tv Nightly Business Report PBS February 3, 2016 6:30pm-7:01pm PST
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this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> warning signs. the u.s. economy got disheartening news about one of its most important sectors. we'll put it in perspective for you. financials tumble. why bank stocks here and across the globe are getting beaten and buzed in 2016. the mutual funds that may protect your money in a market like this one. all that and more for "nightly business report" on wednesday february 3rd. good evening, everyone, and welcome. do not underestimate the power of crude at least not in this market. stocks staged a massive comeback as the price of oil surged. that relationship between stocks and oil is so strong it shrugged
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off an unexpectedly weak services report which pressured equities early on and sent bond yields sinking. more on that momentarily. by the close the blue chip index gained, to 16,336, moving 400 points from its low to its high. the nasdaq slipped 12 and the s&p 500 rose 9. as for domestic crude prices, take a look at that percentage gain, 8% to the upside snapping a two-day rout as the dollar tumbled and despite record inventories. if anything, today was a reminder of why this market is anything but boring. bob pisani explains what fueled today's rebound. >> reporter: we stopppped droppg when oil stopped dropping about 11:00 a.m. stocks went sideways until about 2:00 p.m. when the whole market turned around. the dow rallied over 250 points in about an hour. oil also rallied to the highs for the day. so what happened? some are citing vague rumors that oil-producing countries are trying to cobble together an agreement to limit production.
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but, you know, we've heard those rumors before. regardless, beaten up sectors like bank stocks finally rallied. you know, some of these regional banks are down 15% to 20% this year, don't have international exposure and most do not have huge exposure to energy loans so why are they selling off so dramatically? i get there are concerns low rates will hurt banks but most traders feel the extent of the selloff makes no fundamental sense. for "nightly business report" i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. more on the sobering economic news. the services sector which accounts for 80% of u.s. economic activity is starting to cool. and as steve liesman explains, that's exactly what economists don't want to see. >> reporter: key economic report that bulls hoped would show the u.s. economy holding up instead weakened unexpectededly. it was the third straight monthly decline for the much followed service sectors survey from the institute for supply management. it's now dropped to its lowest level in two years as the
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outlook for services employment and new orders also declined. the measure still shows growth in the economy and growth in services, but the weakness suggests that troubles elsewhere in the economy from manufacturing, a strong dollar, a declining energy industry, and weak overseas growth are now spilling over to the service sector which is the biggest part of the u.s. economy. >> we learned today that the service sector is following the manufacturing sector lower in traditional lagged form. this means that the broader economy is likely slowing as measured by real gdp growth. >> as a result, they upped the chance of a u.s. recession to 40% from around 33%. despite a separate adp report suggesting strong job gains in excess of 200,000 in january, others on wall street were more inclined toward the pessimism. >> the global environment is very much part of the recessionary risks that the u.s. faces. it's about importing those risks from an external shock and the manner in which that occurs is
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through financial market conditions. >> in addition to ignoring the stronger than expected adp report, there was also little focus on dovish comments from the new york fed president. bill dudley said in an interview that a stronger dollar and weaker global economy could have, quote, significant consequences for the u.s. economy. and that financial conditions are tighter now than they were when the fed last met in december and the fed has to take tighter conditions into account making monetary policy. most of the data this week has been soft. one more chance for the bulls. if the payroll report on friday shows strength along with wage gones, it could direct the market away from fear of recession and back to the upside of cheaper oil and more americans being employed and bringing home paychecks. for "nightly business report," i'm steve liesman. michael hansen joins us to talk more about the economy. he's senior economist with bank of america global research. michael, welcome. nice to have you here. let's start with that recession
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call, 40%, others are right around there, but you think that the percentage would be quite a bit lower than that, why? >> yeah, we've been saying that it's probably in the vicinity maybe of 20%. i do think the risks are perhaps skewed toward it being higher if we continue to see a selloff in the markets. but right now it still looks like the fundamentals of the economy are not as weak as the markets might suggest and as one of your early stories suggested, there does appear to be a bit of a disconnect there. the labor market continues to be strong. we'll obviously see if that continues on fwririday. consumer fundamentals are fairly good. the housing market is doing well. we have a fiscal stimulus in place this year as opposed to the drag the last couple years. a number of things are going the right way and comes down to whether the service sector can hang in there. it's a larger share of the economy. we saw a loss of momentum today but not a deterioration. whereas the strong dollar has really pulled back manufacturing and that's something we're keeping on eye on. >> michael, do you see the
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economy slowing from its fourth quarter pace? it doesn't have much farther to slow, it was .7 of 1% growth. or picking up steam here in the first half of the year? >> yeah, picking up steam might be a little strong, but i think we do get a rebound. i don't think .7 is the likely trend in the near or longer term for the economy. i would say we're probably going to see something in the vicinity of around 2% growth this year give or take. i think the underlying trend is a little softer than that so if we run above trend we should continue to see job gains and lower unemployment rate as well. >> what about the dollar? that has been certainly today it had a dramatic move, but overall it has been higher and stronger for a lot longer than everybody thought. is that what's really hurting the manufacturing and services sector? >> i think it's hurting manufacturing more than it's hurting services by a notable margin. most services are produced and consume ed domestically so theye not exposed to the dollar but there's a significant portion of manufacturing that is and that's
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been a significant shock. you're up some 20% to 25% in the dollar in the last year and a half. that's one of the larger moves we've seen in quite some time and having a meaningful adverse impact on the industry sector. >> all right, michael, we'll leave it there. thanks so much for joining us. bank of america global research. as concerns about the economy grow, bank stocks have been beaten and bruised and how, the financial sector is the worst performing group this year so far. down almost 12%. and it's not just u.s. bank stocks but european ones as well. kayla explains why. >> reporter: 2016 was supposed to be a banner year for the banks, but a week economy has been putting even more pressure on the industry. fears of an economic slowdown based on market drops overseas and negative data will be gone on the services sector here in the u.s. investors into treasuries pushing prices up and yields down. the yield on the ten year treasury fell to its lowest point in a year. that has a negative effect on
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the banks because that's the benchmark for mortgages and fixed rate loans so while low yields might be great for consumers they hurt bank profits and, therefore, bank stocks. if the slowdown does cause the fed to hold off on rate hikes, another potential benefit for the banks, that's going to hurt, too. the icing on the cake, the fear more energy loans could go bad. for all of those reasons, paul miller eer said it might take while for investors to get back in. >> get the tenure, energy prices to stabilize. if withdryou have a long-term v you can buy things and make money here but nobody wants to own these things. >> reporter: europe, the problems are well worse. the euro stock 600 bank index down 23% this year as the lengthening recession makes more loans go bad. italy, for instance, has 350 billion euros in bad loans. they're off loading to private investors with government backing. in spain, the bank of spain said bad loans fell to 10.3% of total credit in november, but that
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risk -- the fear is there's more where that came from and the earnings have not been reassuring to that end. deutsche bank has seen its market cap halved in the last year and warned it's seen more than $7 billion in losses in 2015. government-owned rbf said it will post a loss, too, and pay more than $2 billion in a mortgage settlement with the u.s. standard charter plans to lay off 15,000 employees in the next 3 years so these restructures, bad headlines, familiar to u.s. investors because we went through it after the financial crisis, but right now it's hard for investors on both sides of the atlantic to see a light at the end of the tunnel. for "nightly business report," in new york. growth in china has been an overarching concern for investors, and today the chinese government said the world's second largest economy would expand between 6.5% and 7% this year. the new target comes as policymakers in that country battle the slowest growth in 25 years. beijing will also try to curve
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overcapacity and that could increase unemployment in areas with a high output of steel and coal. a chinese company making s biggest foreign acquisition yet. the china national chemical corporation known as chem china will buy the swiss seed company sengenta for $43 billion in cash. it's the most expensive agricultural transaction ever. the deal will help china expand food production but may raise regulatory concerns here since singenta owns u.s. chemical facility. the chinese slowdown has been hitting some u.s. multinational companies very hard but for many american retailers, it hasn't been all that bad. and as courtney reagan reports, these companies are invested in china for the long haul. >> reporter: for decades, china was synonymous with outsized growth offering investors and companies a new market to penetrate. but as fears of a worsening china slowdown weigh heavil hea
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industrial and commodity based reta look at china differently and growth is large part of the view. >> china can ebb and flow. there are different considerations with gdp growth in china, the housing market and different economic considerations, but as far as retail goes, in terms of luxury goods and global brands, it's a very important market for the long term. so retailers can't really ignore this market and need to continue to invest in it. and also build their awareness and their brand and their identity globally. >> reporter: on a conference call, bernard arno, ceo of luxury conglomerate acknowledged the economic slowdown in china but also said, quote, many observers underestimate the fundaments of china's economy noting household consumption is on the rise there. like other retailers, the luxury goods seller looks to the country as a long-term growth driver. pvh corp will buy the remaining interest in the tommy hilfiger
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in china. china is the fastest growing market for calvin klein and tommy hilfiger. michael kors and coach reported double digit comparable sales growth in china while noting weakness in hong kong and macau. retail experts with an eye on china say the higher end consumer's pension to spend may be leveling off as evidenced by weakness in travel to hong kong and macau but spending in mainland china remains healthy which is where retailers are concentrating investments in the country. >> we've been seeing somewhat of a global pause in chinese traveling so that's something we watch out for at names like tiffany and higher end names. >> reporter: but mid-tier retailer h&m says it's, quote, very happy with business in china ef china even in a tougher environment. victoria's secret and elle brand plan to add operations in china this yooex. macy's is seeing a drag from economic slowdown. fewer chinese tourists are
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traveling to the u.s. which means less spending at flagship stores in big cities and china has proven lately to be unpredictable, so if the slowdown leads chinese consumers to pull back their spending, it could be trouble for retail. for "nightly business report," i'm courtney reagan. still ahead, mutual funds that may help you stay calm in a stomach-churning market. redstone resigned as
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chairman of cbs. a lawsuit challenging are redstone's mental competence raised questions about whether he should continue in that role. shares of cbs rose in initial after-hours trading as did shares of viacom where she's also chairman. viacom's board will reportedly meet tomorrow. gopro slings to a fourth-quarter loss and issues a disappointing revenue forecast. the action camera maker lost 8 cents a share. analysts were looking for a break-even quarter. revenue also fell short at $437 million, a decline of 31% from year ago. the result sent shares lower after initially rising in after-hours trading. but as josh lipton reports the real fmission is whether the company has a strategy of being more than a camera maker. >> reporter: gopro, the company went public in summer 2014, investors bid up the stock that
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fall but since then it's suffered a wild ride like one of the company's famous action-packed videos. gopro's big mistake, last year it introduced its newest camera, hero 4 session. gopro billed the camera as its smallest and lightest camera to date but the company grossly mispriced the product. the original price of $400 was slashed twice down to $200. on top of that, gopro's ceo nick woodman says the company made a mistake by not dedicating enough resources to its marketing efforts. add it up and gopro suffered a disappointing holiday season leading to layoffs at the company and a stock that dropped to $10. so what can woodman do now to turn around this company? analysts say it starts with a new camera that needs to boast exciting innovative features. >> there are a number of cameras we're seeing that are starting to only out, nikkon had one that
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can capture in 360 degrees. gopro camera captures at 180 degrees but you'd love to see the whole sphere around you, see the video from all sides, share it on social media, people could pan around 360 degree video. that's where the cameras are headed in the future. >> analysts say gopro has do upgrade software making it easier for users to edit and share content. there are also new products on the way that need to be a hit. >> first out of the gate would be the drown they're calling karma that's supposed to debut in the first half of 2016. so it would be their first effort in a quad copter drone. it's a big market already. dji is the market leader. it's over $1 billion. they're a popular holiday gift. so, you know, go pro is the brand, they have the distribution, a lot of the drones that people have used historically use a gopro camera built they attach into it so they have mind share in the
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category. as long as they get the category right, they'll have an audience. >> reporter: even bulls say it's fair to ask whether it's just too little, too late for gopro after such a tough year winning back credibility with investors won't be easy, but the start of a rebound, if there's going to be one, begins now. for "nightly business report," i'm josh lipton in san francisco. the pharmaceutical giant merck misses its revenue target and we begin tonight's "market focus." the company said a strong dollar and increased pricing pressure cut into sales. fourth-quarter profit at the drug maker fell nearly 90% compared to the year before when it had a big gain from the sale of its consumer health business. merck also issued a cautious 2016 outlook. the company's shares fell fractionally today to $50.05. similar story at the snack company, it saw shares fall after a 17% drop in quarterly revenue partly because of the dollar and sale of a majority of its coffee business. the oreo cookie maker hurt by a
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$800 million accounting charge related to its venezuela unit. guess they don't eat oreos down there. shares fell 6.5% to 3923. general motors benefited from strong results in the u.s. and china and rode them to a record profit in 2015, nearly $10 billion. the nations's largest automaker reiterated 2016, but shares fell 2.5% today to 2892. the shares of the battery manufacturer energizer holdings kept going and going today after the company saw an increase in earnings and revenue that topped wall street estimates. the company attributed its growth to strong sales and increased prices and it raised its full-year guidance. shares surged 17% to 3686. activists investor has taken a 7% stake in marvel technology group. marvel has lost over 40% of its value since last year.
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following the september announcement of an internal accounting investigation. marvel's shares rose about 7% to $9.27. fourth quarter profit at oil refiner marathon petroleum corporation fell 80% but good enough to beat street estimates. revenue at the independent oil refiner fell by almost 30% well short of expectations. company said it plans to cut capital spending for 2016. shares of marathon fell more than 7% to 3720. insurance giant met life missed forecasts on its top and bottom line. the company blamed a drop in operating earnings on a strong dollar and decline in investment income. shares initially dropped in extended hours adding to the 1% loss today in which they closed at 4195. it's been a bumpty ride for the u.s. stock market so far this year. don't need to remind you for that. also for theutual funds that invest in u.s. companies. if the downdrafts have you wondering if you're in the right
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mutual funds, we have solutions for you. funds that participate in rising markets but lose less than most when stocks swoon. joining us now to discuss is christine benz, director of personal finance at morningstar. christine, always good to see you. welcome back. >> good to see you. >> you know, it has been a down year. the zs&p 500 off 6.5% thereabouts. how is the average u.s. stock market doing, are any making money so far this year? >> just a tiny handful of funds have made money and most of them are using odd strategies. so i would say if you're looking for funds that have made money, you generally don't want to hold them as core positions within your portfolio. what you want to look for are mutual funds, if you're in the equity market, mutual funds that have lost less than -- >> make me feel better or worse, what's the average fund down so far this year? u.s. >> about 7% through yesterday. >> and, you know, i'm noticing these are some of the equity funds in the green year to date but i'm looking at the returns and those returns, many of them
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don't even equal 1%. i think the fed rated strategic value dividend class "a" is the top and that's just over 2%. so even those who are in the green, the results are not all that impressive compared to previous years. >> that's right. you might find some funds that are using inverse strategies. those are up. but they'll also tend to be way, way down when equities are up. so you generally don't want them in your portfolio. >> you gave us a list of three funds that can provide protection in this market, lose less than the averages when the market goes down. they may make less than the average when the market goes up. but tell me about number one, american century equity income. why do you like it? >> this is just kind of a classic equity income fund. it's dividend focused. one thing that it does a little l bit differently from some other dividend-focused funds is it typically holds some convertible stock as well as some preferred stock. and that does two things. it bumps up the income cushion a little bit, and it also tends to -- that piece of the
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portfolio tends to behave a little bit better when equities are going down. so it has a very long tenured management team. they've been doing this same strategy for a number of years. they tend to focus on the defensive industries like health care, consumer defensive and utilities. >> next on the list, the jensen quality growth. you say it is a tame large growth fund. >> right. we often think of the large growth category as being kind of an aggressive category. this is not an aggressive fund. it uses a pretty formulated strategy in that it focuses on companies that have returns on equity of 15% or more over the past 10 years. that tends to give it a basket of highly profitable, highly stable companies. it's been a good performer in weak markets including so far in 2016. >> and a quick thought on vanguard dividend growth, christine. >> this fund would actually be at the top of my list among defensive funds that i would
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recommend. it's a sturdy fund. it uses a quality conscience strategy. so its yield will not be high in absolute terms. it will be kind of right there line with the s&p 500 but it will be a quality basket of holdings. also very low cost like any vanguard -- >> a manager who's been there for a long time. >> he has. from wellington management. >> christine, thank you very much. christine benz with morningstar. coming up, why this weekend's big game means big business for one small store. a tough day for shares of buffalo wild wings. the restaurant chain's quarterly results fell short of wall street estimates. same-store sales also declined and food safety concerns hit one
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of its restaurants in kansas. shares fell more than 4% in the regular session and extended those losses initially in after-hours trading. >> but this, folks, is a big time of year for chicken wings especially for small businessowners who rely on strong sales during the big game this weekend. kate rogers reports from bellmore, new york. >> reporter: the competition will be fierce on the field and in the kitchen this super bowl 50 weekend. and it's not just the teams that have something to prove. >> one goal we're looking to break this year is our hourly volume to surpass 4,000 which we missed it by 50 bucks last year during one hour we did about 3,100. >> reporter: wing zone franchisee, matthew, is out to top last year's sales of nearly 50,000 wings on super bowl sunday alone. it's the calm before the storm right now but all hands are on deck at the store come this weekend. everyone from his dad, steve, who's co-owner, to his wife, marissa, who's eight months pregnant, will be working. so far, he has just under
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$11,000 in preorders between his two stores on long island. this year americans are set to eat 1.3 billion chicken wings on super bowl weekend which is big business for fast casual restaurants. last year, national chain buffalo wild wings sold more than 11 million wings on that weekend, alone. >> the growth in the restaurant industry in franchising is really across the board, both from quick service restaurants, to full service restaurants, and really that fast casual area that sort of cuts in between both. >> reporter: the challenge for small businesses like his is ordering the right amount to keep up with demand. wing zone already has 4,000 pounds of wings in the cooler, but they had to learn the hard way a decade ago. >> our first year, no one knew what to expect. the day just was crazy. people waiting hours. we had to cancel a lot of orders. it was the closest thing to an epic failure that you can think of. >> reporter: wing zone took out an ad in the local paper to apologize to customers and sales
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jumped the next year. they continued to climb every year since. just like the players on the field, he's hoping his prep pays off. for "nightly business report" in bellmore, new york, i'm kate rogers. >> 11 million wings. >> yeah. and more than a billion during the game. who's going to count all those wings? >> i don't know. >> that does it for us tonight. thanks for joining us. i'm sue herera. >> i'm tyler mathisen. thanks from me as well. have a great evening, everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. bring the wings. >> bring the wings. exactly. and the hot sauce.
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ready? jenny: can't believe he's getting married... cynthia: to sister bernadette. trixie: there's no limit to her sophistication now that she's got a boyfriend. cynthia: you sure you won't come with us? chummy: some things are worth staying in for. shelagh: timothy? timothy! sister evangelina: what now?! alec: the explosion ripped right through the foundation. it could come down at any minute. female announcer: funding for "call the midwife" is provided by contributions to your pbs stations from viewers like you.
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