing virtual reality games. now media companies are investing to create new vr apps to stake a claim in this new type of content. netflix, hulu and directv have launched vr aps. among the dozens available for google cardboard's $20 head sets. studios are placing big betts. today fox revealing the martian experience which i had a chance to try out. >> i got it. >> martian experience goes on sale for the rift and orpheus. fox which is leading hollywood's push into vr is planning one more adventure like the martian which will work on the more expensive headsets and two designed for the lower cost cost mobile va headsets all tied to fox films but not designed to be

marketing but a whole new revenue stream. and cable channel sci-fi just announced it's launching an innovation lab to create immersive vr content, as well. >> it will start growing and growing. you wouldn't greem of watching tv without an hd did today. for the right content, i imagine people wouldn't dream of watching it if it wasn't on vr for the right content. >> that means big business. virtual reality and augmented reality are projected to generate $150 billion in revenue by 2020. for "nightly business report," i'm julia boorstin, in los angeles. coming up, a first look inside of new york's medical marijuana dispensaries that opens for business thursday.

♪ here's a look what to watch tomorrow. adp relations its report on the number of jobs created in the private sector and we get international trade figures. factory orders and data on the services sector. the fed will release the minutes from its last meeting when it raised interest rates and u.p.s. expects tomorrow, i wonder why, to be its busiest day for returns. and that's what to watch for wednesday. >> a sobering new survey on americans finances. according to the pew charitable trusts one in three american families don't have net savings. that includes 10% of those who earn more than $100,000 a year. half of households say they would use credit cards if they needed funds in an emergency. and finally tonight, new

york's medical marijuana program goes into effect thursday. the new law is considered one of the nation's strictest with limits placed on the way canny bus can be ingested and who has access to it. kate rogers givens us an exclusive look inside one of the dispensaries in manhattan. >> reporter: while new york state's medical marijuana startups are gearing up to open their doors january 7th, columbia care may have the buzziest location of them all. reason be? it's right off of union square in new york city. set to be manhattan's first medical marijuana dispensary under the compassionate care act. it features tight security with five outside cameras and patient verification necessary before even stepping inside. once patients gets through the doors they'll enter this modern pristine waiting area but you might notice it's not sterile like a doctor's office. instead, the goal here is to maximize patient comfort. >> we have tried to create an environment where patients feel

welcome, feel warm and safe and they feel like they're having a professional experience. >> reporter: under new york state's medicinal marijuana laws five companies were awarded licenses to grow and manufacture as well as sell products. all canny bus must be grown in the state and each company is licensed to open four dispensaries. patients can only seek treatment if they have one of ten illnesses approved by the state's department of health including cancer, als, aids or hiv and parkinson's. columbia care has operations in washington, d.c. and arizona and will be expanding into illinois, massachusetts and san diego, california, later in the year. but opening in new york is a symbolic step. >> it really sets the tone for policy for you know, for enlightment, for intellectual curiosity and innovation. >> don't expect them to expand into the recreational space. it's intent on expanding patient access in new york and beyond. in new york city, i'm kate

rogers. >> and here's another look at the day on wall street which was really relatively calm. >> by comparison. >> the dow jones industrial average rose 9 points to 17,000158, blue chip index down as much as 110 midday, nasdaq fell 11, s&p 500 added four. >> and on that note, that does it for "nightly business report." i'm sue herara. thanks for jning us. >> thanks from me, as well. i'm tyler mathison. have a great deaning everybody. we'll hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. edeaning ev. we'll hope to see you right back edeaningideandeaning deaning everybody. deaning idomndeanigdeaning ing ning ng reg ev everybody. ♪ hollar: tonight on "revolutionaries"...

axelrod: there's meaning to all of this. it's not just a game. it's not just about whether the red team or the blue team wins. it's about what we can do together to solve big problems and move the country forward. and make the future a little better than the past. and that's why i'm a believer. ♪ hollar: from a young chicago news reporter to president obama's senior adviser, david axelrod chronicles his illustrious career in "believer: my forty years in politics." tonight axelrod takes us behind the scenes of obama's landmark first campaign, the turbulent days of his first term, and his successful re-election in 2012. funding for "revolutionaries"